Project Drawdown is a nonprofit that has established a leadership stance in utilizing sound science to shape climate action around the world. At NYC Climate Week, Project Drawdown executive director Jon Foley announced a new initiative called Drawdown Explorer. What is that, and why does it matter?
Before expanding on that question, it is useful to frame the problem. Climate change is a crisis that touches every corner of the planet. While climate has always changed, anthropogenic activities have modified and amplified the natural variability of climate on Earth. To use an analogy, grass grows naturally, but it grows differently when you fertilize your lawn. Trees fall naturally in the forest due to age, wind or other factors, but that does not mean that a chainsaw is a hoax.
In 2014, Entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken and more than 200 researchers founded Project Drawdown. In just over a decade, Project Drawdown is considered one of the most trustworthy, robust and influential databases of climate solutions.
Founded in 2014 by Author and Entrepreneur Paul Hawken in collaboration with over 200 researchers, Project Drawdown is one of the most influential research-backed databases of climate solutions on the planet. According to Earth.org, “The project’s mission is to help the world reach ‘drawdown’ – the point in time where levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to decline – as quickly and as safely as possible.”
Project Drawdown has several components starting with the bestselling book, Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Other components include Drawdown Food and Drawdown Nexus. According to their website, Drawdown Nexus seeks to, “Tap into the connections among climate change, biodiversity loss, and human well-being to build a robust, evidence-based framework change-makers around the world can use to identify and prioritize actions that simultaneously abate climate change, protect nature, and enhance human well-being.” Drawdown Food seeks to advance, “Science-based solutions and sharing insights at the intersection of food, agriculture, land use, and climate change.”
On September 23, Foley announce Drawdown Explorer. By email, Foley said, “Built on trillions of data points and thousands of hours of expert analysis, the Explorer is the most powerful tool we’ve ever made, showing which climate solutions work best across time, geographies, sectors, and benefits for human and environmental well-being.” Project Drawdown also issued a statement via social media that said, “We don’t lack climate solutions – we lack focus…. If you’re a policymaker, investor, or business leader, this is your go-to guide for effective action.”
I asked Foley for more insight on why the Explorer. He wrote, ““We have been working to bring real science, and emerging Big Data, to deploying climate solutions.” Foley is a visionary scientist that has always skillfully navigated that ivory tower and its intersection with the real world. He went on to say, “By bringing climate solutions intelligence down to the here and now, we hope to guide a revolution in climate action, with better, more effective intelligence. And this kind of work is needed now, more than ever.”