We want to focus on the cascading benefits of solutions that go beyond just combatting climate change.
“Drawdown” is the point in time where atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases start to decline on a year to year basis.
Achieving drawdown is a not only possible, but a prerequisite to solving the climate emergency that we're facing today and future generations to come. The research shows it can be achieved through a system of solutions that utilize three mechanisms:
1. Sources
Sources are where the emissions are coming from. Almost everything in our day to day lives produces some sort of emissions, from turning on a light in a room to the food that we eat. The goal is to REDUCE sources and their impact by identifying sources and REPLACING with regenerative alternatives.
2. Sinks
Sink are natural processes that occur every day that pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere using our terrestrial land and ocean and ecosystems. We need to restore carbon to useful forms in our natural environments to improve our soil productivity, our soil and planetary health by RESTORING the natural sinks.
3. Society
We need to fundamentally look at the way we do business, society and economy and and implement these solutions from a human rights based approach with justice, equity and inclusion at its heart. Moving away from a business as usual that is inherently exploitative and extractive to a new normal is built on the principles, values of restoration, regeneration, and where well-being for people and planet is placed at the core of everything we do in a regenerative future.
This three-pronged approach helps ensure a future that is livable, abundant, and sustainable for all people, creating an interconnecting system in which our planet and its beings are cared for. Each of these categories are
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FOOD SYSTEMS
Preventing food loss and waste is the number 3 solution to reverse global warming. More plants, less meats, and healthy eating reduces emissions across the supply chains. One of the most interesting things that have come from our analysis is the importance of the food system as a whole. It becomes pretty obvious when we think about all the emissions that are scattered throughout the supply chain of food systems, from production to harvesting, processing, packaging.
Consumer and often are over purchasing, over consuming from markets. The decisions that we make every day about how we're producing food, what we're consuming and how we're actually consuming it are some of the most important decisions we can all make every day to stop global warming. We as consumers have power to make choices in what we're purchasing and that has effects throughout the supply chain. If we were to use regenerative agricultural methods, we could turn agriculture from a net emitter to a net sequestering carbon.
ECOSYSTEMS
We need to think about how we're managing our ecosystem, our terrestrial and ocean system, because this is these are the ways which carbon is drawn down every year, again, through the magic of photosynthesis, which converts carbon dioxide to soil, organic carbon and and biomass. We need to not only protect our existing forests and our ecosystems so they don't release carbon into the atmosphere, but also restore and restore our degraded ecosystems and see where there are opportunities to take some degraded land and use that as new feedstocks into our industry and into its environment. So these are how managing your ecosystems and promoting more of those natural things and avoiding emissions.
TRANSIT SYSTEMS
We need to think about how and what we move around the world. Using sustainable transit methods and switching our mobility systems to renewables reduces fossil fuel use, therefore reducing water consumption, emissions, and deforestation.
Avoiding motorized transport, shifting demand to sustainable modes, and improving vehicles have benefits to sustainable development beyond their climate benefits. Sustainable transportation options enable urban residence around the world better access to food, health, education, banking, and job opportunities - increasing quality of life and income and reducing inequality. There are also significant health benefits from exercise, reduction in health risks associated with pollution, and road safety.
RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS
Electricity generation from coal, oil, and gas fired plants accounts for 25% of the world’s global emissions. We need to achieve 100% of renewable electricity as soon as possible using a diversity of renewable energy technology that are readily available. Based on our research, solar & wind provide the most substantive potential, but in order to create a truly regenerative futre we will need to use a diverse selection of renewable energy. Learn more here.
HEALTH & EDUCATION SYSTEM
Empowering women is about justice, equality, and the freedom of choice. It also happens to reduce GHG emissions. Providing the basic human right to health and educational resources, the right to voluntary reproductive health care and access, equal access to boys and girls, to quality education has cascading benefits to human and planetary well-being.
Children that get through 12 or 13 years of education, have dramatically different life choices and improved economic outcomes, smaller family sizes, and different choices about the kinds of technologies and consumer behaviors they have. This is an opportunity to promote family planning and to promote access and use of voluntary reproductive health care, which has the effect of reducing estimated future population growth having an effect on the entire system. Reducing population to sustainable levels will help reduce the strain on resources and consumption of emitters.
Education also has an additional benefit. When we include in that education, climate education, education about the environment, about the planet, about the intersection between humanity and the planet, it increases the implementation of these solutions as well. Educating people allows them the resources and knowledge to fight against inequity and advocate for the environment.
