Kira Traore

Climate Capital Guidebook: The Biden-Harris Administration is releasing a new Climate Capital Guidebook to provide a simple, comprehensive map of capital programs across the federal government that are available to climate-related start-ups, small- and medium-sized businesses, and their investors. While larger, institutionally-backed climate companies may have the resources to identify and access federal funding opportunities, smaller enterprises may face greater challenges in navigating these federal programs. https://lnkd.in/eJ3QV4Fw #climatechange #climatetech

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Follow the data on bias and echo chambers This is a call to action for Degrowthers Climate scientists Environmental policy specialists Climate finance experts Sustainability professionals There is no excuse I spent a couple hours providing a public service Reminding the folks operating in the Euro American sphere that they are performing erasure and this is not neutral. The harmful effects of not relying on all the world's knowledge is that humans are slowing down our response to the polycrisis. #solutions #knowledgesharing #worldviews

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If you are looking for a magical community space where you can... ✨ Connect with neighbors and build generative friendships ✨ Learn about local climate solutions in NYC (this one will be on food justice + circularity!) ✨ Take meaningful action with your new friends to combat your climate anxiety while making an actual difference Come to our Soapbox NYC's pop-up community night on Thursday at Rethink Food! You'll be treated to a delicious upcycled dinner and share this meal with people who care deeply about our shared future. Soapbox Project is building joyful spaces for you to transform your climate anxiety into meaningful change, and if you come to our pop-ups this year, you'll be able to shape this social experiment that asks... What if we had vibrant places for people to go where they can truly belong and build community around things that actually matter? If you're in NYC and in your loneliness + climate anxiety feels, come bring them and let's transform them together. Link in the comments! Tag your friends so they can grab the last of our 5 tickets!!

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Today a group of NGOs published a letter (although I have not been able to locate this letter) that strongly criticized "the use of carbon offsets by companies to lower their carbon emissions, saying that implementing those projects only delays climate action." (I have put the link the the excellent WSJ summary of the letter in the comments). So many things to say on this, but I'll try to keep it brief: 1) Like most opposition to the use of carbon credits within a net zero framework, the letter doesn't argue against carbon markets but rather a cartoon villain version of carbon markets that literally nobody believes in. For example, NO ONE believes that companies should be able to use carbon credits to "lower their emissions," but rather to COMPENSATE for those emissions they have not yet lowered. It is a penalty for failing to deliver, not a license to pollute. 2) The letter concedes that massive amounts of finance are needed, and then asserts that "large scale mechanisms such as 'polluter pays' fees" are the answer. There is of course no discussion of the fact that such schemes are not even on the table in most countries. But even if they were, how would we use those fees? How would we ensure the additionality, permanence, etc. of those public investments? What system would we use? It is mind boggling to me that these organizations can look at a rigorous but flawed system like the VCM and say, "You know what would be better than this? No system whatsoever." In completely failing to propose anything that even resembles a feasible alternative to the VCM, they do their readers a horrible injustice, because they imply there is an alternative where no such alternative feasibly exists. 3) Then these ostensible defenders of "science-based" climate policy just assert things, like "allowing companies to meet climate commitments with carbon credits is likely to slow down global emissions reductions." What is the science behind this? Where is the research that shows this? 4) What makes this so frustrating is that there are CLEARLY areas where we all agree and could make progress if we set aside ideology. The letter includes the line that credits are "an unreliable tool for fighting the climate crisis." I think we can all agree that the voluntary carbon market in its current form is indeed unreliable, and that that is a problem. So what if we devoted even 1/10th of the energy we devote to this ideological warfare to, instead, improving that tool? When you are building a house and your hammer breaks, you don't start using your forehead - you fix the hammer!

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I spoke with Jade Sasser about her new book, “Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question,” which explores the complex intersection of climate change and reproductive decisions. We discussed the importance of diversifying the conversation around climate emotions, understanding climate anxiety as a collective experience, the challenges faced by climate-concerned parents, and cultural pressures around having children. Sasser emphasizes the power of inclusive dialogue and emotional resilience as we navigate this uncertain future together. Her insights provide much-needed perspective on one of the most profound questions of our time. Read our full interview through the link in comments. #ClimateAnxiety #ReproductiveJustice #HopeInAction

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I cannot highlight enough how important this development is. Massive kudos to Google, Meta, Microsoft and Salesforce for demonstrating true leadership. For too long we in the natural climate solutions community have been involved in endless debates over carbon accounting, and have really neglected to discuss what is easily the biggest obstacle to scaling NCS at the urgent pace required by the climate crisis: project finance. Traditional project finance strategies will not work for high quality NCS, because a) they don't allow equitable revenue sharing with local communities; b) these projects take a long time to ramp up and begin issuing credits; and c) if we're rigorously accounting for impact, it's difficult to predict credit flows. The answer to all of these problems is for buyers to venture out of their comfort zones and provide financing directly to projects through AMCs. In so doing they will also benefit by a) securing high quality carbon credits essential to their net zero targets b) getting in on the "ground floor" with projects so they can deeply understand them (essential for good risk management), c) being able to tell their story on carbon management much more authentically and d) signaling the seriousness of their intent to shareholders, employees and stakeholders. AMCs are a win-win-win-win-win. To see these corporates stepping up to own this challenge is great news for carbon markets, for the communities that manage natural resources, for the climate, for biodiversity, for the companies themselves, AND for the planet. Now we need EVERY corporate to understand the value of a similar approach!

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Here's the guest commentary that Lizzie Peyton and I wrote for ExploreBigSky about carbon offset credits. Some feel that #carboncredits are just #greenwashing, but they are actually a mixed bag. If you do some vetting it is possible to find some good ones. https://lnkd.in/gBwKarna

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It was so great to be 65 people and take action on climate. 💡 I learned something new - that without increased transmission capacity, it will be difficult to transition to a 100% clean power grid. Battery storage alone is not enough to adequately and efficiently balance a grid with significant solar and wind generation, we need to add total capacity and improve interregional transmission across the entire U.S. power grid.

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Stand.earth and 80 leading NGOs urge Science Based Targets initiative to keep the science in SBTi and not sell out to companies looking to short cut reducing their climate pollution. SBTi has been a reputable org helping set real targets so one can only hope this disaster by the CEO (who is now leaving by the end of July) and the SBTi Board will be averted and the SBTi reputation rehabilitated. What is this all about? In the most simple terms here is what SBTi proposed: Let's say you are a fashion brand. You have structured your business so other companies actually make your products in Asia (thus this pollution is Scope 3). But the pollution created is your responsibility and you must work to reduce it with your manufacturers. This is really important bc, for example, many fashion brands have 95-99% of the pollution they create in Scope 3! OR..... under the new SBTi proposal, you could just buy cheap offsets and while they do little to nothing to actually reduce climate pollution, you can now claim you are net zero. Hmmm - that's bad enough. But let's think about how this could be gamed out. What if Amazon, rather than build its own server farms, structures its business so those server farms are run by contractors so Amazon doesn't "own" them. Magically this is now Scope 3 pollution! And it could just be offset cheaply and easily rather than having to run that server farm on renewables in order to be climate neutral. This is a climate crisis - real action, not gaming the system, is what is required. https://lnkd.in/gZKkwhtw

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Tuesday, May 28, 2024 3:08 PM My team at RMI has been working to increase trust and transparency in the voluntary carbon market (VCM) for a number of years — and today that work is reinforced by the federal government’s announcement committing to seven principles for a high-integrity VCM.    To unlock the full potential of carbon markets, we need clear rules. Today’s announcement unveils a set of principles that acknowledge the need for a responsibly managed VCM; one that ensures that the climate impacts promised by carbon projects make a tangible difference in curbing climate change.     While this announcement marks a major governance milestone, the work to create a trusted, scalable VCM is just beginning. Which is why I'm equally excited about the work that RMI and our partners are developing to ensure all data about carbon credit performance – namely, their verified emissions, community, and ecosystem impact and benefits – can be more accessible, digested, and used to guide decisions   We’re excited to share more about these projects in the coming months!   https://lnkd.in/gjw_2trP

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The latest article from our director David McEwen asks the question are we thinking about climate risk the wrong way? #climate #emissions #emissionsreduction #climaterisk #climateadaption #climateriskplanning

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It is wonderful to see the U.S. government realizing that the Voluntary Carbon Market, appropriately regulated and incentivized, can be a critical tool in addressing climate change. This kind of collaborative approach to forming public-private partnerships shows immense promise and is yet another piece of strong news in the development of a high-integrity, scalable market for voluntary action. https://lnkd.in/dsCxAPQM

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The CCP labels are coming!! Here’s a quick explainer on the The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) process, criteria and what we’re doing to help build an effective, scaled and just carbon market that works for the planet and for people.

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Widen the Solution Space: Racism in Environmental Advocacy is Harmful The very premise underlying environmental advocacy is different when Black and brown cosmologies are centered. Those of us that have moved beyond a Eurocentric lens focus on Sacred planet Scarred places Scared people (h/t Caroline Mair-Toby ) In this framing humans are capable of joy, resistance and reverence. We as humans, have agency and practice hope as a discipline. In collapse narratives, the focus is on measuring with precision the extent of “overshoot” and making claims about which factors exactly account for the polycrisis. This is reductive Cartesian logic on steroids. It will get worse because white males use data, models and machines to continue their fantasies of being in control. For example, there was a recent piece putting forward a view that the inability to attribute the exact cause of a flood as a legitimate reason for slowing down disbursements from the Loss and Damage Fund. We are at a point where the very people who go all out to shout about an eventual and inevitable collapse have very little concern about the lives and livelihoods who are alive now. The collapse narrative voices, degrowthers and ESG standards setters have many things in common - they all operate in their own echo chambers marked by Whiteness. The attached article provides an entry point for moving beyond the limited and narrow views that get amplified. #systemschange

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Carbon Offsets, a Much-Criticized Climate Tool, Get Federal Guidelines: The Biden administration on Tuesday laid out for the first time [PDF] a set of broad government guidelines around the use of carbon offsets in an attempt to shore up confidence in a method for tackling global warming that has faced growing criticism. From a report: Companies and individuals spent $1.7 billion last year voluntarily buying carbon offsets, which are intended to cancel out the climate effects of activities like air travel by funding projects elsewhere, such as the planting of trees, that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but that wouldn't have happened without the extra money. Yet a growing number of studies and reports have found that many carbon offsets simply don't work. Some offsets help fund wind or solar projects that likely would have been built anyway. And it's often extremely difficult to measure the effectiveness of offsets intended to protect forests. As a result, some scientists and researchers have argued that carbon offsets are irredeemably flawed and should be abandoned altogether. Instead, they say, companies should just focus on directly cutting their own emissions. The Biden administration is now weighing in on this debate, saying that offsets can sometimes be an important tool for helping businesses and others reduce their emissions, as long as there are guardrails in place. The new federal guidelines are an attempt to define "high-integrity" offsets as those that deliver real and quantifiable emissions reductions that wouldn't have otherwise taken place. [...] The new federal guidelines also urge businesses to focus first on reducing emissions within their own supply chains as much as possible before buying carbon offsets. Some companies have complained that it is too difficult to control their sprawling network of outside suppliers and that they should be allowed to use carbon offsets to tackle pollution associated with, for instance, the cement or steel they use. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Coming out next week... Mike Wallace, Chief Decarbonization Officer at Persefoni on Climate Tech Spotlight. Sign up (link below) for the Climate Tech Spotlight so you don't miss this one. #climatetech #carbonaccounting #climatetechspotlight

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Hey folks: If you've listened to any of the 17 episodes of the Everyday Climate Champions podcast (https://lnkd.in/gcsd5iw7) and wondered "What is an easy way to support this?" - have I got an idea for you! You may have heard our brief (15-minute) interviews with Logan Evasco, Mira Hapsari, Anu Ramamurty, Marcia Pugsley, Shaandiin Cedar, Abbe Hoenscheid Clemons, Ravinder Sehgal, Sean Armstrong, Ambrose Carroll, Peri Plantenberg, Aditi Anand, Pete Kronowitt, Jennifer Silverstein, or many others. We're collecting brief notes of support from our listeners. Might you be able to write a few sentences about your experiences/takeaways from the podcast? A few things you might touch on: - Choice of local guests like me ("everyday people") - Choice of topics that interest me - Rotating team of different local hosts (adults and teens) - Episodes of only 15 minutes - Transcripts/blog posts are helpful - Show notes offer good resources - Production value (I enjoy the music, sound effects, and/or sound quality) - Frequency (currently about once a month) - Recommend it to others in my life Below are some examples of what we've gotten thus far: • "This podcast is one of the best examples of solutions-based locally focused climate content. It's rare to find such a great amalgam of best practices all in one program." • " I think this podcast will help me reorient my thinking…I tend to think climate action is done at the high policy level and I’m often frustrated. I think: 'what can I really do?'” • "I had an ‘aha’ moment! …That relatable, local story is what stood out." • "It gave me ideas and hope." Thanks *so much* for considering this! Just type in your comment below.

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I am proud to be a host committee member for #Circularity24 — the leading convening of professionals building the circular economy — coming to Chicago, May 22-24. Join the growing circularity community and get empowered to move beyond incremental action, catalyze systems change and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. Use code C24HC15 to save 15% off when you register here: https://buff.ly/4aur4j1 ••••••••••• Ok, that’s the offical copy. The community part is key. The “beyond incremental action” is essential. Atmospheric CO2 is now *above* 425 ppm. The global temperature is 1.73°C *above* the average from 1880-1920 (https://lnkd.in/gH33zUXu). The time is NOW to make a difference. As those of you in Chicago who know me are well aware, I have been diving deeply into materials. Nano. Molecular. Cellular. Structural. Process. Systems. Design. Textiles. Packagaing. Agriculture. Industrial Chemicals. Manufacturing. Infrastructure. Buildings. The fabulous news is that everything we make can be made better. The question is whether it can scale fast enough. The fact that GreenBiz Group’s Circularity conference is going to be in our backyard - this is real opportunity. AND, you can still snag a discount… Thierry Van Landegem Ryan Jeffery Bill Schleizer mHUB Melissa Rabin Lederer Chicago Climate Connect The American Institute of Architects (AIA)

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