Can High Tech Beat Climate Change?

Big Tech Should Take the Lead on Climate Change—Here’s Why

Owen Gaffney, July 9, 2018 (Singularity Hub)

“…The climate conversation with tech entrepreneurs and leaders needs to change for three reasons…First, the technology sector gets it…Apple has committed to adopting a 100 percent circular economy… Alphabet claims it is now the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy. And Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are investing a billion dollars in clean energy solutions…Second, the technology sector gets how to harness the power of exponentials better than any other economic sector…Third, and most significantly, the biggest influence the tech sector can have is not on its own emissions or even those of its suppliers—it is, after all, just 2-2.5 percent of global emissions…On a daily basis, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft influence the behavior of billions of people—the world’s middle classes and the world’s businesses…This conversation about consumer emissions has only just begun…

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As a simple rule of thumb, the world needs to halve emissions every decade globally until 2050…[This exponential decay curve can be called] the Carbon Law, after Moore’s Law. The first halving is relatively easy and [is being] done with existing technology…Now we need an exponential roadmap—combining technology, behavioral change and policy—to guide the world to reach a carbon positive global economy by 2050…What if the default settings for mobile phones promoted exercise, healthy eating, and sustainable transport? What if Facebook, Google, and others priced advertising for healthy and low-emitting products more favorably than other products? What if they displayed healthy and low-carbon products more prominently than others? What if apps that drive down emissions were favored over those that drive emissions up? The next decade is critical for the planet…” click here for more

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