Planet
Prosperity
Impact Vertical I
In the face of an escalating climate crisis, time is slipping away for humanity to alter the planet's future trajectory to a considerably warmer global environment with major implications for life on the planet to thrive. The common goal is unambiguous: we must keep global temperatures below a 1.5˚C increase, even though a consensus is emerging around the fact that this goal is already most likely unachievable. Failing to do so will exacerbate and increase the recurrence of severe catastrophes witnessed in recent years.
"(...) time is slipping away for humanity to alter the planet's future (...)
(...) time is slipping away for humanity to alter the planet's future (...)
"Anti-pioneer - wild - photoperformance", 2019. Maré de Matos | Galeria Lume
Carbon Budget to keep global warming below 1.5oC and 2.0oC.
Likelihood of keeping warming below 2oC
Likelihood of keeping warming below 1.5oC
To have a 50% chance of keeping warming below 1.5oC the world can only emit 250 billion tonnes CO2.
CO2 emissions (billion tonnes)
CO2 emissions (billion tonnes)
Global Emissions (2022)
Global Emissions (2022)
Climate Action Tracker
How much CO2 can the world emit
while keeping warming below 1.5°C and 2°C?
Indeed, by September 2023, the world global average temperatures in the year reached a 1.5˚C rise in temperature, and within the two following months, this escalated to a 2˚C increase from pre-industrial average levels. This warming is attributed to several factors, including El Niño and diminishing sea ice, but the primary culprit is unequivocally climate change exacerbated by the latest decade's ever-increasing GHG emissions.
Climate change is the planet's chronic fever, rising stealthily yet relentlessly, undermining the health of our global ecosystem. Our position is precarious, considering our 'carbon budget' – the permissible CO2eq emissions. In 2022, the world emitted approximately 41 billion tonnes of CO2. Considering the cumulative effects of CO2 in the atmosphere, estimations state that we have only a 50% chance of staying below 1.5°C if we emit another 250 billion tonnes (current ceiling) of CO2eq gases, equivalent to just six years at our current emission rate.
The emissions gap
Historical
Current Policies (high estimate)
Current Policies (low estimate)
Pledges and target (high estimate)
Pledges and target (low estimate)
1.5Co compatible
Climate Action Tracker
"Colors of Time", 2024. Kilian Glasner | Galeria Lume
Transitioning to a low-carbon economy is not just imperative; it's a matter of survival. Understanding emission sources and optimizing resource use are critical first steps. This process demands transparency and accountability from countries, public institutions, and private companies alike. Currently, nature's costs are overlooked, leading to a distorted sense of security. As Paula DiPerna, author of "Pricing the Priceless," puts it, "If you could avoid paying your workers, your financials would appear much healthier. Similarly, we're avoiding paying nature, the ultimate worker."
As the saying goes, “We can only manage what we measure”, and even though there are many initiatives claiming they are tackling Climate Change, at this stage we need to center all of our attention and efforts on curbing emissions where it will move the needle. In that regard, to put what we mean by moving the needle into perspective, the three largest hard-to-abate sectors alone, Chemicals, Iron&Steel, and Cement emit over 6 Gigatonnes annually.
Just as a matter of comparison, another hard-to-abate sector, airlines, all together emit approximately only a third of what the Cement industry emits per year of GHG. In response, Positive Ventures mapped all the carbon accounting software companies and invested in the one focused on those hard-to-abate sectors that can make a difference if we decarbonize. SINAI Technologies (know more) offers enterprise software for carbon inventory while providing unique insights related to the MAC (Marginal Abatement cost-effective Curve) aiding carbon-intensive industries in transforming net-zero ambitions into actionable decarbonization plans. This involves measuring, analyzing, pricing, and reducing carbon emissions efficiently. Recent studies, including one by PWC, show that 27% of Brazilian companies have committed to net-zero goals, surpassing the global average of 22%.
The use of natural resources and materials in general, particularly in building construction, contributes significantly to CO2 emissions. Direct emissions of the built environment account for 8% of global totals, but indirect emissions triple this impact.
Emissions hard-to-abate sector
Chemicals
Iron & Steel
Cement
SECTOR
GIGATONES EMISSIONS PER YEAR
WRI
Lifecycle building emissions
WBCSD
Embodied emissions from replacement and end of life
Embodied emissions from materials and construction
Operational
By 2060, urban environments are expected to double, equating to the construction of a New York or four Buenos Aires cities every month. By then, the production of building materials alone is projected to release approximately 250 gigatons of "embodied carbon". Pathways (know more) is at the forefront with its AI-enabled technology, streamlining the creation of Life Cycle Analyses (LCAs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for manufacturers. This innovation is crucial in North America, where new buildings are increasingly constructed with low-carbon materials, but will be even more important in emerging economies where there is still an infrastructure gap, and assessing the environmental impacts and alternatives for the construction sector will be crucial.
Retrofitting the world's existing buildings poses an immense challenge as well, requiring the mobilization of millions of property owners. Luckily, governments are starting to recognize and tackle this urgent need through legislation pushes, subsidies, and incentives to homeowners to upgrade their houses to a low-carbon economy. Fram Energy (know more), for instance, is leading the charge by making it financially advantageous for multi-property owners to decarbonize their rental properties.
WBCSD
Fossil
Clean
The big clean up
EMBER
Accelerating the transition to renewable energies is another essential piece of the puzzle, as one of the major platform shifts of our time is the “Electrify Everything” motto. A clean electric grid is central to this effort. Solar power achieved a global installation record in 2022, thanks to favorable government policies, increased utility adoption, and the economic benefits recognized by homeowners. On this front, Ruuf (know more) is a key player in the solar energy revolution in Latin America, beginning in Chile. They facilitate connections between homeowners, solar installers, and banks, making it financially appealing to adopt green energy.
While solar panels have been a long-standing solution to reducing CO2 emissions, emerging technologies in other sectors also show promise in combating climate change. Precision fermentation is one of them and is revolutionizing the food industry. Ten Lives (know more), a leading company in this space, merges machine learning with precision fermentation to tackle the climate emergency by decarbonizing pet food with AI. The meat consumption of cats and dogs in the US alone is equivalent to that of Texas's entire human population, representing about 25% of the country's total meat consumption.
Addressing waste production is another critical aspect of transitioning to a low-carbon economy. For instance, plastic production accounts for at least 3% of global greenhouse emissions. In Brazil, the National Solid Waste Policy has introduced updated regulations, mandating companies to recycle at least 30% of their environmental liabilities. This is an increase from the previous requirement of recycling 22% of the materials they distribute in the market. Eureciclo (know more), leveraging this law, aims to boost Brazil's recycling rate to 45% by employing blockchain technology for transparent recycling tracking and facilitating a marketplace for recycling credit exchange in Latin America.
220223". Marina Hachem | Galeria Lume
Plastics Europe
World plastic productions
2021
Fossil-based plastics
Post consumed recycled plastic
Bio-based e bio- attributed plastic
Plastics Europe
While measuring, compensating, and avoiding carbon emissions are vital steps to maintain global temperatures below a 1.5˚C increase, we must also strive to capture greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The World Economic Forum estimates that $44tn of economic value (over half of the global GDP) depends moderately or highly on nature, through services like water retention and carbon sequestration.
Natural systems such as soils, forests, grasslands, and oceans, acting as "carbon sinks," are crucial for stabilizing the global climate. An estimated $11 trillion investment in the natural environment is necessary to mitigate temperature rises. Pachama (know more) leads in restoring nature and removing carbon at scale, using satellite data and AI to help companies confidently invest in high-quality carbon credits.
While carbon dioxide (CO2) often dominates climate change discussions, other greenhouse gases like methane, nitrous oxide, and 'F-gases' play significant roles in global warming. Methane, making up nearly 18% of total greenhouse gas emissions, has increased about four times faster than CO2 emissions. Notably, the top methane emitters include China, India, the USA, Brazil, and Russia, as reported by the IPCC.
Methane's impact on climate change may have been shadowed by its shorter atmospheric lifespan of around 12 years compared to CO2's centuries-long presence, however, despite its shorter lifespan, methane is responsible for at least 25% of current global warming due to its higher energy absorption potency. While efforts have predominantly targeted CO2 reduction, methane has received less attention, with less than 2% of climate funding aimed at mitigating its impact. In this context, Positive Ventures continues to lead by example being the first Brazil-based fund to realize this massive business and impact opportunity and invest in companies like Windfall Bio (know more), co-invested by other Climate global investors and leaders. Windfall Bio is offering innovative solutions by naturally transforming harmful methane into organic fertilizer, addressing this critical but often overlooked aspect of climate change.
"The Backlands", 2021. Kilian Glasner | Galeria Lume
Given the accelerating rate of nature loss, the WEF’s figure is alarming. Scientists say that, unless measures are taken to slow the drivers of biodiversity loss, many of the roughly 1 million animal and plant species currently threatened by extinction will disappear within decades.
Living planet index
The living planet index measures the average decline in monitored wildlife populations. The index value measures the change in abundance in 31, 821 populations across 5,230 relative to the year 1970 (i.e. 1970 = 100%).
World Wild Life Fund (WWF) and Zoological Society of London
If losses in nature (the natural world) and biodiversity (the variation in that world) pose a dire threat to humanity, they also present risks to business and finance, both through companies’ impact on natural resources and their direct or indirect dependency on them. We have become proud investors in companies like Funga (know more), which is utilizing the forest fungal microbiome to not only improve forestry outcomes in the face of the climate crisis but also to enhance microbial biodiversity. Their approach involves inoculating degraded ecosystems with a diverse mix of fungi and microbes, promoting faster tree growth, increased carbon biomass, and the restoration of resilient, biodiverse forests.
As we navigate the urgent climate crisis, the transformative initiatives showcased here provide a beacon of hope. Through groundbreaking strategies in reducing emissions, revolutionizing energy use, and restoring ecosystems, we see a path forward toward a cooler world working within the planetary boundaries. These efforts exemplify the remarkable potential for innovation and collaboration to forge a sustainable, thriving future for our planet. The journey ahead is challenging, but with continued commitment and ingenuity, a healthier, more resilient world is within our reach.