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A temperature difference of two degrees Fahrenheit might seem insignificant amidst the dog days of summer. Hot is hot, right? But when it comes to our planet, that relatively small number has impacted the Earth’s temperature in big ways.
Since 1850, when global records began, the Earth’s temperature has risen an average of 0.11℉ per decade, resulting in a cumulative increase of just about 2℉. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, extra heat drives regional and seasonal temperature extremes, reduces snow cover and sea ice, intensifies heavy rainfall, and changes habitat ranges for plants and animals.
At Small Great Ventures, we are committed to building companies that leave our planet better than we found it - and supporting the founders of other like-missioned companies along the way. These three founders and their missions are impacting climate change positively and paving uncharted paths to heal our planet.
Q: What is the greatest need for combating climate change currently?
A: We've got a decreasingly small window of opportunity to avoid the worst of the worst in terms of billions of climate refugees and catastrophic suffering as a world over. That window is still open, but closing. In order to step through that window, we need to completely redesign and transform all of our planet's systems.
The book, Speed and Scale, by John Doerr continues to stick with me. He points out four primary systems: energy, transportation, infrastructure, and food. Realistically, the first three will always have some level of carbon impact, so in order to get to net neutral, there needs to be at least one system that can balance things out. Food systems and agriculture are an opportunity for the carbon sink required, however this places a heck of a lot of emphasis on food systems as a result.
Q: What advice would you give for aspiring climate change entrepreneurs?
A: Own your mission, because that's why you're here. It’s what you're doing. So really own it, and don't waver from it, because those that will question it are those that are in a position of power, that will be threatened as we try to solve these problems. Take all that naysaying with a grain of salt.
Learn more about Tom and 4P Foods here.
Q: What do you believe is the greatest need for combating climate change currently?
A: I’ll speak to what I know, because there are innumerable challenges in solving climate change, and working in this field. But with the piece of the puzzle that I'm working on there are unique challenges.
One that both my company, Ecolytics, and the companies we work with are seeing is this intersectionality of climate change and social impact. There are so many components of social impact when you're talking about a company's impact on people and the planet. People have begun to realize that the environment is not this isolated untouched green space anymore. It's an ecosystem that we are all part of.
So, viewing that as an intersectional issue, rather than climate change independent from social impact, companies can address these things in reality, rather than a siloed effort on one thing to the next. When you start to bring all that together, you see the real business benefits of working on all these things in tandem. Companies are engaging their consumers better and also increasing employee retention as well. Those big business needs are also solved when you're looking at sustainability and climate change in a more intersectional lens.
Q: What advice would you give for aspiring climate change entrepreneurs?
A: Just start talking to people. That's classic entrepreneurship advice, but I think, especially when I started out, and having experience in the field, I saw the problems, but I really needed to have conversations with decision makers and stakeholders that were facing the problem.
So just get started on those lines of inquiries, because I've also been very pleasantly surprised with people's willingness to help entrepreneurs. You never know what's going to happen from a cold reach out of ‘I'm thinking about this idea and would love to know your expertise’. Don’t shy away or be afraid of that. A 30-minute phone call can be so impactful on your journey.
Learn more about Hazel and Ecolytics here.
Q: What do you believe is the greatest need for combating climate change currently?
A: I think right now, it comes down to coalition building and momentum building. After that, policy change.
We’ve grown from an era where green technologies didn’t pencil and people were doing it from a moral perspective, to one in which these technologies are often cheaper than incumbent fossil fuels. This has shifted the conversation to how quickly we can deploy and move these technologies forward with public consensus around the need for action driving it.
As coalitions for climate action reach a critical mass, the crescendo of calls for macro change creates the political willpower to enact incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act. This kind of coalition building and momentum building is the pretext for startups like Climatize which enable people to take back control of their own money and invest it directly, transparently and tangibly into renewable energy, enabling ethics to be reintroduced into financial decision-making.
Climatize provides the opportunity to rewrite the narrative of climate change from one of sacrifice to opportunity. It's no longer about changing your diet, changing your car or cutting down on flying. Those are all important levers. But if you frame it around how you can make good money from this, that appeals to a very different group; if you enable anyone to be an active stakeholder, then all of a sudden it's a much more participatory momentum building movement.
Learn more about Will and Climatize here.
Saving the planet and starting a business are comparable in some aspects. They’re both really hard. They both take pioneers and communal efforts alike to make an impact. And they both are necessary to advance our world for the next generation.
These founders are brave and audacious enough to take on both. We salute them for being on the frontlines of climate change and working towards a healthier planet alongside us.
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