Green Builder Coalition's Mike Collignon and Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman open day two of Sustainability Symposium 2022, recapping day one and framing the day around climate tech investment, carbon capture, and the scale of systems change decarbonization will require.
00:00:04:29 - 00:00:25:04
Mike Collignon: Two of the Green Building Media Sustainability Symposium 2022 Roadmap to Decarbonization. Yesterday we had two wonderful speakers, followed by a very insightful discussion on ESG with our three panelists. Now, if you missed out on any of it. I've got good news. It was all recorded, and you'll be able to go back and catch up on anything you missed.
00:00:25:05 - 00:00:55:24
Mike Collignon: That's right. All registrants will receive a link to the recording of the symposium. Now, one thing I certainly want to make sure you don't miss out on is our sponsor. Train technologies is a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable, and efficient environments. The bold set of 2030 sustainability commitments Train Technologies is challenging the status quo and taking decisive action now to create a sustainable future where communities thrive, where equality is foundational, and where the environment is protected for future generations.
00:00:55:25 - 00:01:09:00
Mike Collignon: Big thank you to Scott two and the whole team over there at Train Technologies for their generosity. I also wanted to make sure you knew that today is Earth Day Eve. It's not a thing. You sure.
00:01:09:01 - 00:01:12:06
Sara Gutterman: It's a thing? Oh, it's definitely a thing.
00:01:12:08 - 00:01:28:21
Mike Collignon: It should be. But you know who would celebrate it? If it was a thing, which it should be. Sara gutman. Sara government is the CEO of Green Builder Media and the hostess of the symposium. And she's here now to start some opening thoughts for our day. Hello, Sara.
00:01:28:23 - 00:01:59:07
Sara Gutterman: Hello, Mike. Thank you so much. Thank you also to Mary Kestner, our production manager, our wizard behind the curtain, who makes it all happen to Scott to and train technologies for their generous support of our sixth annual sustainability Symposium. They've been with us every year and also for their leadership in sustainability, as well as to Roger Ballantyne, David McGinty, Steve Easley, Peter Pfeifer, Bronwyn Barry, all of our presenters today, and welcome to all of you.
00:01:59:08 - 00:02:25:24
Sara Gutterman: To Green Builder Media's sixth Annual Sustainability Symposium 2022 Roadmap to Decarbonization. If you were able to tune in yesterday, you know that we heard from sustainability luminary Paul Hawken as he outlined his vision for how we can create a regenerative economy. Boston University professor and award winning author Sandra Warwick, who then presented a framework for how we can achieve that vision.
00:02:25:24 - 00:02:50:17
Sara Gutterman: And then we heard from a leading builder, see our hero Scott two from Train Technologies and Eddie Sofer from Interactive Brokers, the fourth largest online brokerage firm that has a really strong ESG platform about environmental, social and governance strategies. If you weren't able to tune in yesterday, as Mike said, you will receive a recording to yesterday's sessions. I highly recommend you check them out.
00:02:50:18 - 00:03:24:28
Sara Gutterman: They were fascinating. Today we have the good fortune of being able to hear from climate capitalist Roger Ballantyne. Hi Roger, about how we can transform capitalism from its current focus on single bottom line profitability to a new iteration with blended values that incorporates and places value on environmental stewardship and social justice. We'll also hear from David McGuinty, a global leader in the circular economy, about why circularity is essential in the journey to decarbonization.
00:03:25:01 - 00:04:00:07
Sara Gutterman: Finally, we'll have a dynamic panel with three of the housing sectors greatest minds about decarbonization for the built environment. So we hope that you stick around and watch that. We'll hear, as I mentioned earlier from Steve Easley, Peter Pfeiffer and Bronwyn Berry about decarbonization solutions for the built environment. As I mentioned yesterday in my opening comments, the transition to the decarbonization economy, which is predicated on the full scale elimination of carbon emissions, will effectively require a complete overhaul of our socioeconomic.
00:04:00:10 - 00:04:33:16
Sara Gutterman: We won't be able to shoehorn sustainability into old systems. So we have this rare and thrilling opportunity to redesign our economy at a scale and a scope that equals the transformation brought about by the Industrial revolution. Now, according to the UN's recent climate report. We effectively have three years to clean up our act. And if we don't, if we stay at our current trajectory, scientists predict that we could surpass a 1.5°C increase within a shockingly short five years.
00:04:33:19 - 00:05:04:00
Sara Gutterman: Fortunately, in response to the urgency of climate change, as well as mounting consumer interest driven primarily by millennials and older Gen Zs, corporations across the globe, as well as governments and other entities have entered a fierce competition to become the sustainability leaders in their sectors, pledging to become net neutral with respect to energy, water, materials, emissions, waste operations, packaging and mobility within the next decade.
00:05:04:02 - 00:05:48:27
Sara Gutterman: ESG is now a moral imperative, driving business strategy, innovation and sales every day. More and more companies are making bold pledges not just to become net zero carbon, but actually net positive or regenerative. So they're giving back to the planet and to society within the next decade or so. One of my favorite pledges has been made by Microsoft, who has not only committed to be net positive by 2030, but has also pledged to offset all of the emissions that the company has created since its inception by purchasing carbon offsets, planting trees, engaging in carbon sequestration activities, and investing in carbon tech innovations.
00:05:49:00 - 00:06:18:09
Sara Gutterman: Last week, some of the world's biggest tech companies, including Meta and Google and Shopify, announced that they are investing collectively about $925 billion in carbon removal over the next eight years. As I noted yesterday, and I'll repeat this because it's important a paradigm shift is taking place where in private capital now perceives climate technology as a promising investment opportunity.
00:06:18:11 - 00:06:48:09
Sara Gutterman: Nearly $90 billion has poured into climate tech investments in just the past two years. And while technology is not a complete panacea, breakthrough climate tech solutions that facilitate decarbonization are critical to meeting the challenge. And given that an estimated 35% of the technology that is needed to reach our climate goals has yet to be invented. We have a colossal opportunity and challenge ahead of us.
00:06:48:11 - 00:07:27:00
Sara Gutterman: Fortunately, entrepreneurs are up to the task. A new wave of carbon reduction technologies emerging, called carbon tech, capable of capturing and embedding large amounts of carbon into products, material, surfaces and can even habitats and ecosystems. This process of capturing carbon so that it transforms that carbon from a harmful greenhouse gas into a valuable input is a game changer, because it finally provides the economic incentive needed to capture those carbon particles, rather than to release them into the atmosphere.
00:07:27:02 - 00:07:59:15
Sara Gutterman: So that motivates utilities and companies and other emitting entities to develop innovative ways to profit from converting carbon from a waste product into a useful material. So that's encouraging. With that said, the IPCC's most conservative estimates say that humanity will need to capture more than 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year to keep the planet's average temperature from rising more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
00:07:59:16 - 00:08:08:15
Sara Gutterman: The median estimate is even a more onerous 6 billion tonnes a year. Clearly, this is going to take major systems change.