Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman opens the sixth annual Sustainability Symposium, Roadmap to Decarbonization, arguing that eliminating carbon emissions requires redesigning the economy outright rather than shoehorning sustainability into old systems.
00:00:04:07 - 00:00:29:29
Mike Collignon: All right. Welcome to the Green Building Media Sustainability Symposium 2022 Roadmap to Decarbonization. You know, they say the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that could apply to this year's symposium. Let me explain. So last year, an all virtual two day event, this year, also an all virtual two day event last year. Great speakers this year.
00:00:30:02 - 00:00:55:04
Mike Collignon: Also great speakers last year sponsored by Train Technologies and this year is also sponsored by Train Technologies, a world leader in creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments with a 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.
00:00:55:11 - 00:01:11:14
Mike Collignon: Generations. Now, not everything is the same. We've got all new speakers and all new topics, but one constant at every symposium is the opening remarks from the one and only CEO of Green Building Media, Sara Gutman.
00:01:11:17 - 00:01:35:27
Sara Gutterman: Mike, thank you so much. You always do such a great job as our sustainability symposium and webinar and housing 2.0 program. Moderator A special thank you to you, Mike, and to Mary Kestner, our production manager, who is the wizard behind the curtain making everything happen. Also, a special thank you to Scott two and his team at Train Technologies for making our annual sustainability symposium possible.
00:01:36:03 - 00:02:02:25
Sara Gutterman: And thank you to Paul Hawkins, Sandra Warwick, Roger Ballantyne, David McGinty, and all of our panel speakers. Thank you in advance, because we know that you are going to enlighten us with your infinite wisdom. To all the participants, thank you for spending some time with us today and tomorrow. Welcome to Green Builder Media sixth Annual Sustainability Symposium 2022 Roadmap to Decarbonization.
00:02:02:26 - 00:02:35:02
Sara Gutterman: I'm so excited about our programing for the next two days. We're going to hear from sustainability luminaries, climate capitalists, award winning authors, visionary manufacturers, pioneering building professionals, and trailblazing investors. Over the next two days, we plan to explore innovative ideas for curbing climate change and and delve into specific solutions that will enable us to build life giving, regenerative, circular economies.
00:02:35:04 - 00:03:06:24
Sara Gutterman: We'll investigate the shifting dynamics of a decarbonization economy, what it means to electrify everything. The imperative and the process of transforming from an economy that focuses solely on profitability to one that successfully values and incorporates sustainability, environmental stewardship, and social justice. The transition to the decarbonization economy, which is predicated on the full scale elimination of of carbon emissions.
00:03:06:25 - 00:03:31:04
Sara Gutterman: Although Paul Hawken is going to challenge that premise, so wait for that. It will effectively require a complete overhaul of our socio economic system. We won't be able to shoehorn sustainability into old systems, meaning that we have the rare and thrilling opportunity to redesign our economy at a scale and a scope that equals the transformation brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
00:03:31:06 - 00:04:01:23
Sara Gutterman: Now, this transformation will be scary for some, namely those who are clinging to antiquated business models, obsolete energy sources, and outdated technologies. They will fight, attack and fashion every conceivable obstacle possible to impede progress. But just as earlier naysayers couldn't suppress the adoption of breakthrough innovations like, oh, indoor plumbing and incandescent lights and the combustion engine. Our efforts to hinder progress will ultimately be futile.
00:04:01:25 - 00:04:40:25
Sara Gutterman: I believe that our world is evolving into a cleaner, greener and better version of itself. Thanks to the work of our speakers like Paul Hawkins, Sandra Warwick and the whole line up. And the good news is that all of us will reap dramatic rewards. With this transition, we will all enjoy clean air, fresh water, fertile fertile soil, protected species, vibrant ecosystem, social justice, and a flourishing economy that is not only free of carbon emissions but offers opportunity for incredible capital gains for those with just a little ambition and imagination.
00:04:40:29 - 00:05:13:20
Sara Gutterman: And why is this even important? Because I think we all know that we are in a climate emergency. We know that climate change is unequivocally here and the worst is yet to come. We know that climate change is already fundamentally reshaping life on Earth. And then if we don't immediately curb our addiction to fossil fuel, cease destroying habitats and transform our industrial and agricultural processes, we face a disastrous future in which billions of people will suffer from starvation, drought and disease.
00:05:13:22 - 00:05:43:04
Sara Gutterman: According to the UN's recent climate report by the IPCC. We effectively have three years to clean up our act. If we don't, if we stay at our current trajectory. Science scientists predict that we could surpass a 1.5°C increase within a shockingly short five years. That's daunting, I know, but the good news is that we know what the roadmap to decarbonization looks like to regeneration, to circularity.
00:05:43:04 - 00:06:17:05
Sara Gutterman: And we'll hear about many of those solutions and strategies over the next two days during the sustainability symposium. Indeed, the next few years will be a key test of how much we can move from merely talking about sustainability and regeneration, circularity, resilience and social equality to actually implementing novel solutions at scale. Now the market's ready. Millennials, who now comprise nearly 75% of the workforce, are driving the transition to decarbonization values based and mission driven.
00:06:17:06 - 00:06:48:26
Sara Gutterman: These individuals are demanding climate solutions. They've facilitated a growth in the environmental, social and governance, or ESG sector in just the last two years alone, and they're transforming the housing sector. And companies are responding. Corporate sustainability has become a moral imperative, and ESG is quickly becoming the foundation for strategy and investment decisions. A paradigm shift is taking place where in private capital now perceives climate technology as a promising investment opportunity.
00:06:48:28 - 00:07:25:11
Sara Gutterman: Nearly $90 billion have poured into climate tech investments and in just the past two years. And while technology is not a complete panacea, there are many other things we need to do to get to a regenerative future. Climate solutions that facilitate decarbonization are certainly critical to meeting the challenge. We are at a pivotal, defining moment. It's up to us to decide whether this moment becomes an awakening or an opportunity lost, because we are, all of us, responsible for reshaping our society.
00:07:25:14 - 00:07:43:22
Sara Gutterman: Will we choose to continue to prop up an obsolete status quo that perpetuates social, environmental, and economic injustice, a state of normal that really never deserve to work? Or will we think boldly and speak loudly and act to craft solutions to meet the challenges of our time?