September 19, 2022

It’s time to advance climate change solutions and human well-being together

by Debbie Aung Din, Christina Kwauk, and Abiba Longwe

Insights_Malawi_family_planning.jpg

Family planning gathering in Malawi
Lindsay Mgbor | Department for International Development

In the 50 years since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment established the important link between the environment and poverty, we have seen remarkable action to protect the planet and improve people’s lives. Unfortunately, these efforts have often taken place independently of each other. Imagine how much more good we could do if the solutions being funded yielded benefits for both climate action and poverty alleviation, while boosting human well-being.

Globally, public and private financing tend to focus on either climate action or improving human well-being—defined as people’s ability to access fundamental social, cultural, economic and natural/environmental resources critical for sustaining a decent living standard and living a life they value. However, addressing climate change without attention to human well-being threatens to cut back on years of development progress because of the impacts climate change has on human well-being.

Those of us working to advance sustainable development are witnessing firsthand how rising temperatures, drought, flooding and extreme weather are rapidly rewinding hard-won progress in poverty eradication, human development and gender equality.

For instance, heat waves and dry spells in Bangladesh are threatening natural resource–based rural livelihoods and creating economic insecurity, which can contribute to increased rates of child, early, and forced marriage and unions, speeding girls’ transitions to adulthood and ending their formal education.

And In Malawi, where most people experience poverty and nearly one-third experience extreme poverty, climate change has exacerbated poverty, particularly for women, in recent decades as increasing temperatures and intense rain lead to both drought and flooding. Combined, these have resulted in shorter growing seasons, poor crop yields, food shortages, hunger and the spread of waterborne diseases. In addition, increasingly devastating seasonal flash floods disrupt learning for students as classrooms are used as shelters for displaced people. And intensified climate hazards often exacerbate child labor, especially for children from under-resourced families.

We know that there are many readily available and financially viable technologies and practices that offer proven, substantial benefits not only for climate but also for livelihoods, health, food security, education, gender equality, and energy. Funders, philanthropies and decision-makers can help to ensure a brighter future for people and the planet by directing more financing to fund climate solutions that can also be transformational in alleviating poverty and increasing resilience, especially in frontline, climate-vulnerable countries and communities that have contributed the least to the climate crisis while being impacted the most.

For example, improving agriculture and agroforestry could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by a hefty 277.6 gigatons between 2020 and 2050. At the same time, it could improve food security and access to water and strengthen resilience to economic shocks.

Similarly, fostering equality—specifically, rights-based, voluntary family planning and 12 years of high-quality, universal education—enables women to have more time, skills, and other resources to participate in climate solutions and to engage in productive, income-generating work, including in the green economy. Climate solutions that foster equality can advance human well-being in areas such as maternal and child health, nutrition, gender equality, and resilience. Estimates show that one outcome of fostering equality, slower population growth, could lead to a reduction of almost 70 gigatons of greenhouse gas emissions at a global level between 2020 and 2050.

Climate financing needs to reflect the reality that climate change, poverty, and human well-being are interconnected by taking a systems approach and focusing on synergistic solutions. For example, support for the world’s 500 million smallholder farm families at the epicenter of poverty and climate change that makes soils, lands, trees, and water more productive could boost income and simultaneously sequester carbon.

As practitioners who work to enhance human well-being, we see a growing nexus among climate mitigation, climate adaptation, and poverty reduction. We can make much more progress by investing in climate change solutions that do double duty as strategies for improving human well-being. And donors and innovative finance structures can better meet the needs of people in countries most impacted by the climate crisis by supporting low-carbon pathways to development that also boost human well-being.

Debbie Aung Din. Christina Kwauk, and Abiba Longwe are members of the Drawdown Lift Advisory Council.

More Insights

Feature  |  September 27, 2023
water droplet
The concentric circles of individual climate action
by Mary Hoff
When it comes to climate change, does individual action matter? Emphatically, yes.  While it’s true that eating less meat, biking instead of driving, or planting a tree only does so much to reduce emissions, actions like these are just the beginning when it comes to the impact that you as an individual can have. Personal climate action looks a lot like ripples expanding out from a pebble dropped in a pond. It starts with what you can do in your own home. But as you expand beyond your own personal space, your sphere of influence and impact grows, too.  If you’re feeling climate insignificant, check out the five circles of climate action below. Start with the innermost circle and work your way out. Notice how, as you move from learning and doing to sharing and advocating, the collective impact of you, your friends, neighbors, and colleagues expands. Soon, what started as a few isolated ripples can coalesce into a wave of change. Together, we can create the future we want at the speed we need. But it starts with individual action. So let’s get to work.   1: LEARN Familiarize yourself with climate solutions and how you can help deploy them. Check out the 93 technologies and practices that together can stop climate change. Watch the Drawdown Roadmap, Climate Solutions 101, and Drawdown’s Neighborhood video series for a comprehensive look at how humanity can halt climate disruption through concerted action.  2: DO Alter your own activities to reduce your personal contribution to climate change. Apply what you learn to become more climate friendly at home, at work, in your volunteer activities and hobbies, as you travel—in every aspect of your life! The opportunities are endless, and every action matters. Consider the climate impact of your consumer choices, and alter them accordingly. Check out other suggestions for mobilizing around climate solutions, including those from our partners Drawdown Ecochallenge, Rare, and Don’t Look Up, as well as from Science Moms, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the David Suzuki Foundation. 3: SHARE Communicate the opportunity to make a difference with others. Bring up the subject of climate change with individuals in your various spheres of influence: family, friends, neighbors, fellow faith community members, etc. Do so in a nonthreatening, nonjudgmental way. For example, you might start by mentioning unusual weather you’re having or a disaster in the news, and wondering if it’s related to climate change. Before you broach the topic, think about what the other person cares about. Tailor your conversation to connect climate change to what’s most important to them—their hobbies, their family, their health, their values. Listen to their thoughts. Then let them know the climate actions you’re taking and why. Explain how every person has a unique and important role to play in halting climate change. If they would like to learn more, share the link to this page.  Engage with people from all walks of life, not just those who think as you do. Like identity theft or the global economy, climate change affects everyone, not just environmentalists or those of particular political persuasions.  4: ADVOCATE Urge change makers to go all in on halting climate change. Think of three people in your sphere of influence who have exceptional impact: lawmakers, CEOs, community leaders, popular artists, social media influencers, journalists, consumer liaisons for brands you buy. Share with each, in language that resonates with them and what they care about, the importance of stopping climate change—and the evidence we have that it’s possible. If appropriate, start with the five basic facts about climate change): 1) it’s real, 2) It’s us, 3) It’s bad, 4) scientists agree, 5) there’s hope. Encourage them to check out the Drawdown Roadmap, which details strategies for strategically deploying solutions at the right time and in the right place, reaping multiple benefits, and overcoming barriers. Point out that climate solutions are not just about climate. They also offer numerous benefits for alleviating poverty, protecting biodiversity, advancing justice, reducing conflict, and more. Suggest one specific way in which the change maker can exert their influence to contribute to halting climate change. 5: AMPLIFY Enhance your impact by spreading the word. Let us know what you’re doing to help stop climate change. If you have additional resources to suggest or strategies to recommend, please pass them along so we can share with others.
Read more
Perspective  |  September 5, 2023
worker with hardhat
Hats off to climate champions at work
by Jamie Alexander
The United States recently observed Labor Day, a celebration of the contributions of the American worker. It’s a time to acknowledge the people who build and maintain the foundation our country rests on—the people who, often without being noticed, enable us to power our lives, move from place to place, access food and shelter, and much more.  Today, for a world in the throes of an increasingly unstable climate and with a vanishing window of time to slash the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing it, the holiday is particularly meaningful. Because to solve climate change, we need to dramatically scale up climate solutions, and fast. That will take massive numbers of skilled workers building a future replete with heat pumps, mass transit, electric vehicles and chargers, solar panels, and much more, all aimed at permanently and comprehensively displacing the polluting industries of the past.  In other words, Labor Day celebrates the power of the worker to transform the world. We also need people in desk jobs transforming the existing system from the inside. Businesses, especially large, multinational corporations, are disproportionately responsible for the planet-warming emissions that cause climate change, and they have a grave responsibility—as well as the resources—to address it. Employees across every business and every department can apply a climate lens to their job to help their company advance their climate work more expediently and expansively, and hold their employer accountable to their climate promises. The phrase “every job is a climate job” is not hyperbole. We need all people engaged from wherever they stand. Within every sector, every trade, and every business, workers must be protected, equipped, and supported in building the world of the future and transitioning us away from the polluting businesses and industries of the past. Worker power—whether it’s security to ask for safer, more sustainable working conditions, tools to take climate action at work, or solidarity in holding employers accountable—is core to the work of Drawdown Labs.  This Labor Day, we’re taking a moment to celebrate those who are bringing climate solutions into the world and their work, transforming the existing system from the inside. Last week, we asked Project Drawdown newsletter subscribers to share how they are taking climate action at work. We were inspired by what we heard, and reminded that it is workers themselves who are best positioned to lead us into the future because they are closest to the issues and they know best how to implement solutions.  Here are some highlights from what you all have shared: Theme #1: You are making your everyday work—and that of your team members—more efficient and sustainable.  Some anesthesiologists are averting tons of greenhouse gas emissions by switching the anesthetic they use away from a potent greenhouse gas toward a more sustainable product. These anesthesiologists are also spreading the word with the goal of getting others to make the switch.  Concerned for their respiratory health, a fleet manager at a large tech company convinced their employer to switch to an all-electric fleet. Community workers pledged to use cargo bicycle services instead of diesel vans to transport equipment to local schools for scientific outreach events. Leadership at a top law firm decided to offer pro bono legal counsel to climate organizations and worker protection initiatives. Theme #2: You are integrating climate action or reduced emissions into the product or service you or your business provides. Product designers are sharing ways they have successfully integrated “sustainable nudges” into digital products. (For more specifically on the gaming sector, please see here.) Consultants are integrating climate action into their work by translating climate solutions into “business speak” for clients. Event caterers have transitioned their business model to offer fully vegetarian menus for events and meetings. A senior manager at a large multinational corporation established a task force to review and revise the organization’s procurement policy to include preferences and requirements for sustainable products, services, and suppliers. At a university, faculty and student services are working together to host green travel workshops for visiting students. The workshops provide practical support and encourage students to use public transit rather than flying for leisure travel. A field scientist pledged to work with their IT and procurement departments to clean the data from 200 mobile phones left over from one research project in order to reuse and/or recycle them. A mathematics professor decided to pause their research and instead invest their time organizing other professors and academic resources to support local climate projects in need of their expertise.  A retiree is using their skills to perform energy audits for households that can't normally afford them, not only helping them make their homes more energy-efficient, but also helping stop climate change. Theme #3: You are pushing your company to use its influence to affect climate change in the broader world.  An executive in the treasurer’s office for a private company is exploring how the company can decarbonize its banking and bring other businesses along with them on their journey. An advertising sales manager helped launch and acquire executive sponsorship for their company’s first employee green group and is helping others do the same within their own companies. Employees in the healthcare sector are encouraging low-carbon travel policies and calculating the carbon footprint of scientific research conferences. Solving climate change will require that each of us chooses, day after day, shift after shift, to work toward a healthier, more vibrant, more resilient future. We can’t just sit back and wait for our leaders to take us there. Every one of us must bring our unique talents and skills to bear on the task of shaping a better future together. The climate solutions that we know can do the job are the result of the work of countless farmers, builders, Indigenous people, engineers, educators, foresters, healthcare workers, and others who have brought these actions to light. Whether they will be applied at the scope and scale needed to stop climate change depends on what we choose to do next. Labor Day celebrates the power of the worker to transform the world. This year it matters more than ever. Because ultimately, our future rests on each and every one of us.
Read more