How data and technology can fight Climateflation

🌍 𝐀𝐈, 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚: 𝐀 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 A sustainable and resilient future demands innovative solutions. I've been diving into three new insightful reports on climate action & global vulnerability: 1️⃣ 𝐀𝐈'𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:  https://bit.ly/4kcaeJz A new report from the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment highlights AI's immense potential in combating climate change. It projects significant greenhouse gas emission reductions (3.2-5.4 billion tonnes CO2e annually by 2035) across power, food, and mobility sectors. Governments' crucial role in equitable, sustainable AI deployment is emphasised. 2️⃣ 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 https://bit.ly/4kZPjLi The "Building Our Food Future" white paper by Planeatry Alliance urges accelerated progress in healthy, sustainable food systems. It proposes a "basket-level transformation" and outlines ten actionable pathways to normalise healthy diets, drawing insights from global food system leaders. 3️⃣ 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐕𝐮𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: https://bit.ly/43YYhCm Developed by Columbia Business School with The Rockefeller Foundation's support, the new Climate Finance (CliF) Vulnerability Index critically assesses 188 nations' susceptibility to climate shocks. Integrating hazards with financial capacity, it identifies 65 "Red Zone" nations, predominantly in Africa, facing high risks and dwindling finance—a vital tool for directing resources effectively. These reports clearly show that data, technology, and equity must converge for a just and effective climate transition, underscoring the urgency of innovation, systemic change, and support for vulnerable nations.

As #datacenters scale rapidly to support #AI, cloud computing, and other digital services, much has been written about whether existing grids can meet the surge in electricity demand—and whether emissions will spike, since most grids remain carbon intensive. This outlook - focusing on the risks and challenges of data center growth - misses the transformative role that data centers and technology companies could play in accelerating national and regional energy, climate, and sustainable development goals. In our new blog, Perrine Toledano, Bradford M. Willis and I explain how #hyperscalers can help resolve the very constraints that are slowing the energy transition and undermining broader climate and development goals. Specifically, hyperscalers can uniquely: 🔹 reduce investment risks and marginal costs for new clean grid infrastructure, as large, predictable off-takers 🔹 create financeable demand for large-scale energy storage. Storage integration - which strengthens grid reliability and resilience - has been hard to finance because of uncertain revenue streams. 🔹 expand access to water and thermal systems through shared-use infrastructure platforms, learning from successful models in other sectors like mining 🔹 deploy rapidly-evolving AI and digital tools to increase energy efficiency, manage energy demand, streamline interconnection, lower system costs, and optimize maintenance, among other evolving functions, and 🔹 expand access to broadband and digital services, closing the persistent digital divide, and bringing transformative benefits in health, education, agriculture, and financial inclusion to underserved communities. These benefits are happening already in ad hoc ways - but could be massively scaled when embedded in strategic policy frameworks and coordinated with public and private partners. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/ea6vMMaG Side note: our current focus on carbon footprinting has distracted from—rather than supported—tech firms’ transformative potential. While footprinting can provide a useful snapshot of emissions/exposure/influence, our over-emphasis on emissions reporting has crowded out any discussion of strategic systemic integration and even creates perverse incentives. The over-reliance on footprinting as the key metric has also very predictably led to myriad illegitimate practices, including 'offsetting' emissions with unbundled RECs or dubious carbon credits, and other accounting loopholes (see yet another timely, insightful article from Simon Mundy on big tech's climate claims: https://lnkd.in/eNvtGxGu). Let's shift the focus to encouraging tech firms to engage in strategic public/private cooperation in grid design and expansion, financing solutions, and expanded digital inclusion -- optimizing transformative digital innovations for societal and planetary benefit.

AI and technology have the potential to play a significant role in addressing climate change. What do you think? Here are some ways in which AI and technology can help manage the impacts of climate change: Monitoring and Prediction: * Satellite Imaging: AI-powered analysis of satellite images can track deforestation, monitor changes in land use, and assess the health of ecosystems. * Climate Modeling: Advanced AI algorithms can improve the accuracy of climate models, allowing for better predictions of future climate patterns and extreme weather events. * Early Warning Systems: AI-driven systems can analyze vast amounts of data to provide early warnings of natural disasters like floods, droughts, and wildfires, allowing for timely evacuations and preparedness measures. Mitigation: * Renewable Energy Optimization: AI can optimize the operation of renewable energy systems like solar and wind farms, maximizing their efficiency and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. * Energy Efficiency: AI-powered smart grids can optimize energy distribution, reduce energy consumption, and identify inefficiencies in energy systems. * Carbon Capture and Storage: AI can help develop more efficient and cost-effective methods for capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions. * Sustainable Agriculture: AI can optimize agricultural practices, reducing the use of water, fertilizers, and pesticides, and improving crop yields. Adaptation: * Urban Planning: AI can help design cities that are more resilient to climate change, optimizing infrastructure and land use to minimize the impact of extreme weather events. * Water Management: AI can optimize water distribution and usage, helping to manage water scarcity and prevent water shortages. * Disaster Response: AI can aid in disaster response efforts by analyzing data to identify areas most affected and coordinating relief efforts. Challenges and Considerations: * Data Quality and Accessibility: AI models rely on high-quality and accurate data, which can be challenging to obtain, especially in developing countries. * Ethical Considerations: AI systems must be developed and used ethically, ensuring that they do not exacerbate existing inequalities or create new ones. * Infrastructure and Expertise: Implementing AI solutions requires significant investment in infrastructure and the development of skilled AI professionals. While AI and technology offer promising solutions to address climate change, it is important to recognize that they are not a silver bullet. A comprehensive approach that combines technological solutions with policy changes, behavioral changes, and international cooperation is essential to effectively address this global challenge. #Ai #Technology via @tiatavee #Innovation

𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗔 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗨𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗔𝗜 𝗧𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗲. In a world where climate action can often feel daunting, having access to precise, actionable data can give us a clear way forward. Imagine having the ability to understand where your city's emissions are coming from, be it where we live or near our workplaces.   I was recently exploring the Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE), developed by Google. EIE, helps cities/regions measure emission sources and refine strategies to reduce emissions by leveraging access to Google’s mapping data and machine learning capabilities. With a few clicks, EIE reveals the emissions footprint from heating, cooling, and powering residential and commercial buildings. This data can help develop usable insights that act as a roadmap showing how and where to reduce energy consumption and switch to greener alternatives. There are additional features, like measuring the transportation impact, rooftop solar panel potential, and tree canopy coverage across different areas in the city. Air quality data is also available for certain cities across the globe. Public data is currently available for viewing for > 2,400 places in a database that comprises thousands of cities/regions. What an interesting and usable example of leveraging data for impact in local communities – while leveraging AI for climate change solutions and intelligent emissions reductions. Image Source: Google Environmental Insights Explorer Website  #techonology #sustainability #future #impact