The latest report by the Copenhagen-based Sustainia think tank shows that governments negotiating a global climate deal in Paris in 200 days “need to invest in the right innovation, and not fight against it,” three WWF International staffers wrote this week on the Climate Solver blog.
The Paris negotiators will have to “agree to jointly embark on a great endeavour: transforming our economies towards a future without dangerous climate change,” Henningsson, Currás, and Habtegaber write. “It is clear that such a transformation is huge—but it’s not a technological moon landing. We have the solutions right now. We urgently need to embrace them, integrate them in order to transition towards a more sustainable economy.”
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The innovations in the fourth edition of Sustainia 100 “are top notch, and join the ranks of the many examples of projects and technologies that are already shaping a better future for people and the planet in different corners around the world,” they add. The list includes everything from organic thin-film solar cells, algae-based fuel from waste carbon dioxide, a variety of energy storage technologies, a 3D tool for mapping solar potential, municipal green bond and energy retrofit programs, and sharing economy initiatives for work wear and organic children’s clothing.
The WWF post points to five common features in the latest crop of sustainability solutions: they reflect the economic logic of a circular economy, encourage access over ownership, build on the disruption of a digital economy, bring the world closer to 100% renewable energy, and rely on more flexible, distributed use of local resources.
