Search

Climate Week NYC, the annual gathering of climate leaders from the private, public and nonprofit sectors in conjunction with the United Nations and the city of New York, runs September 19 to 25, 2022 with this year’s theme: Getting It Done.

What’s on deck in NYC

This year's main program will have in-person events in New York City with sessions focused on the state of climate action, building equity into climate solutions, and what stops leaders from “getting it done." In addition to the main program, over 500 events in New York and across the world will center around 10 themes: the built environment, energy, environmental justice, transport, finance, sustainable living, nature, policy, industry and food. 

The main program will include high-profile leaders sharing their expertise. For example, the equity panel features experts such as Macky Sall, president of Senegal and chair of the African Union; Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank; Ezgi Barcenas, chief sustainability officer for AB InBev; and Alexandra Palt, chief corporate responsibility officer and executive vice president of L’Oréal. Climate Week will tackle issues related to designing effective, equitable and inclusive projects and how to scale up investment.

As with similar international events, the side events are often where much of the on-the-ground discussions happen as well as sharing lessons learned and best practices. The events range from in-person in New York to virtual sharing sessions and run the gamut of issues covered within the 10 themes. Events include both practical information sharing as well as exhibits showcasing climate-related art, including plays and visual arts.

Continuing to look through the climate justice lens, events cover a variety of topics. The New York Department of Energy will have experts to talk about solar for schools as well as a panel of female experts from African nonprofits to discuss the preparation for the upcoming Conference of Parties (COP) climate negotiations in Egypt in November. Another event features representatives from local nonprofits discussing how to transform Rikers Island, an infamous prison scheduled for closure, into sustainable infrastructure. Several other events include speakers from South America discussing different equitable solutions to Amazonian challenges. Though these events are often local in nature — that is, sharing often hyper-local examples — it is these types of discussions which can lead to partnerships or inspire ideas how to solve challenges elsewhere. 

What 3p hopes will be covered during Climate Week (but will it?)

The fact that climate justice is prominent as one of the three pillars of the main program is encouraging. However, for climate justice to be successful, at some point it needs to be better integrated with approaching other leading social justice challenges. Much like corporate sustainability becomes better integrated into a company’s overall strategy by moving it from a standalone unit into a central unit like finance, integrating equity throughout the climate discussion enmeshes it into all climate solution conversations. Rather than setting equity to the side to talk about schools, for example, a more comprehensive approach might center the solar discussion in energy and have equity as a necessary part of the equation. People interested in equity will attend the events focused on those issues, but an energy engineer might not necessarily think to do so. If that same engineer attends a solar event that includes equity issues, it can help to integrate the topic into the mainstream.

Similar and yet given much less focus at Climate Week is water. Water and energy are inextricably linked, yet they are often separated in climate and environment conversations. The water sector offers a significant opportunity for reducing emissions (as well as the energy and agriculture sectors offering significant water benefits), and yet they are not a theme or even given a prominent position at this year’s Climate Week. Like equity, water runs through every climate topic. The nature theme covers issues like nature-based solutions, but there is no event focusing on the climate benefits of addressing water issues (including where it connects to energy).

No event can be everything, and that’s definitely true about Climate Week

Climate conferences have to make choices about what to cover — what are high-profile, high-reward issues but also what are topics they could cover that could garner additional investment dollars. Climate Week is often seen as the setup to COP a few months later — the Golden Globes to the Oscars big event. Lessons learned, best practices shared and relationships formed will often solidify in the pressure cooker of negotiations and side hall conversations. Climate Week 2022 will cover a lot of ground in a few days. Hopefully, equity and water flow through the conversations. Even if concrete actions are not the end result of the conference, the undercurrent of solutions to some of the toughest climate challenges can help shape what we’ll see heading into COP27 in November.

Image credit: Markus Spiske via Pexels

Last month Mindy Lubber, president and CEO of Ceres, published an op-ed denouncing the current effort by certain state governments to undermine the business operations of companies that seek to minimize their risks associated with climate change and water scarcity. 

Since the publication of the op-ed, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis passed a resolution prohibiting the state’s pension fund from considering environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues when making decisions about investments. He joined a growing number of state government officials looking to meddle in the free market. 

Why are a growing number of state officials looking to curb businesses’ ability to make investment decisions based on climate risk? “Sadly, they’re turning straight economic issues into politics, and it’s bad for the economy," Lubber told TriplePundit. "Addressing climate risk is economic. Water shortages are a material risk. So, when people are saying that integrating climate risk into economic analysis, it has to be political.”   

Which states are involved? 

The list of states implementing or considering anti-ESG legislation is growing. “Texas, Florida, and West Virginia are egregious examples, and they’re coming at it in different ways," Lubber noted. "Some are suggesting pension funds cannot be invested in anything acting on climate. Some are going after ratings agencies. Some are going after [BlackRock CEO] Larry Fink, because his analysts look at the implications of climate risk and they make decisions based on those numbers. And finally, some attorneys general are even suggesting that because investors are working together to address climate change that they are behaving in a manner that is collusionary. These are serious roadblocks that get in the way of addressing real climate peril.”

Though the backlash to ESG investment is fairly recent, some states are already beginning to see an economic fallout from their attempts to tamper with the free market. “In Texas, lawmakers told five of the largest bond underwriters that they couldn’t do business there because they were boycotting fossil fuels," Lubber told us. "The truth was, they had not boycotted. Perhaps they took coal out of their portfolio or recognized climate change as a material risk, but they did not boycott fossil fuels. This decision caused Texas to go with a more expensive and less experienced underwriter, and now it is going to cost the state millions more because their assumptions were based on faulty data.” 

Mindy Lubber: Ignoring climate is bad for business and humanity

The economic impacts of climate change can be catastrophic. “Telling analysts not to consider climate risk or water shortage risk is skewing the markets in unfortunate ways that will not get good results," Lubber said. "Levi Strauss lost 3 percent of share value when cotton crops died. Due to the drought in California, many farms could only operate at a 50 percent capacity. Thousands of workers were laid off, and grocery stores had to charge more to the consumer. We were not prepared.”

While the economic impact of climate risk is both grave and severe, Lubber also emphasized that making climate-smart business decisions is a moral imperative. “We are building a world for our children that is unfathomably bad," she told us. "If there was a bus coming at our kids, we would jump in front of that bus. There is a bus. It’s hitting now. The droughts are now. The floods are now.” 

She went on: “This is about economics, and this is about morality. Losing $110 billion due to climate disasters is economic, but look at the floods in Pakistan. That is about their humanity, as well as economics. Thousands of people were killed. People lost homes and businesses today. They lost their chance at an economic future. This is about our shared humanity and our future and our planetary limitations.”

Corporate leaders must address their impact immediately. Lubber said, “Expectations have risen. Net-zero by 2040 is no longer good enough. Corporate goals have got to be grounded in explicit plans with explicit metrics and accountability, and corporate leaders should stand up and make the case that politics has no place in their economic analysis.” 

Investors also have a key role in the future of climate-smart finance. “Investors are excellent spokespeople because they want the companies to thrive and do well," Lubber explained. "When they meet with companies and ask them to manage climate and water risk and ask for a plan, the whole intent is to make the companies stronger, richer and do well over the long term.”

Policy is key 

While individual corporations moving toward climate-smart business strategies is laudable, Lubber said, “The reality is that we cannot solve this problem without moving at an entirely different scale and pace. It’s too slow to do without policy. The Inflation Reduction Act was a great success. We are also working with the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)] on a new rule, because companies must disclose their climate risk. We have to have good policy that gets everyone to a net zero future.”

Editor: Additional perspective from Mindy Lubber is available on Forbes.

Image credit: Justin Wilkens via Unsplash

A senior engineer and practicing Muslim at a major Silicon Valley corporation wanted to block time on his calendar each week to attend Friday prayers. He was told: “We don’t do religion here.” Across the Valley at Salesforce – a cloud-based software company – he heard they do. 

It wasn’t long before he was there, and his previous firm was doing a serious rethink of their no-religion policy.

More than ever before, employers big and small are wrestling with issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Much of this work has been – rightly – focused on supporting, empowering, and celebrating their employees of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities, among others.

Some employers, like the engineer’s previous Silicon Valley employer, have shied away from including religion as a part of DEI, seeming to believe that the concept of separation of church and state applies to the workplace and marketplace. Some employers are fearful that such a focus would import political culture wars into the company, inflaming tensions and deepening divisions. 

My experience shows the opposite to be true – that including a focus on faith can reinforce other areas of DEI, as well as increase trust, engagement and, ultimately, profitability. 

In my leadership with the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation, I have seen firsthand how top Fortune 500 companies have included religion within their DEI initiatives – including household names such as American Airlines, Intel, Dell, PayPal, , Target, Tyson Foods, AIG, Google, American Express, Ford, Intuit, Accenture, and more. All score highly on our annual Corporate Religious Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (REDI) Index. And all see more payoffs than problems with religious inclusion.

The Foundation set out to explore the workplace religious freedom movement because it is a very hopeful model for society at large. 

As migrants from around the world have brought their faith with them, and a growing share of Americans claim no particular religion, the U.S. has become much more religiously diverse than just a few decades ago. When most people were Christian, it was hard to see how religion fit into DEI – but today, walk down the halls of any top company, and you’ll see the United Nations in miniature. The old rationale for not including faith in DEI no longer makes sense. Christians of all denominations are increasingly realizing that they are also a part of this rich pluralism. And that’s led to a breakthrough.

The union of religion with DEI is proving successful for businesses by helping coworkers better understand and work with their teammates, and helping companies better understand their clients, customers, and stakeholders.

Many religious DEI efforts are facilitated through company-sponsored, employee-led faith-and-belief-based Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). 

At the Intel Corporation, the lead of the global Intel Bible-based Christian Network ERG took the initiative to form an interfaith coalition with the other religious ERGs (Baha'i, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh) – as well as the “Agnostics, Atheists, and Allies at Intel” ERG. The good will among these groups is evident in their day-to-day work. For example, when a member of the Christina ERG from Christian-majority Costa Rico was assigned a big project in Muslim-majority Malaysia, the Christian lead connected him with the Muslim lead to learn more about Muslim culture, resulting in stronger business success. 

Salesforce’s customer relationship management solutions have become a top tool for faith-based organizations. Customers include Islamic Relief Worldwide, which helps provide care for orphans around the world, the Salvation Army, which uses the Salesforce platform to coordinate and manage disaster relief, and Compassion International, which uses Salesforce to coordinate response to violent attacks globally. Salesforce didn’t set out to be a faith-based ministry support tool, but its "Faithforce" ERG gives the company religious literacy and competency to expand in this huge market. 

To be fully successful, DEI cannot just be transactional, or about fulfilling program metrics – it operates at its best when utilized to foster authentic connections between people. These connections are key to ensuring a company’s ultimate success. 

A fabulous video introducing Google’s Inter Belief Network (IBN) puts it this way: “IBN is not about reducing anyone’s beliefs down to a common denominator, it’s about being fully authentic and celebrating the differences that make us unique.”

The Religious Freedom & Business Foundation’s research has found that when faith is included in DEI, it reinforces and expands the work of other diversity groups – what we refer to as a religion dividend. One example is Dell Technologies’ Interfaith ERG campaign to educate its global workforce about the scourge of human trafficking. The Interfaith ERG realized this was not just an issue affecting religious communities, but every community. They invited all 13 of the company’s other diversity ERGs, including Pride, Women, Abilities, Veterans, Race, etc., to join them in the campaign, representing the first time in Dell’s history to see a pan-ERG global initiative. 

The business world’s success with this initiative has proven how the inclusion of religion benefits individuals, workplaces, and society. Religion can be included in other areas and sectors to help foster diverse ideas – such as with programs like the Faith and Media Initiative, which aims to bridge a union between two fractured sectors. I am thrilled to be a part of FAMI, which is working to facilitate better relationships and deeper understanding between media and communities of faith – and in so doing, bring a new focus to a wide range of ways in which faith touches our daily lives, including at work.

Ensuring faith has a seat at the table – in business, society, media, and more – is how we can improve and enhance diversity of thought and connections. If people want to truly feel accepted and included in their workplace, and if employers want fully empowered workforces, religion has to play a part in that inclusion as well.

Interested in having your voice heard on 3p? Contact us at editorial@3BLMedia.com and pitch your idea for a guest article to us.

Image credit: Noah Holm via Unsplash

In an effort to recruit and retain talent, companies are increasingly developing employee engagement programs centered on wellness as well as personal and career growth. As opposed to — or in addition to — Thursday night bowling leagues, more companies are adopting human resources strategies that strive to address all aspects of their employees’ lives. The result is a framework that seeks to secure employees’ work/life balance alongside encouraging their professional development.

To that end, BMC Software is among the companies adopting the total rewards approach as a strategy to reframe compensation while recognizing the worth and contributions of employees. The concept driving total rewards is based on the popular Maslow's hierarchy of needs, an idea in psychology proposed by American Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper, "A Theory of Human Motivation." Decades later, Maslow’s theory has transformed into a workplace model with five pillars: benefits, compensation, professional development, employee recognition and well-being. 

A holistic approach to letting employees know they are valued

A more holistic compensation and career growth plan is what inspired BMC’s human resources team to adopt the total rewards framework. To start, the program allows for an integration of standard and more creative employee benefits with targeted personal growth opportunities that together acknowledge, and of course, reward, employees’ contributions to BMC’s growth.

At a time when many employees across the U.S. feel like management does not fully appreciate their efforts and contributions, the very notion of recognition is integral to driving a successful total rewards program. Concurrently, an emphasis on personal development allows employees to own their progress and advancement in personal and work goals. Within the total rewards model, personal goals might include continuing education, whereas work-related goals could include opportunities to cross-train on various functions across different departments.

The implementation of total rewards at BMC evolved over time based on industry competitiveness and social responsibilities, Lynn Moffett, vice president of human resources at BMC, told TriplePundit. “We communicate our benefits message through various means: employee gatherings with all-hands-on-deck, through manager communication, employee email, and our website,” she said.

Next-gen benefits that can appeal to any employee

Balancing family responsibilities with the demands of the office, i.e., well-being, is one tenet of total rewards.

For example, BMC’s Milk Stork program benefits mothers who are transitioning back to the workplace after childbirth. The benefit includes kits with breast milk storage bags, a refrigerated box for packing, and a tote if mothers choose to carry milk with them. 

Backup care advantage plans offer in-home and center-based backup childcare and eldercare at a subsidized rate for up to 10 times a year. BMC also offers adoption assistance of up to $5,000 to help pay agency fees, court fees and other adoption-related expenses. Pet insurance, identity theft protection and gym club reimbursements round out an extensive list of offerings at BMC and other companies that have adopted a suite of total rewards benefits.

Additional well-being benefits include time off to participate in family activities such as a child’s sporting event or school activity, as well as allowances for remote work and flexible work schedules.

Bottom line, total rewards help further motivate and inspire employees who aspire to, meet and exceed company objectives. Whereas compensation traditionally refers to income, BMC’s adaptation of total rewards means that benefit options are for everyone, separate from compensation and promotions that may be tied to performance. 

“We care about making the employees’ overall work experience rewarding from a holistic point of view,” Moffett told us. “These benefits make us competitive in the talent marketplace.”

Investments in total rewards can pay off for both the company and employee

The commitment to this total rewards strategy has paid off for BMC based on the company’s internal surveys.

Its most recent polling found that 81 percent of BMC employees believe their manager trusts them to carry out the responsibilities of their role. At a time when dissatisfaction with managers and corporate culture has helped fuel the “Great Resignation,” 83 percent of employees said they felt engaged with BMC. And communication along with trust have continued to thrive across the company, as 83 percent of employees felt their managers gave them useful feedback. 

The flexibility provided by a company-tailored rewards program allows for adjusting pay structures, bonuses or benefits, even on a temporary basis, to reflect business priorities or rapidly changing competitive landscapes. Hybrid or remote working might be as much an employee benefit during this season of high gas prices as it was during the pandemic. In fact, having learned the lessons of working from home, the same options can become a way of managing any number of environmental emergencies such as hurricanes or blizzards, thereby avoiding the risk of a company shutdown.

In addition to rewards, a company must foster an inclusive and equitable culture, too

A commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion has long been one of BMC’s core values — and here is where total rewards helps the company stay on track of such progress.

One of the more important aspects of total rewards is securing an inclusive culture within the office in which everyone feels as if they belong and knows that their contributions matter — and that everyone is treated equally and equitably.

“Even if an inclusive culture doesn’t make common sense to business leaders—although frankly, it should—it surely makes strategic sense, proven in a wealth of data,” said Kelley Butler, an award-winning journalist and marketing director, who has spent most of her career in the employee benefits space. “Organizations with inclusive cultures, programs, policies, and practices are far more likely to have a better corporate reputation than those without such a focus. And with the Great Resignation still surging after nearly 18 months, show me an organization that couldn’t stand to get a reputation boost — especially as it pertains to DEI. Research indicates that most candidates consider DEI when deciding whether to pursue or accept a job.” 

With regard to pay equity, salary data sets from industry best practices, surveys and benchmarking are among the tools the BMC global compensation team uses to ensure that compensation and benefits together bolster the company’s competitiveness and compliance.

Employees at BMC are buying into total rewards as a way to build inclusion: A recent employee survey showed that 84 percent of employees feel the company cares about having a diverse workforce. 

“Employers see an internal benefit when they focus on and invest in building a culture of inclusion,” Butler explained. "Diverse and inclusive teams have been shown to yield stronger collaboration, connection, loyalty, and innovation. And employees who report feeling a sense belonging at work perform better and take fewer sick days than those who report feeling marginalized. The cost to implement inclusive benefit programs and workplace policies is frosting in comparison to the returns organizations stand to gain in reputation, recruiting, and retention.”

One of the biggest benefits of a thoughtful DEI program combined with the total rewards strategy comes down to a simple bottom line: “Employers who care about the well-being of their employees win in the marketplace,” Moffett concluded.

This article series is sponsored by BMC Software and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team. 

Image credit: Christina @ wocintechchat.com via Unsplash 

More than one-third of Pakistan is now underwater as the country faces catastrophic flooding. At least 1,300 people have died, a third of which are children, and the death toll is expected to rise. The floods were partially caused by both an intensified monsoon season with increased rainfall, and glacial melt, fueled by a drastic increase in temperature causing glaciers and snow to melt rapidly. 

Flooding in Pakistan, explained

Pakistan has more glaciers than any other area outside of the polar regions. Rising temperatures are causing them to melt and the glacial runoff is rapidly entering waterways already swollen from the monsoon rains. The resulting floods have been disastrous. Snow and ice from Himalayan glaciers are melting at a rate at least ten times faster than the average rate in previous centuries. Additionally, 2022 brought about the highest levels of rainfall that Pakistan has seen in decades, more than 780 percent higher than average. More than 20 dams have been breached in the country this year. 

Additionally, some of the flooding in Pakistan has been the result of a phenomenon known as “glacial lake outbursts.” In high altitudes, water from glacier melt can form lakes inside of the ice. When there is too much water added to these lakes too quickly, through runoff or rainfall, the ice holding in the water can burst, causing dangerous and extreme floods. Pakistan averages about six glacial lake outbursts annually, but the country has already seen at least 12 this year.

Who should pay for climate disasters? 

Pakistan is disproportionately affected by climate change relative to its contribution to the problem. The country emits a miniscule fraction of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, leading Pakistani authorities to question who should foot the bill for climate disasters. At the 2009 U.N. summit in Copenhagen, leaders of wealthy nations pledged to funnel $100 billion annually to less-wealthy nations, including Pakistan, by 2020 to help them adapt to climate change. $100 billion would not have come close to covering the full cost of climate adaptation, which is estimated to be in trillions of dollars; in any event, wealthy countries have since backed out of even this commitment. Now, Pakistan is asking wealthy nations to fulfill the pledge they made more than ten years ago and provide funding for lower-income nations to adapt to climate change. 

Aamir Khan, Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the U.N., said, “Developing countries, whilst not responsible for the majority of emissions today, too often bear the brunt of climate change impacts. The specific challenges faced by the developing countries in climate change must be recognized.” Pakistan has emitted approximately 0.4 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions since 1959, compared to 21.5 percent by the United States. 

Pakistani authorities have issued an emergency appeal for humanitarian aid as the death toll is expected to continue rising. Current estimates show that the floods have destroyed almost 1,900 miles (more than 3,000 kilometers) of roads, 130 bridges and almost half a million homes. Officials are already worrying about food insecurity as approximately 800,000 livestock were killed and more than 4 million acres of cropland have been damaged. Government officials estimate that over half of the country’s crops have been washed away, as they brace for a food shortage. 

Some western leaders are calling for high carbon-polluting countries to cover the cost of climate change-related damage and future adaptations in lower-income and low carbon-emitting countries. British Member of Parliament Claudia Webbe wrote on Twitter, “Pakistan is responsible for 1 percent of global emissions. It’s completely wrong that it has to bear the brunt of climate change. The super rich caused the climate crisis. The super rich should bear the cost.”

The U.S. is historically the largest carbon polluter in the world, which is the leading cause of climate change, but the U.S., Australia and other wealthy countries oppose payments.

Current estimates indicate that the economic cost of the current disaster in Pakistan is approximately $10 billion. The UN is working to coordinate an international humanitarian response, but so far, the U.S. has pledged only $30 million to relief efforts.

Pakistan’s future on a warming planet

Pakistan will become increasingly vulnerable to climate disasters as temperatures continue to rise, unless the world cuts emissions drastically and immediately. The world is currently experiencing 1.2 degrees of warming, and is on track to rise to more than two degrees Celsius. Even if the world limits global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a third of Pakistan’s glaciers would still likely melt. And, warming temperatures due to climate change are making extreme rainfall events more frequent.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is sounding the alarm and urging countries to aid in relief efforts in Pakistan. In a video statement he said, “The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids — the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding. Let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change. Today, it's Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country. As we continue to see more and more extreme weather events around the world, it is outrageous that climate action is being put on the back burner as global emissions of greenhouse gasses are still rising, putting all of us — everywhere — in growing danger.”

Image credit: Umar Farooq via Unsplash

It’s time we fix that broken record on the debate over renewable energy. Reports on the climate emergency are playing on repeat as different studies all arrive at the same conclusion: human activity is warming the planet and fossil fuels are the main cause.

We have the solution – we’re just reluctant to act on it. 

A new review from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) analyses over 600 peer-reviewed articles on 100 percent renewable energy systems. “The main conclusion of most of these studies is that 100 percent renewables is feasible worldwide at low cost,” the report determines.

100 percent renewable energy systems are feasible

Going back to the first 100 percent renewable energy system analysis in 1975, the report from IEEE looks at nearly fifty years of such studies.

Most of the studies center on solar energy and wind power being the driving forces of the system with limited input from bioenergy, hydropower, and geothermal activity. In all 100 percent renewable energy systems, there is no use of fossil fuels nor nuclear energy.

While the studies differ in methodology, “they consistently find that a global 100 percent RE system can be achieved by mid-century.”

The systems provide benefits beyond reduced GHG emissions. Reduced air pollution, reduced stress on water systems, added jobs in the energy system, and greater energy security are among the co-benefits of a 100 percent renewable energy system.

What are the critiques of renewable energy systems?

Aside from the fossil fuel lobby efforts that reject renewables purely on the sole basis of advancing their own financial interests, there are legitimate questions and concerns about renewable energy systems.

A lot of the pushback against renewables is that they aren’t economical. They may be too expensive or the return on such investments is not sufficient to compete with fossil fuels.

Energy return on investment (EROI) is a metric that divides the energy returned, by the sum of the investments to obtain that energy. The IEEE review posits that the EROI of fossil fuels is overestimated. In its golden age the EROI of fossil fuels may have been as high as 100, the review notes, but due to depletion and the number of different inputs needed before final end use, that figure is now likely below 10.

By comparison, the EROI of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems can be, “in the range of 15-60 for a technical lifetime of 30 years.” As well, the input costs of solar energy are continually dropping.

PV technology is continuing to advance, resulting in longer lasting, more efficient systems that cost less. 

Another critique of  going all-renewables is that the energy is variable. On a cloudy day, solar energy output will be low, the same for a calm day in a wind energy system. 

This critique is substantive, but there are several solutions to mitigate the variability problem. Renewable energy systems could employ oversized capacities, improve the ability of energy to be transferred within a grid, delay non-vital usage to times of low energy demand, employ energy storage options, or use power-to-x technologies where excess energy is converted to another feedstock like hydrogen for later use. 

“With every iteration in the research and with every technological breakthrough in these areas, 100 percent RE systems become increasingly viable,” the IEEE review states.

Another valid critique is that the raw materials needed for renewable energy systems will run scarce. There are concerns that with the acceleration of electric vehicle (EV) production, critical components of those batteries like nickel and lithium may reach their limits.

Producing batteries in a way that they can be 100 percent recycled will help mitigate this problem. As well, developing technologies could make lithium extraction from ocean water more affordable, where there is over 5,000 times more lithium than on land.

As raw materials become scarcer, there will be a need to develop components using more abundant minerals.

Widespread adoption is needed

Although governments are announcing their plans to transition to net zero emissions, they are slow to embrace the 100 percent renewable energy system research. The IEEE report suggests that large institutions are, “prone to institutional inertia,” and it can be difficult to persuade them to adopt new positions.

Even notable organizations such as the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are lagging in their approaches to support 100 renewable energy systems. 

“The latest progress for the IPCC and the IEA indicates a shift in the right direction, although there is still a long way to go.” 

Of course, institutions need to embrace the movement to renewable, but it goes all the way down to the individual. Everyone needs to embrace the clean energy transition.

Image credit: Pexels

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is looking to clean up the hydrogen supply chain, and it is casting a wide net. Natural gas and nuclear energy are part of the plan, but green hydrogen from renewable resources clearly has the edge.

New clean hydrogen hubs for the U.S.

Hydrogen is an attention-getter as a zero-emission fuel for cars, trucks, boats, locomotives and other vehicles. However, hydrogen plays a far larger role in the global economy. Fertilizer, food processing, toiletries and pharmaceuticals are among its many other uses.

To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the global economy must decarbonize the hydrogen supply chain. That would have been all but impossible just a few years ago, when natural gas was the primary feedstock for hydrogen production.

Most of the global hydrogen supply still comes from natural gas, but the picture has shifted in recent years. The game-changer is low-cost wind and solar power. With an economical source of zero emission electricity at hand, the global hydrogen economy is beginning to pivot towards electrolysis systems that push “green” hydrogen gas from water.

The Energy Department has been supporting research and development for the green hydrogen industry, and now it is taking the next step towards scaling up the commercial market. In June, the agency announced that it will provide $8 billion in funding to establish at least four Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs around the country.

The program is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and there is a catch. As much as the Energy Department appears to prefer green hydrogen from renewable resources, the law stipulates supply chain diversity.

The Energy Department’s funding announcement specifies that “at least one H2Hub shall demonstrate the production of clean hydrogen from fossil fuels, one H2Hub from renewable energy, and one H2Hub from nuclear energy.”

Although the law only requires one gas-based hydrogen hub, it also includes a geographic diversity clause aimed at opening the door to a second gas-friendly hub.

“Each H2Hub will be located in a different region of the United States and leverage energy resources abundant to that region, including at least two H2Hubs in regions with abundant natural gas resources,” the Energy Department explains.

The ‘clean’ hydrogen conundrum

The Energy Department will begin accepting hydrogen hub proposals this fall. In the meantime, various states are already racing to get their proposals on the boards.

Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia have already partnered up to propose a gas-friendly H2 hub with carbon capture. That makes sense in light of the considerable gas resources among all three states. Hydrogen production could also salvage plans for a new petrochemical hub in the Ohio Valley region. The Energy Department promoted the plan during the Obama administration, and it still has yet to be fully realized.

The Ohio Valley plan makes sense from the perspective of gas stakeholders. However, public opinion is working against natural gas, “clean” hydrogen or not. Part of the issue involves the powerful greenhouse gas methane, which escapes all along the natural gas supply chain from gas wells to transportation networks and storage facilities.

The potential for water contamination, as well other local environmental and health impacts, has also gathered more attention over the years. Among the documented impacts are an increased risk of low birthweight babies and childhood leukemia near gas fracking sites.

Green hydrogen has the edge

Given this dark backdrop, it is difficult to see growth in the market for gas-based hydrogen. Manufacturers are rushing to clean up their supply chains in response to consumer demand and sustainable policymaking. They are looking for ethical sourcing opportunities as well as decarbonization.

The Energy Department funding opportunity stipulates that successful H2Hub proposals will demonstrate a plan for economic viability that extends past the expiration date of their grant, and the emergence of competition from green hydrogen stakeholders could put a serious crimp in the Ohio Valley plans, and others like it.

Sitting cheek-by-jowl with the Ohio Valley region is the northeastern U.S., where massive offshore wind power resources could be called into play for green hydrogen production. Earlier this year, the coastal states of New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut joined forces to propose a green hydrogen hub. Maine and Rhode Island also joined as partners last week.

The northeastern hydrogen hub could also count on its nuclear fleet for an assist. Hydrogen and nuclear researchers have been investigating the potential for nuclear power plants to run more efficiently and economically under a grid scenario that includes more wind and solar, and green hydrogen production could help achieve that goal.

To be clear, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and Russia’s murderous rampage through Ukraine cast a long shadow over the safety and security of nuclear power plants. However, the possibility of shutting down all 90-odd of the remaining commercial reactors in the U.S. is a dim one, at least for the foreseeable future. In addition, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law also stipulates a role for nuclear energy in the clean hydrogen hub program.

More green hydrogen sources for the U.S.

To the extent that nuclear power plants can help accelerate wind and solar development while taking an edge away from natural gas in the clean hydrogen field, the northeast H2Hub partnership appears to have a huge advantage.

That could explain why other hub partnerships are hedging their bets with green hydrogen, whether or not they have fossil resources in hand.

Earlier this year, for example, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming announced a new H2Hub partnership that aims to leverage the region’s ample wind and solar resources, along with biomass. The proposal does open the door to fossil sourcing with carbon capture, but the massive ACES green hydrogen and energy storage project in Utah indicates that the coalition is heading in a more sustainable direction — one that more closely aligns with the demands of today’s consumers and business stakeholders.

Image credit: Pexels

When you think how the ocean covers more than 70 percent of the surface of our planet, and 40 percent of the world’s population (2.4 billion people) lives within 60 miles of the coast, it is baffling to know that in this day of advanced science and technology, billions of people still do not have access to safe drinking water, or for basic hygiene at home, or to water their crops. The need for an innovative solution to solve the water scarcity issue is more urgent than ever, which is why the work of the deep tech startup Manhat feels like an extraordinary breakthrough.

The company’s technology is crucial as it is estimated that by 2050, the Middle East and Africa will be home to about 3.4 billion people, propelling the need for increased water supplies, which are already a scarce resource in the region. 

Water, water everywhere, yet not a drop to drink

The ongoing lack of access to water is largely because sea water is locked in the form of salty water, relying on desalination to make it usable. Desalination is expensive and has environmental consequences. Only 3 percent of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is trapped in glaciers or otherwise unavailable for use. Rising sea levels coupled with erratic rainfall due to global warming are other reasons for water and food scarcity issues.

Although it has a long coastline, 80 percent of the United Arab Emirates' land is desert, making it one of the world’s most water-scarce countries.

“The agricultural sector is responsible for two-thirds of all water consumption in the UAE, and we don’t have natural fresh bodies of water. We have underground water which is not sufficient for sustaining our economy because it requires purification before usage. At the moment, the UAE depends on desalination, which is energy-intensive, contributes to CO2 emissions and produces brine,” explains Dr. Saeed Alhassan Alkhazraji, the founder of Manhat and a winner of the Water Europe Innovation Awards 2022. 

Dr. Alhassan added another challenge with desalination: “The waste brine is usually poured back into the oceans, which endangers aquatic life."

A deep tech solution to water scarcity in the UAE

The Emirati-founded deep tech startup has invented a solar water distillation technology that can produce usable water by trapping the lost evaporated water from the ocean. The startup’s solution involves placing a large greenhouse construct on the seashore, then relying on solar rays to heat the water so it evaporates (as shown above). After that, the ascending water vapor condenses when it touches the cooler side of the construct, being collected and stored as distilled water, with no waste, brine or emissions. 

This is incredible especially when you realize that the water evaporating from the Arabian Gulf is at least 84 cubic miles (350 cubic kilometers) per year, approximately ten times higher than the total desalinated water produced annually in the region, according to Manhat.

“Our technology is patented, and its novelty is its ability to produce water from open water surfaces (such as seas, rivers and lakes)," Dr. Alhassan says. "There is other technology that has been on the market for decades, but it has limitations including being based on land and producing brine. Since our technology is on open water surfaces, we only capture water vapor which doesn’t contain any salt, so we don't have to deal with brine which is harmful to aquatic life."

Manhat has tested various prototypes of its technology both anchored and floating. Both have been deployed around Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Abu Dhabi Ports and the developer group Alreem Island. Anchored devices have been installed into the concrete walls of the corniche [Abu Dhabi’s waterfront], whereas floating devices have been deployed on water surfaces. “We have been able to showcase the water production process without using any electricity, hence, zero carbon dioxide emissions.”

Water producing technology that integrates with floating farm solutions

The startup is also building floating farm solutions that integrate with their water distillation technology. 

“Once you can produce water sustainably, it opens the door for solving both water scarcity and food security, because availability of water is a prerequisite to agricultural activities on a large scale," Dr. Alhassan continues. "Our technology mimics the natural water cycle with zero carbon footprint or brine rejection. The water can be immediately used to irrigate crops which will benefit coastal countries and mitigate the looming threat of rising sea levels due to climate change."

Tackling the issue of food security, the Abu Dhabi government’s economic accelerator program, Ghadan 21, is focused on agriculture technology. Once fully deployed, the ag tech financial package is forecast to contribute $449.3 million to GDP, create 2,900 new jobs and contribute to the emirate's goal of increasing domestic food production by 40 percent.

“We are the only water technology that can be integrated to provide floating farm solutions," Dr. Alhassan says. "There are very few floating farms around the world and they all depend on grid water, either groundwater or water from desalination plants, which negatively impacts the environment.”

Currently in seed stage, Manhat is working towards funding its groundbreaking deep tech pilot. “Our next goal is to launch a pilot floating farm to grow mushrooms and generate revenue," he concludes. "We expect the pilot project to be constructed and evaluated over 12 to 18 months. After this evaluation period, we will expand our technology to cover other crops including wheat and rice. In five years, we would have technology to grow different crops of high commercial value. If we are successful, we will expand our technology globally."

Image credits: Manhat

Take a hike through the forests of the Pacific Northwest and it soon becomes apparent how centuries of mismanagement and poor wildfire prevention created a landscape littered with tinderboxes begging to ignite. Fire-starved land stretches for acres on end. Meadows are choked out by brush and encroaching pine trees. Replanted clear-cuts stand in dead row after dead row — a testament to both the ignorance and arrogance inherent in centuries of shoddy forest management. As a result, Indigenous communities are grappling with inordinately higher than average concentrations of smoke-filled air as wildfire seasons across the U.S. and Canada become more extreme.

While low-income communities of color tend to bear the brunt of air pollution in urban centers, wildfire smoke collects at higher concentrations in rural areas where it disproportionately affects Native and First Nations people. Compounding the problem: Many communities don’t have access to air filtration systems or the ability to upgrade homes and buildings. As a result, air quality improvements over the past couple of decades have largely passed by these rural communities.

It’s hard to know exactly how bad the smoke problem is in Indigenous communities due to a lack of sensors. Most monitoring is done in cities, after all. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a grant program to fund monitoring but its budget is the same as it was 20 years ago — before fire seasons hit current levels. Tribes have begun taking matters into their own hands and are installing their own low-cost sensors. “Because of that disparity in the funding, tribes are really doing what they can with the minimal support that they have,” Chris Lee, co-director of the Tribal Air Monitoring Support Center at Northern Arizona University, explained in Grist. As for the dangers to Indigenous communities, he insisted that it “is not going to be ‘if,’ it’s going to be ‘when’.”

Indeed, tribal communities are already suffering the effects of extreme levels of fine particulate matter in the air from wildfire smoke. As further explained on Grist, the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe in Minnesota usually gets an average of four air quality alerts per summer but last year they got 29. These alerts are only issued when the air quality index (AQI) is over 100 (for reference, “good” is below 50). On one of these days, a sensor on the reservation came back with a reading comparable to 667.2 AQI. Worse yet — the Karuk Tribe of California saw the AQI reach almost 1600 from fires in the West. For all of the data that we do have, there are many more communities who know they are being choked out by smoke but lack the information they need to protect themselves. 

Even with that data, rural communities are limited as far as what they can do to safeguard their health. A lack of air conditioning means people often have to choose between sweltering indoor temperatures and smoke blowing in through open windows. High rates of asthma and other chronic illnesses are only compounded by this, likely causing a cyclical effect, and leading to high rates of hospitalization and potentially premature death.

And it’s only going to get worse. Extreme fires are expected to increase by 14 percent as of 2030 – thanks to man-made climate change and land degradation – 30 percent a decade later and by half as of 2100.

The cruel irony is that these mega-fires might not even be possible if Indigenous people were allowed to practice the traditional forest and land management that previously offered wildfire prevention to what we now call the U.S. and Canada (and much of the world) from such devastation. Prior to the European invasion, tribes used controlled burns to clear brush which can act as tinder, return nutrients to the soil, prevent crowding and over competition for nutrients and water, sustain healthy forests, maintain meadows and open grasslands for wildlife such as buffalo, and prevent wildfires. 

The European American approach to wildfire prevention, on the other hand, has been an unmitigated disaster. Fire has historically been seen as a menace. Instead of adapting to the land and learning to live with good fire, settlers sought to extinguish it from the landscape entirely while drastically upending both the climate and the environment via clear-cuts and single-crop agriculture. The good news is that more scientists and politicians are finally starting to come around and see the value — nay, the necessity — of these cultural burns.

Still, as the 90-day ban on prescribed fires that was implemented back in May demonstrates, officials are skittish after the wildfires in New Mexico. But their inaction on wildfire prevention is only exacerbating the problem and allowing the acreage of fire-starved forests to grow. In the meantime, tribes are once again forced to pay the consequences of the government’s failure.

Image credits: Mark Divier via Unsplash; Riya Ann Polcastro