Why climate action can't wait for tech solutions

🌍 𝐀𝐈 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞: 𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 🌍 OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, envisions an "Intelligence Age" driven by AI, claiming it will lead to prosperity and solutions for global warming. However, this perspective overlooks the complexities of the climate crisis. In a world increasingly reliant on technology, the assertion that AI can "fix" climate change warrants a critical examination. This #MITReview article sums it up very well: 1. ⚡𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: AI's potential is overstated; it cannot solely solve climate change without significant economic, policy and societal changes. 2. 🔋 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬: The energy consumption of AI technologies is escalating, raising concerns about their environmental impact. 3. 🏭 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐥 𝐅𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲: Despite existing clean technologies, fossil fuels still account for 60% of electricity generation in the largest economies, highlighting regulatory failures. 4. 📉 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐤 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬: A global economy built on fossil fuel infrastructure poses significant challenges to transitioning to cleaner alternatives. 5. 🔄 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲: Effective climate action requires aggressive policy changes, not just technological advancements. Especially technologies in need of regulations themselves. 6. 🌱 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬: While AI can predict scenarios, contribute to managing power grids and improve efficiency, these efforts are currently incremental and not game-changing. 7. 🏗️ 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: Climate change is not just a technical issue; it involves navigating complex social and economic interests to avoid more injustice. To truly tackle climate change, we must blend technological innovation with robust regulatory frameworks and community engagement. Let’s advocate for policies that promote clean energy and address the systemic issues underlying our reliance on fossil fuels. As I learn with my fellows at Terra.do, there is no silver bullet to the problem, and sorry Sam, AI ain't it either. For a deeper dive into this critical discussion, read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gAwFQb2B #AI #ClimateChange #Sustainability #Technology #CleanEnergy #EnvironmentalImpact #AIforClimate

🌍 From Data to Action: Climate Solutions at Our Fingertips At the World Meteorological Organization, we spend every day measuring and reporting the state of our climate system. 2024 was the warmest year on record and the science is unequivocal: we must accelerate solutions. But the good news is that many solutions are already within reach. Project Drawdown’s Explorer reminds us that climate action is not about waiting for future technologies. It is about deploying evidence-based, ready-to-scale solutions today. 🔹 Highly recommended solutions, from renewable energy to ecosystem restoration, are already proven to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience. 🔹 These solutions are not one-size-fits-all as we know the importance of tailoring climate action to regional contexts and vulnerabilities. 🔹 Every solution comes with co-benefits for jobs, health, equity, and ecosystems. At WMO, we are committed to ensuring that the best climate science guides the world’s investments and policies. Science tells us where risks are rising, but also where solutions can deliver the greatest impact. The path to a safer, more sustainable future is mapped by science. What we need is the will to act, the partnerships to scale, and the courage to align decisions with evidence. Check the Climate Solutions Explorer here 👇 https://lnkd.in/epTFRfUK

I am teaching SOSC585 Climate Action again this year at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Here's a core lesson from the course... We have the solutions at hand. 🛠️ What we really need is #action and #implementation. 💪 Easy eh? We just need to deploy solutions we already have! On the #SupplySide, we need to substitute high-emissions technologies and materials for low-emissions alternatives. On the #DemandSide, we need to avoid, shift and improve emissions-intensive goods and services. See the slides attached. But #ClimateAction, it turns out, is really, really hard. That’s why I designed a whole course around it! Here are some blockers that really get my goat: 🐐 😟 The people who stand to benefit most from climate action are usually the most constrained by the upfront #costs of transitioning. The risks sit heaviest with those least able to carry them - which is why we need #ClimatePolicy! 🙉 The suppression of pluralism in #economics, which lends itself to #groupthink and a focus on idealised policy solutions that shatter on first contact with political realities. 🗣️ Broken dialogues where one side is reluctant to act on climate because the problems and solutions aren’t mapping with their #values, while the other side stamps its foot and points to charts, figures and sciencey stuff. Meet values with values, not facts! 💸 The costs of climate investment are easy to quantify with reasonable certainty, but the risks of climate change and the opportunities of climate action are hard to quantify. In a world that prides itself on managing what it can measure, this means that climate-related #risks and #opportunities are often invisible to decision makers, even when they are very, very, very large. 🤝 Climate actions are often designed without #consent or #benefitsharing for local communities. This increases the risk of community resistance, which means that supposedly ‘low cost’ projects are slower and more expensive than anticipated. This is why #JustTransition can be faster and cheaper! 💢 The mutual convenience between some activists and decision makers to focus on symbolic acts - e.g. target setting, emergency declarations - rather than more difficult, concrete actions that reduce near-term emissions. 🤑 The financial lock-in for inefficient energy from #FossilFuels, because people pay for wasted energy as well as the useful energy. Globally, we waste about two-thirds of primary energy, mostly as heat when fossil fuels are burned, yet the full costs are passed through to consumers anyway!! A electrical energy system powered by #RenewableEnergy is much more efficient - estimated 40% more efficient globally - but consequently a smaller target for profit-making. What are the #ClimateAction blockers that frustrate you most? 🤬 Add to the comments below!