A framework for solving climate change

Climate change is a colossal problem. It’s so big that it can be really hard to think about it in a structured, logical way that clearly communicates the steps we need to take as a society to turn this ship around.

If only there was a simple framework that could give us a clear understanding of the problem areas and how we can make progress on them.

It just so happens that the incredible folks at Project Drawdown have put their minds together to build a fantastic framework that clearly communicates how to think about climate change solutions

Project Drawdown is a non-profit and leading resource of information and insight about climate solutions. Their team develops resources by conducting rigorous review and assessment of climate solutions, creating compelling and plain language communication with aim to accelerate climate solutions globally. We at Mammoth Climate reference it daily as the guiding light for our own impact framework and decision making.

There is no silver bullet that will solve climate change. We need many solutions.

What Project Drawdown’s climate solution framework aims to communicate is that there is no silver bullet that will solve climate change. We need many solutions. To reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and re-tool our society we need to work bottom up, top down, and across the board.

The Framework

When thinking about the issue of climate change, it helps to visualize it as a two sided problem of emissions-in (aka sources) & emissions-out (aka sinks).

In the framework diagram below, the left hand side of the chart represents the macro level sources of carbon emissions (emission-in). The right side represents the macro level sinks of carbon emissions (emissions-out).

So, what is a “sink”, you ask? No, not like your kitchen sink :)

At a very high level, a carbon sink is anything that pulls more carbon from the atmosphere than it produces. The Earth is naturally equipped with many natural carbon sinks, most notably the oceans & forests.

To solve climate change, we need solutions on BOTH sides of this framework.

On one hand we need solutions that will reduce sources of carbon emissions, and on the other we need solutions that will support the Earth's ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

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Emissions-in Solution: Reduce Sources

Reducing the overall emissions we produce as a society is a complex task that no one group or industry is exempt from. How we produce electricity, how we eat, how we travel, how we manufacture, how we construct all factors into this.

Let’s simplify things here.

Which human activities are the greatest contributors to emissions each year? Well, as of 2019 it looks a little something like this.

The Sources:

• 31% Making Things - Most notably Concrete, Steel, Plastic & Textiles

• 27% Plugging Things In - Electricity

• 19% Growing Things - Most notably animals and plants

• 16% Getting Around - Planes, trains and automobiles :)

• 7% Keeping Cool - Air conditioning & heating

To make an impact on reducing these sources we must invest in solutions to reduce across ALL of these categories. At a high level some of these solutions are...

• Making Things - Use lower impact materials (invest in R&D)
• Plugging Things In - Invest in a full shift to clean renewable energy
• Growing Things - Reduce animal product consumption & support farming efficiency innovation
• Getting Around - Fly less, shop local, drive electric
• Keeping Cool - Energy efficient solutions & innovation for alternative system with lower emissions bi-product

Reducing the emissions within each of these sources of emissions is a key objective in curbing the worst effects of climate change.

Looking back to our framework above, we will also need to address the “emissions-out” side of the issue to get there.

Emissions-out Solution: Support Sinks

The Earth has an incredible natural ability to pull carbon from the atmosphere and regulate the overall carbon levels in the atmosphere. The most notable natural Carbon Sinks are the oceans, forests

Unfortunately, both of these natural carbon sinks are being degraded or reaching their effective limit due to human activities.

As much as 80% of the world's forests have been destroyed or irreparably degraded.

Our oceans, which currently absorb about 31% of our carbon emissions, have begun hitting their carbon capacity. When that happens, a devastating process called Ocean Acidification takes place which is currently underway, destroying ocean life and breaking its food chain - one that human beings are very much dependent on.

To make an impact on supporting carbon sinks we need to support solutions that protect oceans and forests, and leverage technological solutions to carbon sequestration at scale such as carbon capture technology.