Search

Rooftop solar panels and energy storage can unlock economic benefits for households, but until recently the main beneficiaries were in the higher income brackets. A movement is underway to open up these benefits to low- and middle-income households through community-based solar projects. In recent years, nonprofit organizations and government programs have pushed community solar from a fringe concept into a mainstream movement, and businesses can participate as well.

Community solar goes mainstream

Households with solar panels and energy storage can sell excess electricity back to the grid, take advantage of discounted rates, and keep the lights on during emergencies. However, many households are excluded from these benefits because they don’t have access to their own roof, lack financial support or both.

Community solar projects are one way to help households without roof access. They were all but unknown in the U.S. until 2006 when the city of Ellensburg, Washington, launched the first known community solar project in the nation. Rather than having individual ratepayers install their own rooftop solar panels, the Ellensburg project enables ratepayers to subscribe to a nearby solar array.

In the early years, community solar projects served a relatively limited purpose. Solar power was expensive, and subscribers typically paid a premium because they wanted to do something for the environment, not necessarily to save money.

Community solar projects were also typically small. The Ellensburg project, for example, was expanded several times after 2006, but its capacity is still listed at just 304 kilowatts.

Still, small renewable energy projects can have a collectively big impact on the nation’s overall energy profile. The U.S Department of Energy has been planning for a modernized grid that incorporates more distributed energy resources, like rooftop solar and community solar, and is less reliant on large, centralized power plants. 

Due to Energy Department support and the plummeting cost of solar power, community solar projects have gotten much bigger since 2006, and they are also more holistic in terms of goals.

One recent example is the new Green Energy Justice Cooperative, an initiative launched by the Illinois energy equity organization Blacks in Green.

Earlier this month, the Cooperative won a contract to develop 9 megawatts of solar power spread among three new community solar projects. The contract represents “one of the nation’s largest non-utility-based solar projects launched by a clean energy co-op,” according to Blacks in Green. It will benefit low- and middle-income households in Aurora, Naperville, Romeoville, and surrounding Illinois communities with lower electricity rates.

The project is supported by a network of nonprofits, many of which have a decades-long footprint in local workforce and economic development. The Minnesota nonprofit Cooperative Energy Futures, a member-owned clean energy cooperative, is also a supporter. 

In addition to saving money, Blacks in Green emphasizes the holistic benefits of community solar. They list “co-ownership of the solar co-op and accompanying profit sharing; a voice in the management of the clean energy cooperative; equitable workforce training and capacity development; and the opportunity to help create an equitable clean energy transition that provides meaningful benefits to people and protects the environment.”

A community solar model for businesses to follow

Businesses are also moving to act in support of large-scale community solar initiatives. Last week Tapestry, the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, announced a new community solar partnership with the certified B Corporation Pivot Energy to develop six solar projects in Illinois over the next two years for a total of 33 megawatts.

As with the Blacks in Green project, the new community solar projects are expected to reduce electricity costs for ratepayers in the area.

Tapestry and Pivot also anticipate that the project will provide a model for other businesses to follow. In support of the project, Tapestry will buy the equivalent of 750,000 megawatt-hours of renewable energy credits (RECs) over the next 15 years. Pivot describes these as “impact” RECs aimed at helping underserved communities replace fossil resources with solar power. Businesses participating in the impact REC model also contribute directly to community programs, particularly in the area of workforce development.

“What makes this project unique is the multifaceted opportunity to create measurable impact growth of solar energy,” a press announcement from Pivot Energy reads. “Traditional REC purchases typically come from existing wind farms, while Impact REC agreements are structured to put clean energy resources in areas primed to build new solar resources while simultaneously investing in local communities.”

For Pivot and Tapestry, "the impact is three-fold — new clean energy, community investments, and energy burden relief,” the announcement reads. 

The power of partnerships

The new partnership helps to fulfill Tapestry’s goal of powering its operations with 100 percent renewable energy by 2025 while also contributing more broadly to community development.

“At Tapestry, we know that sustainability is a business imperative … We also recognize the power of partnerships to drive meaningful change in key environmental and social areas,” said said Logan Duran, Tapestry’s vice president for ESG and sustainability.

Businesses seeking to participate in community solar projects can also learn from the cooperative model deployed by GEJC and Cooperative Energy Futures. These new organizations have much in common with the federal Rural Electric Cooperative initiative launched during the Great Depression. The initiative aimed to electrify rural communities overlooked by for-profit utility companies. Today these ratepayer-owned cooperatives continue to serve 21.5 million businesses, homes, schools and farms across 48 U.S. states, including those in urban and suburban areas.

Electric cooperatives have also become powerful drivers of the clean energy transition. That includes supporting community solar projects, which the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association is promoting through its Achieving Cooperative Community Equitable Solar Sources resource program.

Charitable giving can also provide business leaders with opportunities to support community solar projects. The nonprofit solar provider RE-volv, for example, recently received a $3 million donation from the Kresge Foundation and the Schmidt Family Foundation in support of its pay-it-forward model for financing community solar and rooftop solar projects.

Businesses seeking to support community solar programs may also find new opportunities to coordinate with state and federal efforts. Last year, for example, the Joe Biden administration issued new guidance that supports community solar programs accessible by residents of housing assisted with funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Department of Energy is stirring additional movement through its administration of the National Community Solar Partnership, which is working toward a goal of providing the equivalent of 5 million households with solar power by 2025.

“This target represents a 700 percent increase in community solar deployment, growing from 3 GW [gigawatts] of community solar in 2020 to 20 GW in 2025,” according to the Energy Department.

The Inflation Reduction Act is also stimulating more activity. Much attention has been paid to the large commercial renewable energy projects stimulated by the legislation, but money has also been pouring into programs that support rooftop and community solar projects.

In June, for example, the Environmental Protection Agency launched a new $7 billion fund through the Inflation Reduction Act. Called the Solar for All competition, the new fund will support innovative new projects that expand access to rooftop and community solar for households in low-income and disadvantaged communities.

Businesses seeking to ensure that the outcome of the COP28 climate talks leads to meaningful action can start in their own backyards by supporting the community solar movement.

Before that sleek pair of leather boots hit the market, its life was a dirty secret — literally. Considering the human and environmental costs associated with leather production, it’s no surprise we’ve turned to synthetic leather, but this largely plastic-derived fabric has skeletons in the closet, too. 

Lately, a petroleum-free pearl has emerged from the muck: naturally-derived alternative leather. Companies are reinventing one of fashion’s most troublesome fabrics and, in some cases, helping the environment along the way. 

Leather production and the environment

For a single product, leather comes with an astounding array of problems. First of all, its production generates copious amounts of wastewater — an estimated 145 billion gallons each year. Laden with organic matter, heavy metals, pesticides and other pollutants, this foul-smelling water can contaminate freshwater systems and the communities around leather tanneries. 

In addition, producing leather emits air pollution and leaves behind piles of hides, hair and flesh, often tainted with lime, sulfides and chromium. While the material is generally a byproduct of the meat industry, it does support the livestock industry and its numerous environmental problems. 

Finally, the leather industry contributes to climate change. An estimated 110 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted to produce a square meter of leather, most of which comes from cattle farming, according to a United Nations Industrial Development Organization review. That’s equivalent to driving a gasoline-fueled car for over 280 miles. 

Harmful impacts on people

Leather’s dirty fingerprints go far beyond the environment, though. It also damages human health. 

Unfortunately, tannery workers are on the front lines of this noxious process. Tanning leather makes it more durable and less likely to degrade, but this process involves dozens of chemicals that can impact human health.

For instance, tannery workers had higher levels of respiratory and dermatological diseases like asthma, bronchitis, tuberculosis and rashes than a control group who weren’t exposed to the chemicals, according to a 2008 study. Follow-up research in 2020 confirmed higher incidence of such illness among tannery workers. This is likely due to higher levels of chromium, a chemical used in tanning, in their blood. Workers also had high levels of heavy metals in their blood and hair, putting them at an elevated risk for cancer.

Besides the impacts on our health, leather poses an ethical conundrum. While leather hasn’t fallen out of favor like wearing furs, there are still concerns about the welfare of animals, the conditions they were raised in, and whether we should be wearing it at all. 

The majority of leather comes from cattle, sheep and goats raised for meat, wool or dairy, which may alleviate some moral quandaries. However, certain animals like alligators and pythons are largely raised for their hides. 

On the other hand, an increasing consumption of beef paired with a decreasing demand for leather in the U.S. means many otherwise useable hides are now sent to the landfill. Certainly, this plethora of leather-related issues is not the easiest knot to untie.

Problems with plastic-derived alternatives

Considering all this, it makes sense that people would resort to alternatives. Until recently, most faux leathers were made from petroleum. Paper pulp or fabric was used in early attempts at artificial leather, but plastic’s increasing popularity in the 1940s led to its adoption in fashion, too. 

Today, the most common synthetic leathers are made by coating a fiber, often cotton or polyester, with a plastic such as polyurethane or polyvinyl chloride. While these materials have the upside of removing animals from the supply chain, the heavy use of plastic still presents problems.

First of all, producing plastic releases pollution into the environment, which can pose a health risk for workers and the surrounding communities. Also, these synthetic products don’t break down easily and wither away in landfills for much longer than real leather. Finally, like other plastic-derived clothing, they release microplastics into the environment when they're washed.

But synthetics do have a smaller carbon footprint than the real thing. Counting only emissions after the slaughterhouse, producing synthetic leather emits 7 percent fewer greenhouse gases than real leather. However, taking into account the footprint of cattle farming drops that number to 85 percent less greenhouse gases than real leather.

The possibilities of plants 

Given the daunting set of problems stitched into the current options for leather, innovative companies are experimenting with materials besides plastic. A growing number of them are offering plant-based leather from sources like pineapple leaves, mangos, apples, cork, mushrooms and even flowers. These vegan options bypass the livestock industry entirely and may avoid the heavy plastic use of other synthetic leathers.

One such company is Desserto, based in Jalisco, Mexico. In 2016, its founders became disenchanted with the large environmental footprint generated by leather and synthetic materials while working in the fashion and automotive industries. 

“We started saying, 'Let's do something to this industry which is beautiful, which is very attractive for everybody, but … without killing animals or without using any type of plastics,” said Marte Cázarez, co-founder of Desserto.

After an exhaustive search, they settled on using organically grown nopal — commonly known as the prickly pear cactus — to make leather for the fashion, sports, automotive and furniture industries. Yes, that’s the same cacti you eat if you’re a lover of Mexican cuisine. 

“It’s a symbolic plant for us here in Mexico. It's everywhere. It's in all the states, and in all the cities,” Cázarez said. “Our thought was if we want to create a solution for the industry, it needs to be a real solution since the beginning, since the raw material.”

The benefits of using cacti are plentiful. First of all, it’s a native species that may thrive under climate change. Unsurprisingly, cacti use little water, can tolerate high temperatures and sequester carbon. 

Desserto’s products also use less water and energy and emit fewer greenhouse gases than animal or synthetic polyurethane leather, according to an early life cycle assessment. In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture certified that the company's signature material is made primarily of renewable resources. 

No product is without its tradeoffs, though. As you can imagine, this leather is more expensive than typical synthetic leathers. And both synthetic and plant-based alternatives are generally less breathable than real leather. Desserto’s products are also biodegradable, but the percentage varies according to the material.

Invading the alternative leather space

Stepping away from vegan leathers, another pioneering company, Inversa, offers an exotic alternative. It uses exotic animals for its leather, but non-native ones. 

Founded in Florida by three scuba divers, the company chose a prominent trio for its products: lionfish, Burmese pythons and Asian carp. A “who’s who” of invasive species, these animals are wreaking havoc on ecosystems in the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Everglades. For instance, the voracious appetites of Burmese pythons likely caused populations of mammals like raccoons and opossums to decline by over 98 percent in the Everglades. In the Caribbean, lionfish reduced the number of coral reef fish that transitioned to the adult stage of life by nearly 80 percent.

For those not opposed to wearing animal-derived products, Inversa offers an alternative that mitigates some of the environmental problems associated with traditional natural leathers. 

According to one of its partners, Conservation International, Inversa has increased the price of lionfish in Mexico, making it more attractive to hunt. The company also aims to raise the incomes of anglers in local communities, and its divers and hunters sell or consume fillets from the species they remove. It also claims its process generates less wastewater than traditional leather manufacturing. 

Changing the industry

The leather industry was valued at nearly $243 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow by 6 percent annually until 2030. While the market is dominated by real leather at nearly 54 percent, that still leaves plenty of room for alternative leather. With a consumer base increasingly concerned about sustainability, alternative leathers have a promising future ahead of them.

“The companies who are doing sustainable options, we're pushing this industry, like the leather and the plastics industries, to change for the better,” Cázarez said. “What is happening is that this industry is feeling threatened right now. They're starting to change their processes, raw materials, recyclability of water and carbon emissions.” 

Regardless of if and when industry-wide change occurs, these alternative leathers offer a wide variety of options for consumers that come with a much softer impact on the environment.

Meals on Wheels provides vital nutrition and support services for seniors. With inflation and high food costs, corporate partnerships are more important than ever to help sustain social programs that benefit vulnerable populations. For Meals on Wheels America and its network of local senior nutrition programs, working with companies like Subaru of America helps to continue its mission to provide both physical nutrition and social nourishment to seniors.

Making good on the Love Promise year after year

Meals on Wheels America was one of the first nonprofit partners of the Subaru Share the Love Event when it began in 2008. During this year's event, for every new vehicle purchased or leased from November 16, 2023, to January 2, 2024, Subaru and its retailers will donate a minimum of $300 to charity, like Meals on Wheels America.

“Each year during the holiday season, the Subaru Share the Love Event provides our collective mission with millions of dollars in media promotion, elevating our brand during a time of year when people are most generous,” said Ellie Hollander, president and CEO of Meals on Wheels America. “Not only does promotion of the event help bring awareness and donations to Meals on Wheels, but Subaru gives directly to the organization as well — to the tune of over $30 million since 2008,” said Liz Edelen, a community commitment manager for the automaker’s philanthropic mission, the Subaru Love Promise.

In addition to Meals on Wheels America, Subaru Share the Love Event national charities include the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Make-A-Wish and the National Park Foundation. Subaru is the largest automotive donor to Meals on Wheels America and Make-A-Wish and the largest corporate donor to the ASPCA and the National Park Foundation. Subaru retailers across the U.S. also partner with more than 800 local nonprofits in their communities that are eligible for designated donations.

By the end of this year’s Subaru Share the Love Event, Subaru aims to donate $29 million to organizations in need, putting the company’s total donations since the program’s inception at $285 million.

Meals on Wheels meets a growing need for U.S. seniors

Those donations are more important than ever for organizations like Meals on Wheels America. Data from the nonprofit shows that 7 out of 10 local programs are facing higher demand for home-delivered meals than before the pandemic.

Meals on Wheels serves 251 million meals to 2.2 million seniors across the U.S. each year. In fact, today one in three Meals on Wheels programs has an average waiting list of three months for vital meals. Roughly 10 million seniors are threatened by or experience hunger, according to Meals on Wheels America. And with 12,000 people turning 60 in America each day, the need will likely continue to increase, making partnerships like the one with Subaru even more important.

Sharing the Love one meal at a time

““Subaru and our retailers have helped deliver more than 4.3 million meals and friendly visits to America’s seniors,” Edelen said. “The Meals on Wheels volunteers really build personal relationships — becoming someone that seniors can talk to, someone who can share a smile during their day, hopefully cheer them up.”

Isolation and loneliness are rampant among seniors who are aging in place. For its part, Meals on Wheels aims to mitigate the loneliness that comes with isolation — serving up not just a hot meal, but also a much-needed human connection. “Volunteers provide a little bit of light and positivity in the person's day,” Edelen added.

Social isolation can also be dangerous in the event of a medical emergency. When someone who is normally ready to receive their meal and chat doesn’t come to the door, volunteers can get in touch with emergency services or family to do a welfare check. 

“Meals on Wheels provides a peace of mind that someone is there, someone is visiting them. If there is an issue, that volunteer can help. They can step up and make sure that seniors are safe,” Edelen said. “I have heard stories of a volunteer going to a senior’s home and they know the person always comes to the door, always loves chatting. And they know that something is wrong when they don’t come to the door that day.”

Subaru also hosts blizzard bag and meal-packing events — where shelf-stable foods are put together to help get seniors through winter storms when deliveries might be interrupted, as well as supplement the regular meals they get from Meals on Wheels. Depending on the time of year, volunteers also write notecards or holiday cards at the meal-packing events in hopes of bringing a smile to seniors’ faces.

“Some of our local Subaru retailers host events like ‘Stuff the Trunk’ where they collect shelf-stable foods for the blizzard bags,” Edelen explained. “Other retailers have an ‘Adopt a Route’ program, and they'll volunteer and deliver meals with Meals on Wheels.”

A driving force recognized

The Subaru dedication to its partnerships runs deep — so much so that it was awarded the Meals on Wheels America’s Driving Force Award this year. The award recognized the automaker’s financial contributions, as well as the many volunteer hours served by corporate and local employees from across the country.

“In honor of [the Subaru] 50th anniversary, instead of throwing a party for themselves, they showcased their belief in our cause by donating 50 much-needed vehicles to local programs,” Hollander said while presenting the award at the Meals on Wheels Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on August 21. “And it’s not just their national executives, but their hundreds of retailers nationwide who have become longstanding Meals on Wheels volunteers and supporters, sometimes even sitting on the boards of local programs. This partner has quite literally put the ‘wheels’ in Meals on Wheels and has been instrumental to our impact.”

The award couldn’t be more fitting for the car company. And the people behind the Subaru Love Promise have certainly earned the recognition. “We were honored to receive the Driving Force Award,” Edelen said, calling it a valuable testament to the company’s longstanding partnership with Meals on Wheels America. “It's something that shows the work that we at Subaru and our retailers are doing in communities across the country, so the award meant a lot to us.”

With a growing senior population and rising need to fight hunger and isolation among our nation’s homebound seniors, the continued support Subaru has for Meals on Wheels is integral to the organization’s operation. And it’s not just the automakers' financial assistance that’s making the difference — local retailers and employees are the driving force carrying this impact forward from community to community across the country.

This article series is sponsored by Subaru of America and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team. 

In Ohio, over 1,000 miles of rivers, streams, and underground waterways are polluted by millions of gallons of acidic water carrying heavy metals it picked up in abandoned coal mines. The toxic discharge, called acid mine drainage, is so ingrained into the life of the region that schoolchildren often reach for an orange crayon to draw a picture of a river.

Acid mine drainage is created when a chemical reaction sparked by water and rocks that contain sulfur makes sulfuric acid. That acidic water can leech heavy metals from surrounding rock, particularly when it runs through old coal mines, resulting in a highly toxic substance that flows into streams and rivers, turning them yellow, orange, brown and red as the metals oxidize.

The largest occurrence of this in Ohio is the Truetown Drainage, which dumps over 2 million pounds of iron oxide into nearby Sunday Creek each year, destroying seven miles of aquatic habitat. 

“It is like junking a couple of cars in the stream every single day,” said John Sabraw, an environmental activist and professor of art at Ohio University, who is using paint to help combat the problem. 

When Sabraw first moved to southeastern Ohio, he was struck by the sight of the multicolored streams devoid of aquatic life. He knew iron oxide could be ground into a fine powder to make pigment, which is used to color paint, so he wanted to use the supply in the river to make his own. 

Turns out, another professor at the university — Guy Riefler from the civil engineering department — was trying to do the same thing. Now, they are both part of a team capturing the acid mine drainage, converting the extracted minerals into pigments for paint, and using the proceeds from pigment sales to fund watershed restoration projects and maintenance through a new social enterprise called True Pigments.
        
The team organized volunteers for a pilot effort to extract iron oxide from a section of Sunday Creek near the Truetown Discharge. They donned waders, scooped sludge from the creek bottom, tested the quality of pigment made with the minerals, and conducted experiments to refine the product. 

Meanwhile, teams of art and engineering students from Ohio University worked on important aspects of what will soon be a pigment production plant, including pricing and sourcing materials, and how to build it, Sabraw said. These efforts are the focus of a short film, “Toxic Art,” produced by the environmental advocacy platform Rivers Are Life.

The team is building a new facility, called the True Pigment Acid Mine Drainage Treatment and Pigment Production Facility, at the abandoned mine site to capture and treat the acidic runoff before it reaches Sunday Creek. The iron oxide will be separated and processed there to create pigment products.

The pigment can be sold to offset operational costs, produce a small profit, and create jobs while stopping a perpetual source of pollution and restoring the creek for aquatic life, Sabraw said.

This same extraction process won’t work everywhere, but in some cases, it can be adapted based on the local chemistry of a particular site, Sabraw said. 

“Each location affected by pollution in their waterways will have to analyze their chemistry and then adapt our process to effectively treat it,” Sabraw said. “Wherever a water pollutant contains components that might be able to be turned into a viable product in a particular market, our process may prove useful.”

Ohio University, the nonprofit Rural Action, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement are also a part of the project.

“The university and the state and federal agencies bring expertise and a lot of resources, but it’s much easier for us to do things like purchase the Truetown property and establish a business to sell pigment,” said Michelle Shively MacIver, director of project development for True Pigments. “Through our collaboration, we’ve been able to secure funding from local foundations and our state and federal partners. Rural Action does a lot of the community outreach and education surrounding our work, which is more in our wheelhouse than our partners'."

The new production facility is expected to be in full operation in 2025, and that seven-mile stretch of Sunday Creek will begin to recover as a result, MacIver said.

“This is the big ‘why’ of this project,” MacIver said. “None of us set out trying to make paint — well, maybe John did. We’re just trying to clean up this stream that flows through our home place and bring it back to life.” 

Images courtesy of Ohio University

Covering fair labor for clean energy construction workers, this story is part of From the Frontline, a guest-contributed column where we hear directly from those who are impacted by climate change and fighting for action. If you're interested in contributing your perspective to this column, please get in touch with us here. 

Clean energy jobs are growing by the millions worldwide, showing that climate action can deliver on its promise of economic co-benefits. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough skilled workers to meet demand for a critical field. While nearly half of the workforce needed to meet 2030 decarbonization goals are in construction, more than 92 percent of U.S. electric power generation companies currently struggle to find construction employees.

This isn’t just a U.S. problem either. According to the latest World Energy Employment Report, it’s a global challenge. Construction workers are key to realizing our vision for a sustainable future. How can we honor their value and ensure a skilled and fulfilled workforce?

Casting a wide and inclusive net to meet demand for clean energy construction workers

Clean energy construction requires specialized training in areas like electrical work and wind turbine installation. Breaking down barriers to learning these skills is a necessary first step. Paid apprenticeships — now incentivized through tax credits in the U.S. — allow trainees to gain skills while getting paid. Childcare and transportation vouchers can also make a huge difference for working parents or individuals without reliable transportation. Since skills from the fossil fuel industry are transferable to clean energy, tapping into this workforce benefits employers and provides a transition pathway for workers at risk of job losses.
 
A wide net also includes making space for historically marginalized communities. Re-entry programs like Homeboy Industries' Solar Panel Training Program provide a second chance for individuals transitioning from the criminal justice system who may otherwise have difficulty finding employment. In the U.S., women and Black workers are underrepresented across well-paying careers like wind turbine technicians and solar installers. Targeted and paid efforts like Solar Energy International’s Women in Solar Program can be applied internationally based on local diversity opportunities.

Green construction as a quality career path

Inclusive training and recruitment alone won’t solve labor shortages. Diverse workers should have access to progressive careers in construction, yet there are existing gaps. For example, while over 30 percent of clean energy construction laborers are Latinx, this lowers to 10 percent for construction managers. Employers will need to intentionally identify and correct these types of disparities.
 
Building a strong reputation means ensuring family-sustaining benefits and dignified working conditions. Globally, construction worker compensation can vary by a factor of up to 20, and wages in the renewable energy sector lag behind the fossil fuel industry by about 38 percent.

Following international guidelines like the Anker Methodology for a Living Wage ensures workers are fairly and competitively compensated, no matter where they live. If we truly respect the value of these workers, though, we can’t stop there. Coupling fair wages with additional benefits like paid time off, employer-sponsored healthcare, workers’ compensation insurance, and savings can enhance job quality and reduce costly turnover.
 
While blanket worker protections may have good intentions, marginalized workers like migrants are disproportionately vulnerable to exploitation and need targeted protections.

In the U.K., 1 in 3 migrant construction workers have worked for no pay. In oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, migrant workers face initial debts from recruitment fees and late payments. The Employer Pays Principle, which notes that no worker should pay to get a new job, was developed as a response to unfair recruitment fees for migrants. In the U.S., rates of injury or death are disproportionately higher in Latinx construction workers, many of whom are migrants.

Culturally competent training in different languages ensures that all workers are well-versed in safety and health protections, their legal rights, available grievance mechanisms, and procedures for remedy. 
 
Ironically, the labor needed to address climate change is also threatened by its very existence. Outdoor workers face disproportionate risk from unprecedented heat waves and wildfire smoke. Since global workplace protections vary, employers must implement proactive, mandatory outdoor safety standards, especially in regions prone to extreme weather. Recommended standards include proper acclimatization, mandatory water breaks, protective gear, training on symptoms of heat-related illness, and paid time off when conditions are deemed high risk.

Honoring workers by pledging accountability

Unions have a documented positive impact on labor conditions, but they’re not the only pathway for strong commitments. Mechanisms like Community Workforce and Project Labor Agreements provide mutually agreed-upon benefits and protections for union and non-union workers alike. Strong policies and ongoing due diligence are necessary to maintain accountability. Dedicated employers can advocate for high labor standards across their supply chain by requiring contractors and subcontractors to follow in their steps.
 
This issue is deeply personal to me. I come from a family of Mexican immigrants who moved to the U.S. in search of a better life. As a child, I lost my 26-year-old uncle to a construction site accident. He was working temporarily in the U.S. to support his newborn son. He deserved more protection than he was granted.

The industry should understand that the movement is not just about mitigating climate change — it’s about our moral imperative to protect people along with our planet. Our victory depends on construction workers. Why not treat them like they deserve?

Electric vehicles are key to decarbonizing road transport, a sector that accounts for around a sixth of global emissions. Kenya’s President William Ruto has an ambition to achieve 100 percent renewable power by 2030, and adopting low-carbon and efficient electric mobility systems will play a significant role.

Aiming for 5 percent of all registered vehicles to be electric-powered by 2030, Ruto set a target to have 200,000 electric motorcycles across Kenya before 2025. That’s compared to around 1,350 electric-powered vehicles on Kenyan roads today, with motorbikes accounting for 62 percent of those, according to a 2023 survey.

“The capital expenditure required to implement such large-scale adoption of electric vehicles is very high, so the question is: Where would the financing come from?” said Sebastian Mwaura, co-founder and CEO of the social enterprise YNA Kenya. The early-stage electric vehicle company is one of two winners of the U.N. Global Climate Action Awards announced at the COP28 climate talks last week. 

Financing mechanisms for scaling up clean energy investment in emerging economies were center stage at COP28. Africa, a developing continent home to 540 million people, is warming faster than the rest of the world, despite being responsible for a small fraction of global carbon emissions. Yet Africa received just 2 percent of global investments in renewable energy over the last two decades.

Ironically, the continent also holds more than half the raw materials needed to decarbonize global economies. It has 60 percent of the best solar resources globally, yet only 1 percent of installed solar photovoltaic capacity, for example. 

Crises like the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic limited Africa’s economic growth while its debt continued to rise at a rate four times higher than its gross domestic product, hitting $1.8 trillion in 2022, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Largely due to the rate at which its debt is rising, financing an energy transition or contributing to climate change solutions is practically impossible for Africa, a paradox that needs attention on a global level. 

YNA Kenya aims to find a solution that doesn’t rely on global aid. “We believe the financing solution for our enterprise is embracing Web3 blockchain technology, where someone in New York or Dubai or anywhere in the world can invest in Kenya,” Mwaura said. Web3 refers to the prospect of a new iteration of the internet based on blockchain, the digital ledger technology that creates an inalterable, secure record of transactions best known for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.   

To finance their startup, the YNA Kenya team created a carbon credit trading platform using blockchain, where companies can buy carbon credits to offset their emissions and investors can finance YNA Kenya by buying bulk carbon credits in advance at a lower price and then selling them at a profit. 

“We have created a system where you will be able to buy carbon credits generated by electric motorcycles,” Mwaura said. Onboard devices will track miles traveled by YNA Kenya’s e-cycles, so they only generate carbon credits when they’re in motion. “The data is posted on the blockchain platform, whereby you cannot edit or tamper with it, and it is traceable,” Mwaura explained.

Carbon credits have proven useful for mobilizing and directing capital into projects that promote the transition to net-zero emissions. However, having trustworthy and accurately monitored carbon credit data remains a challenge. While blockchain technology does offer potential to enhance transparency in carbon markets, it’s criticized because it is a fledgling system, it consumes a lot of energy, and it is difficult to integrate into central regulatory bodies.

Still, the startup already has backing and barter technology deals with Microsoft and Google. And it's seeking further investment to integrate its carbon market blockchain platform with a payment provider to allow for seamless currency exchange, Mwaura said.

With that financing, YNA Kenya aims to bring 12,000 electric motorcycles onto the road over the next five years, which it estimates will save 64,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. It has 20 bikes ready and plans to have 100 bikes at the start of next year. 

“Beyond having a fleet on the road, over the next five to 10 years, we hope to plug the ... gadget to every electric motorcycle in Africa,” he said, referring to the onboard device that tracks e-bike miles. “Then we become the marketplace for the carbon credits, which will be huge as the adoption for the electric motorcycles comes on board.”

What’s more, the riders for the startup’s first round of electric motorcycles will be exclusively women. “We have 20 women already signed up, and everyone wants to meet them! But, to ensure their security, we will hide their information and credentials,” Mwaura said. 

This is part of YNA Kenya’s Her Go program that aims to integrate women into the e-mobility sector. By mid-century, it is predicted that climate change could push up to 158 million more women and girls into poverty globally. The COP28 gender agenda calls for increased finance flows to women in regions most impacted by climate change.

YNA Kenya is also rolling out solar-powered, battery-swapping stations that will provide renewable energy for charging electric vehicles, reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources, and build the resilience of Kenya’s EV charging infrastructure.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has spearheaded the U.N. Global Climate Action Awards since 2011. This year, it saw applicants from 120 countries for projects that make communities more sustainable, resilient and equitable. 

The 2023 awards are in partnership with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to IRENA.

For the first time in almost three decades of United Nations climate talks, the central outcome of this year’s session (COP28) includes an agreement to transition the world away from fossil fuels. 

Around 85,000 participants attended COP28 to discuss the state of the climate crisis and negotiate how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Everyone was watching one particular sentence in the COP28 text. The final version calls for “transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050.” 

Amidst strong pushback from oil-rich nations against language they said attacked any source of non-renewable energy and their push for a focus on emissions rather than fuels, some have called this consensus a historic milestone. But how a just, orderly and equitable energy transition will be financed remains an unanswered question.

The transition away from fossil fuels

More than 80 countries came into COP28 saying they supported a global agreement to "phase out" fossil fuels. This language wasn’t included in the final text, leading to disappointment among many. Oxfam International, an organization focused on alleviating global poverty, for example, called the outcome “grossly inadequate.”

But the final text still fosters hope for others. “The Earth is down but not out, as countries agree to transition away from fossil fuels, but fall short of consensus on the full phase-out of coal, oil and gas at COP28,” said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, global climate and energy lead for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who served as president of the COP20 climate talks in Lima, Peru. “After three decades of U.N. climate negotiations, countries have at last shifted the focus to the polluting fossil fuels driving the climate crisis. This outcome must signal the beginning of the end for the fossil fuel era.”

The agreement completes the first Global Stocktake, an assessment done every five years to evaluate the world's progress in achieving the climate goals set in the 2015 Paris Agreement. The next step is for countries to include the outcomes in their own climate policies — specifically their greenhouse gas commitments under the Paris Agreement, formally known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, which are also updated every five years. These will be presented in Berlin in 2025 and subject to scrutiny. 

The agreement also included targets to triple renewable energy generation and double energy efficiency by 2030. “The inclusion of tripling renewables in the final COP28 text is unprecedented and signals the start of a massive clean energy revolution,” said Bruce Douglas, CEO of the Global Renewables Alliance. “It is the first time all nations have recognized renewable energy as the main solution to the climate crisis, representing a paradigm shift in the energy transition.”

Yet the final text was missing input from the Alliance of Small Island States, which didn’t make it to the room on time, according to a public statement it released on Wednesday. The alliance represents 39 small island developing states that are among the most at risk from climate change globally. They called for stronger language around a fossil fuel phase-out, with the statement reading: "We do not see any commitment or even an invitation for [countries] to peak emissions by 2025." But whether their presence would have changed the agreement by any significant measure is unlikely, said David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) International Climate Initiative.

Climate finance: Where will the money come from?

In total, $4.3 trillion in annual climate-related finance flows are needed by 2030 to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, according to the U.N. Where the financing to facilitate the energy transition away from fossil fuels will come from remains a big question.

“The agreement itself is not the highest or most ambitious outcome that we could have got out of the scope, because it does not address the finance package that is needed in order to help developing countries make the transition,” said Jamal Srouji, an associate in the WRI global climate program. “But it is a step forward and will be an important discussion at COP29.”

By 2030, $100 billion a year will be needed to address losses and damages caused by climate change. On day one of COP28, parties pledged $792 million toward the Loss and Damage Fund to support the countries most vulnerable to and impacted by climate change. 

“Finance is key to unlocking climate action,” said Stephen Cornelius, the deputy global climate and energy lead at WWF. “The many pledges we have heard at COP28, while welcome, are a drop in the ocean compared to what is needed. The funding pot will now need to grow by orders of magnitude to adequately help people in harm's way. The need for loss and damage and adaptation funding will only continue to rise rapidly if countries do not invest more in cutting emissions and phasing out polluting fossil fuels.”

COP28 reiterated the call for high-income countries to at least double their 2019 adaptation finance commitments by 2025. Some estimate this will only amount to $40 billion. 

“Developing countries, and the poorest communities, are left facing more debt [and] worsening inequality with less help and more danger and hunger and deprivation,” said Nafkote Dabi, Oxfam International’s climate change policy lead.“COP28 was miles away from the historic and ambitious outcome that was promised.” 

Unabated emissions, nature-based solutions, and carbon capture and storage dominate the conversation at COP28

The COP28 agreement urges countries to accelerate their phase-down of unabated coal power — meaning coal power with emissions that are not offset by something like carbon capture —  and “substantially reduce non-carbon dioxide emissions, including methane emissions, by 2030.” However, the text still “recognizes that transitional fuels can play a role in facilitating the energy transition,” allowing the continued use of fuels like natural gas.

“It is unfortunate that with the inclusion of the word ‘unabated’, the outcome suggests there is a considerable role for dangerous distractions such as large-scale carbon capture and storage and ‘transitional fuels,’” said Pulgar-Vidal of WWF. “This is not the case. For a livable planet, we need a full phase-out of all fossil fuels.”

There is much debate around carbon capture and storage technologies, especially when fought for by the oil industry. The final stocktake text doesn’t put strict guardrails on the use of carbon capture and storage, Srouji from WRI said. “This technology should be limited to hard-to-abate sectors and not be used as an argument to further delay the transition toward cleaner energy sources,” he added. 

In conjunction with the discussion of nature-based solutions at COP28, the text also “encourages the implementation of integrated, multi-sectoral solutions, such as land use management, sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems, nature-based solutions and ecosystem-based approaches” to protect, conserve and restore nature and ecosystems. But not all countries are taking that recommendation.

“Along with phasing out fossil fuels, nature is integral to effective climate action,” said Fernanda Carvalho, the global climate and energy policy lead at WWF. "It is disappointing to see countries not including the recommendation … to protect 30 to 50 percent of all ecosystems."

Looking toward COP29 in Azerbaijan

The next two years are critical to follow through with the negotiations agreed upon at COP28. Azerbaijan will host COP29 in November 2024, and Brazil will host COP30 in November 2025. The hope is that the scale-up of financing will be addressed at next year's talks, where setting a new collective goal on climate finance will be central to the conference.

Estée Lauder Companies has already surpassed its 2025 goals to spend more with Black- and women-owned businesses. 

As supplier diversity rises to the top of corporate agendas, nine out of 10 companies expect to maintain or increase their support for it, according to 2023 polling. This acknowledges the growing recognition among businesses that promoting diversity, equity and inclusion in supply chains not only aligns with values, but also boosts innovation, competitiveness and long-term sustainability. 

For companies that are falling short of their supplier diversity goals, it can be illuminating to look at how a business like Estée Lauder Companies — which owns brands like Estée Lauder, Aveda, Clinique and Smashbox — approached the challenge, exceeded its goals and continues to raise the bar.

“We believe that an inclusive and diverse supply network will help to stimulate economic growth within the communities where we live, work and source," said Mindi DeLeary, vice president of responsible sourcing for Estée Lauder Companies. “We think that it will create more jobs, support those communities and will also drive more innovation and competition in the marketplace. There’s also a strong business play, an advantage for us as a company in terms of bringing in diversity of ideas and diversity of solutions.”

The company spent $44 million with Black-owned businesses in 2023, a 120 percent increase over 2020, and spent $162 million with women-owned businesses, according to its latest Social Impact and Sustainability Report. Achieving these results grew out of a strategic approach to embed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)  across the business, DeLeary said. That includes establishing the infrastructure to capture, measure and build on progress, and maintaining a steady and high-quality pipeline of diverse suppliers through collaboration with supplier diversity organizations and its industry peers.

Making supplier diversity a company-wide commitment

The emphasis on supplier diversity at Estée Lauder Companies starts at the top, with its racial equity steering committee and gender equity task force, both with representation by senior leaders in the company.  The company also educates its supply chain and research and development teams about supplier diversity through the Value Chain Conscious Inclusion Program.

“Our partnership with executive leaders across the company and their full buy-in and support has enabled us to make and exceed our public commitments in the space, driving more transparency and accountability,” DeLeary said.

Supplier diversity is fully integrated into the company’s Global Procurement strategy. Yet its brands, regions and functions have the flexibility to create their own supplier diversity  goals and initiatives,leveraging toolkits from the company to help identify an inclusive cross-section of suppliers. 

A steady stream of educational and awareness-raising activities also keeps the conversation centered on supplier diversity, including regular spotlights on diverse suppliers on the company intranet.

“It's important that we create that culture from a decision-maker perspective, so that every employee can actively contribute to growing diverse and small suppliers,” said Ashley Gabb, the company’s director of supplier inclusion and diversity. “The spotlight series on our diverse suppliers, for example, raises awareness of who is in our supply base and gets folks to reach out to us to learn more.”   

She and her team also partner with key decision-makers across the company around supplier diversity goals they can implement as part of their everyday work. For example, Gabb’s team worked with the senior vice president for the North America supply chain to set up a strategy for increasing the diversity of transportation and logistics suppliers, including matchmaking sessions with new diverse suppliers.

The company also partners with its employee resource groups (ERGs) to expand supplier diversity. During Black History Month in 2023, it  partnered with the New York-New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council and its Black employee resource group, NOBLE, to discuss how minority-owned suppliers can gain access to opportunities at the company.

All of these efforts have “created this pull where now we have people from brands and functions and regions reaching out, asking how they can participate,” DeLeary said. “And for the procurement, the emphasis on diversity has helped align everybody to the vision and understanding that it's not just about the best cost or the best quality or the most innovation, but also about sustainability and supplier inclusion and diversity. This isn't the procurement of 20 years ago that was just about driving cost. We're really focused on creating value within the business.”

A solid foundation to build and capture progress

Another contributing factor to success at Estée Lauder Companies is the Supplier Inclusion and Diversity registration portal launched in 2022, where prospective diverse or small businesses can register to be included in the company’s database of potential suppliers.

The portal is a way to not only look at increasing spend but also growing the number of diverse suppliers in the company’s supply base year over year,  Gabb said. “We want to ensure we are including suppliers in new opportunities and exposing them to new parts of the business, so they can work with other brands, regions and functions within the company.”

As a result, Estée Lauder Companies now has diverse suppliers and small businesses across all categories in procurement, Gabb added. “They're very much a part of the way we work and how we create our products,” she said “We see the firsthand benefit of it, and a lot of our suppliers have been with us for a very long time.”

Beyond the benefit for individual small businesses, partnering with suppliers that are often overlooked by large companies also benefits communities and society at large. “When we include diverse suppliers, there is a societal impact. When we're working with them, our diverse suppliers end up growing their business, and their employees end up growing the communities that they live in,” Gabb said. “ “Another unique component of our program is that we don’t just look at our spend with diverse suppliers, but we also work with some of our non-diverse suppliers to make sure that they're also subcontracting to diverse suppliers. That has a ripple effect on the economy.”

Partnering to maintain a flow of diverse suppliers

These supplier diversity efforts are going international. That includes a partnership with Minority Supplier Development U.K. (MSDUK), the country’s leading supplier diversity advocacy organization,  to increase spend with small and diverse businesses. And in 2023, it partnered with WeConnect International, a global network that connects women-owned businesses to qualified buyers, to train the procurement teams in Germany, Switzerland and France.

“Partnering regionally is very important because we can go to our partners to share out opportunities,” Gabb said “They'll tell us who's a great fit, give us any recommendations, and that additionally helps us grow the spend on diverse suppliers.” 

Overcoming challenges

Sometimes the company’s Supplier Diversity team is challenged to overcome employee misconceptions about the capabilities and costs of working with diverse suppliers. They might assume, for example, that working with diverse suppliers is more costly or could mean sacrificing quality or innovation, Gabb said.

When those concerns arise, “We make it clear that we select our diverse suppliers based on them being qualified and able to provide innovation and competitive solutions. There’s no cost there,” Gabb said. “Sometimes there is a misconception, too, that all diverse suppliers are small businesses. We work with very large, multinational, diverse-owned businesses, so we always want to tell that story. That is why having conversations heralding the work of diverse suppliers, sharing their capabilities, creating matchmaking sessions, and raising awareness is so important.”  

While interest in supplier diversity has grown markedly over the past three years, diverse spend remains highly concentrated: 80 percent of companies have less than 5 percent of their purchases with diverse suppliers, according to a 2023 report. A high concentration of spend with a smaller number of suppliers represents a risk to businesses, the report noted. If there is concentration of spend with a few suppliers, industries may miss the opportunity to develop new suppliers and have a bigger impact.

For Estée Lauder Companies, a key to success has been avoiding precisely that risk, Gabb said. It consciously cast its net far and wide, involving everyone in the shared goal of supplier diversity — from top leadership, to employees, to advocacy organizations that  can support a pipeline of diverse suppliers — all of which has been instrumental in achieving its supplier diversity goals.

We all know changing financial providers can be a hassle. But more and more Americans are braving the paperwork and dreaded time on hold with customer service to move from one bank, insurer or pension provider to another. One of the reasons why might surprise you. While cost and returns remain key, for a growing cohort of consumers there’s a new reason to switch brands: sustainability.

More than half of U.S. consumers think it’s “important” or “very important” for financial service providers to act responsibly when it comes to society and the environment. And they're voting with their wallets. Banks, general insurers and pension providers lost $17 billion in 2023 as consumers switched to industry competitors they perceived as more sustainable.

That’s according to an upcoming report from the research technology company Glow, in collaboration with TriplePundit, our parent company 3BL and panel partner Cint, that asked more than 3,000 U.S. consumers how sustainability impacted their purchase decisions across 12 industries. Glow combined the survey findings with other data and previous analyses to put a monetary value on the cost of consumers switching brands for sustainability reasons. 

"Sustainability programs are often seen as discretionary, making it difficult for executive teams to commercially justify the ongoing investment when the economic backdrop becomes more challenging," said Tim Clover, CEO of Glow. "This report uses robust data to highlight the risks and opportunities of sustainability when consumer switching is taken into consideration."

More than 15 percent of survey respondents said they switched their bank, pension or insurance provider over the past 12 months because of their social or environmental behavior.

In each of these sectors, a third or more respondents said social and environmental considerations were either "a significant influence" or "the single most important reason" for choosing at least some of the financial services they use.

And that's only the start: Over half of consumers expect sustainability and social responsibility to have more impact on their choice of financial providers next year than they do today. 

“Consumers are increasingly factoring social and environmental considerations into their purchase decisions," said Mike Johnston, managing director of data products at Glow. "This report highlights the cohorts that care and identifies the barriers preventing more consumers from choosing sustainable brands. It will help leading brands justify their efforts and those less developed identify areas of opportunity."

So, what’s motivating consumers to seek out other brands, how do they determine which brands are sustainable, and what type of sustainability messaging resonates most with them? We'll take a closer look in the Size of Prize Report, set to publish in January 2024. Click here to be updated when it's released. 

The COP28 climate talks cast new attention on carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) strategies. Advocates point out that the Earth's natural sequestration systems are already overburdened, and some argue that large-scale, underground carbon sequestration facilities are needed to draw excess carbon dioxide from the air. However, their case is being undermined by others who advocate for new carbon sequestration technologies, including strategies that enhance the ability of nature to absorb excess carbon.

The case for carbon capture and sequestration 

Advocates for carbon capture and sequestration point to the simplicity, scale, long duration and reliability of the technology. ExxonMobil, for example, describes CCS as systems to capture carbon dioxide that “otherwise would be released into the atmosphere, and injecting it into geologic formations deep underground for safe, secure and permanent storage.” The company further claims the technology is "readily available" and "can significantly reduce emissions from sectors like refining, chemicals, cement, steel and power generation."

That reference to “geologic formations” is a bit disingenuous, though. In North America, for example, captured carbon is likely to be injected underground for the purpose of extracting more oil from mature wells. On November 2, ExxonMobil increased its position in the enhanced oil extraction industry when it announced the acquisition of the firm Denbury. 

The case against carbon capture and sequestration

Aside from its proven deployment in enhanced oil recovery, the case for carbon capture and sequestration is a shaky one on economic grounds. Critics argue that it is expensive compared to replacing fossil fuels with renewable resources. Instead of applying CCS to power plant emissions, they argue the technology should be reserved for heavy industries where the application of renewable energy is impractical.

A working paper published on December 4 by researchers at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment of Oxford University makes the economic case against carbon capture and sequestration for power plants. The authors note that the cost of CCS has not declined “at all” in 40 years, and it is not expected to decline significantly in the future.

That’s a sharp contrast with the cost of wind and solar power. Both plummeted in roughly the same period, and both are expected to continue declining in the coming years.

“Relying on mass deployment of CCS to facilitate high ongoing use of fossil fuels would cost society around a trillion dollars extra each year — it would be highly economically damaging,” said Rupert Way, honorary research associate at Smith.

Here in the U.S., the economic case against carbon capture for power plant emissions has been underscored by the FutureGen CCS project. Aimed at capturing and sequestering carbon emissions from a coal power plant in Illinois, FutureGen was announced in 2003 as a model for others to follow. The project was canceled in 2015 after private investors failed to match $1 billion in public funding. Plans to retrofit a coal power plant in New Mexico for CCS fell through after the plant closed in 2022.

Longstanding plans for a new carbon pipeline in the Midwest were withdrawn in September after opposition from residents and regulators. The pipeline would have transported carbon emissions from 30 ethanol plants to a central location in Illinois.

Making captured carbon irrelevant, eventually

In another wrinkle on the carbon capture issue, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology point out that conventional CCS systems at coal power plants are not designed to capture 100 percent of emissions. The goal of 90 percent has long been used as a technologically attainable and fiscally feasible benchmark. The researchers note that removing significantly more than 90 percent will require “a leap” to more expensive, energy-intensive technology.

Anything less than 100 percent capture would still enable high concentrations of carbon dioxide to escape into the atmosphere. In contrast, the technology for reducing power plant emissions by 100 percent is already at hand, in the form of wind, solar and other renewables.

The Smith researchers do foresee the need for carbon capture and sequestration to decarbonize heavy industries, including the very ones highlighted by ExxonMobil — with the exception of power plants, that is.

That may be necessary in the foreseeable future, but it could become irrelevant in the long run. New technologies that deploy renewable energy to decarbonize steel, cement making and other industries are already emerging.

The “green steel” movement, for example, deploys electric furnaces and green hydrogen produced from water and renewable energy instead of fossil fuels. The technology is supported by leading steel buyers including automotive stakeholders, as illustrated by Volvo and the Swedish green steel firm SSAB.

Two other industries mentioned by ExxonMobil, refining and chemicals, are also beginning to deploy green hydrogen as a replacement for captured carbon and other petrochemicals. One good example in this area is the ammonia industry, where the leading firm CF Industries is constructing the first carbon-free ammonia plant at commercial scale in North America.

The cement industry provides still another example. Innovators like Novacem are coming up with new formulas and deploying biofuels to develop cement with a carbon-negative profile.

The value of natural carbon capture systems

The strategy of planting more trees to capture and sequester more carbon has gained considerable traction in recent years. It has been undercut by concerns over commercial forest management issues, but a more sophisticated, nature-centered approach called forest landscape restoration has emerged. 

In addition, trees are not the only nature-based platforms for sequestering carbon. Agricultural soils have also been identified as platforms for carbon sequestration, reflecting lessons learned from Indigenous practices known today as regenerative agriculture. “There is a strong scientific basis for managing agricultural soils to act as a significant carbon sink over the next several decades,” one frequently cited study reads.

Though experts caution that transitioning millions of small farms around the world into restorative practices will be time consuming, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has already received an overwhelming response to its newly launched Partnerships for Carbon Smart Commodities program to promote soil carbon sequestration among farmers and ranchers.

Rocks are another untapped natural resource. The Scottish sequestration startup UnDo and the U.S. firm Eion, for example, have developed systems that accelerate the natural ability of molecules in rocks to attach to carbon.

These “enhanced rock weathering” systems typically involve crushing certain types of rock and strategically incorporating them into farmland. It is based on the same natural process that produces calcium carbonate, better known as limestone.

Next steps for sustainable carbon capture and sequestration

Aside from natural systems, new technologies that repurpose captured carbon to fabricate yarns and other products are also in play. Some of the innovators in this area include Aether (synthesized diamonds) and Restore Foodware (natural polymers facilitated by microbes) as well as the firm LanzaTech, which is developing a widely used chemical building block to replace petrochemicals in polyester and other products.

Just as renewable energy has decentralized and redistributed power generation, the carbon sequestration field is ripe with new opportunities for sustainable business development. Against this backdrop, betting the future of the Earth on high-cost, heavily subsidized and centralized technologies that enable fossil energy extraction to continue appears both ineffectual and out of date.