Published inoneearth·PinnedCould a wealth tax on the top 0.1% help solve the climate crisis?The wealthiest ‘Top 10%’ of the world’s population are responsible for nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Stockholm Environment Institute [1] and a new study from IREES [2]. Even more staggering, the ‘Top 0.1%’ (roughly 5.3 million adults) are responsible for 3x more greenhouse gas emissions…7 min read7 min read
Published inoneearth·PinnedIt’s time for wealthy countries to open the climate finance spigotWorld leaders, economists and bankers wrapped up a major meeting in Paris with the goal of designing a new global financial system built for the 21st century and a world struggling to respond to the climate crisis. The ‘New Global Financing Pact’ was originally inspired by the prime minister of…Climate Finance5 min readClimate Finance5 min read
Published inoneearth·Dec 23, 2022Climate finance gets personal: people are realizing that their banking decisions could make or break our planetIn the six years following the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement, the world’s 60 largest banks have provided a staggering $4.6 trillion in financing for fossil fuels. In 2021, the year that many of these banks pledged to achieve net zero ‘financed emissions’ (the amount of carbon pollution associated…Reitrement7 min readReitrement7 min read
Published inoneearth·Nov 21, 20226 reasons why we can be (cautiously) optimistic about solving the climate crisisI’ve been spending a lot of time pushing back on what appears to be a pervasive culture of doom fueled by an abundance of misinformed climate clickbait. Many on the outside of the recent COP27 summit in Egypt may have heard that it’s too late to achieve the target of…Cop2711 min readCop2711 min read
Published inoneearth·Nov 8, 2022Don’t fall for the climate clickbait. The 1.5°C target is achievable and necessary.The 27th UN Climate Conference (COP27) has begun, and so has the barrage of sloppy, apocalyptic headlines by major mainstream media outlets. This is to be expected on the heels of a sobering Emissions Gap Report that finds government pledges are currently inadequate to achieve the Paris Climate Agreement goals…Climate Crisis3 min readClimate Crisis3 min read
Published inoneearth·Oct 25, 2022Ok, Doomer: What Vaclav Smil and the disinformation echo chamber get wrong about the climate crisisAfter reading the fawning coverage of Vaclav Smil’s 41st, and hopefully final, book How the World Really Works (2022) — the latest edition of an old white dude mansplaining to future generations why a just, sustainable society is impossible — I got riled up and started to write a detailed…Climate Change6 min readClimate Change6 min read
Published inoneearth·May 3, 2022Beyond offsetting (part 2): Why we need carbon philanthropy, not carbon offsets, to solve the climate crisisIn part 1 of “Beyond Offsetting” I delved into the problems around corporate net zero claims and their reliance upon cheap carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality. In this piece, I’ll lay out the alternative — what some are now calling “carbon philanthropy” — and run through a scenario of…Net Zero Emission6 min readNet Zero Emission6 min read
Published inoneearth·May 3, 2022Beyond offsetting (part 1): Why we need carbon philanthropy, not carbon offsets, to solve the climate crisisBased on the new IPCC report, “Mitigation of Climate Change” (WG3), it is clear that two things must happen if we are to have a chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C and avoiding catastrophic climate impacts. First, we must rapidly switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources…Carbon Offset6 min readCarbon Offset6 min read
Published inoneearth·Feb 1, 2022No McKinsey, it will not cost $9 trillion per year to solve climate change.A new report by McKinsey on the costs of transitioning the world to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is making the rounds, brandishing a shocking top line figure of $9.2 trillion per year. But if you dig into the report, you quickly see that this headline is disingenuous, creating…Climate Change7 min readClimate Change7 min read
Published inoneearth·Jan 2, 2022Showdown at the Nature ZoneAn important (and heated) exchange during the first week of COP26 in Glasgow made one thing clear — the legitimacy of nature-based carbon offsets is in question as civil society grows more skeptical of ‘net zero’ pledges. On a gloomy afternoon during the first week of the climate conference in…Nature Based Solutions14 min readNature Based Solutions14 min read
