TIME100 2023 Climate Leaders on Technology
TIME100 2023 Climate Leaders on Technology
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00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 Renewable energy technologies,
00:11 which get a fair amount of attention,
00:14 are actually not widely available all across this planet.
00:18 The truth is the wealthiest countries in the world
00:20 are putting huge subsidies in place
00:23 to help their economies electrify in a more green manner.
00:27 Whereas most of the world's nations,
00:29 70 to 80 countries that over the next 20 years
00:33 will account for 75% of future carbon emissions
00:36 are still stuck on coal, heavy fuel oil,
00:39 and diesel generators.
00:40 And until we make those renewable energy technologies
00:43 truly available to everyone,
00:45 we will not succeed at winning
00:48 the fight against climate change.
00:49 - One area that is not getting the attention
00:51 and funding it deserves is energy efficiency,
00:54 whose vast potential is not being tapped into
00:57 by businesses, policy makers, and society as a whole.
01:01 The important thing to remember
01:03 is that we may have built things incorrectly,
01:06 optimized to the wrong constraints,
01:08 or built them wastefully,
01:10 but human ingenuity is limitless.
01:12 We can redesign and optimize to the relevant constraints
01:17 of the carbon budget, greenhouse gas emissions,
01:20 resource use, and water shortages.
01:23 - Really looking at our aging infrastructure
01:26 and thinking about grid modernization,
01:28 about transmission lines,
01:29 is one of the most important things that we can do.
01:33 And it's going to allow us to be able
01:35 to grow the supply of renewable energy
01:38 and to really get at climate change much quicker.
01:42 And we don't talk about it because it's complicated.
01:45 It is tied up in a lot of regional issues
01:48 and power dynamics and local issues.
01:51 And it has big upfront costs
01:54 that we don't always want to invest in.
01:56 But one of the things that we know
01:58 is that if we don't invest now,
01:59 we are going to be facing those costs down the road
02:02 in much bigger ways.
02:03 - Aviation is today responsible
02:07 for two to 3% of global CO2 emissions.
02:10 And with air travel expected to double in the next 15 years,
02:14 aviation emissions are expected to increase significantly,
02:17 underscoring the urgent need for solutions and action.
02:21 Sustainable aviation fuel is one key lever
02:24 to reduce aviation-related emissions
02:27 and to achieve the aviation industry's
02:29 net zero carbon emissions by 2050 goal.
02:33 - I strongly believe we need a shift
02:35 to increase investments directly into nature.
02:37 Nature is a foundational resource,
02:40 especially within our industry,
02:42 providing nature-based solutions for us to utilize,
02:45 fostering vital biodiversity,
02:46 which will sustain our wellbeing and long-term future,
02:49 and offering ecosystem services of incredible value.
02:53 If I take as an example,
02:54 our work with coral reefs at Iberostar,
02:57 a healthy reef will nurture small fish
02:59 for future food sources and lift up local fisheries.
03:03 By protecting and regenerating nature,
03:05 we support the environment and local economies.
03:08 - There's a technology right now available
03:10 that's been around for like 3.4 billion years
03:13 that is deployable instantly, and that is photosynthesis.
03:17 25% of the global carbon emissions that we have today
03:19 comes from our destruction on nature, our war on nature.
03:22 We've got to get that to zero
03:24 and then into negative territory within 10 to 15 years.
03:27 If we don't do that, then we have no chance,
03:30 even if we deploy all the other technologies we have
03:33 at scale, which is almost impossible,
03:35 we will still exceed the 1.5, 1.8 degree Celsius jump
03:40 that we think still keeps our planet relatively livable.
03:45 And it provides multiple benefits,
03:47 it provides water, it keeps cities cool,
03:50 it provides biodiversity, pollination, food security.
03:53 To me, that's the technology that we need to lean in on.
03:56 (upbeat music)
03:59 (upbeat music)