The biggest reason we are in the climate and biodiversity crisis we're currently in is:

GDP growth

We are focused on measuring something that doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Let me explain: 🧵👇 GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product

Essentially it's a measurement of all the economic activity in a country during a given period.

Add up the total value of all the goods and services sold, and that's your GDP.

Almost every country is trying to grow their GDP

Climate change isn't just an environmental issue; it is also an economic issue that makes us all poorer.

The subsidization of fossil fuels distorts the energy market and slows down the roll-out of renewable energy.

🧵👇 Governments subsidize fossil fuels by $11 million a minute.

Analysis by the IMF shows that governments subsidized fossil fuels by $5.9 trillion in 2020, this equivalent to 6.8% of global GDP.

The IMF expect this to rise to 7.4% of GDP by 2025.

940 million people do not have access to electricity.

3 billion do not have access to clean fuels for cooking.

We currently use 1/10,000th of the world's solar potential.

Wind and solar energy can supply 100 times more power than the world currently uses. 🧵👇 Over 50% of today's renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels.

By the end of the decade, over 90% of renewables will be cheaper than fossil fuels.

The potential in developing countries is enormous and will enable many countries to leapfrog over fossil fuels.

Hydrogen has been touted as a climate solution.

The truth is a bit more complicated.

There are many different colours of hydrogen. The colour tells us how it is produced and how clean or dirty it is. These are the four that matter: 🧵👇 Green hydrogen:

This is hydrogen made using electricity produced from renewable energy (e.g. wind and solar) to split water molecules into Hydrogen and Oxygen.

This is clean hydrogen that should be used to decarbonise the parts of the economy that can't be electrified.

I've just learnt about the wisdom of Pecan trees.

Pecan trees are mast fruiters; they don't produce fruit every year.

For mast fruiting trees like the Pecan, it's famine or feast, and there is an excellent reason for this.

Let me explain.

🧵👇 Pecans are a very high-calorie food.

They have a protective outer shell that prevents squirrels from eating them immediately, as it would take too much time to eat them in the open; doing so would make the squirrel a target for prey.

The biggest reason we are in the climate and biodiversity crisis we're currently in is:

GDP growth

We are focused on measuring something that doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Let me explain🧵👇 GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product

Essentially it's a measurement of all the economic activity in a country during a given period.

Add up the total value of all the goods and services sold, and that's your GDP.

Almost every country is trying to grow their GDP.

Calling it climate adaptation leaves the culprits of global heating laughing all the way to the bank.

'Climate adaptation' is 'climate damages'.

Let me break it down for you.

🧵👇 We all know the world is heating up due to climate change caused primarily by the burning of fossil fuels.

This leads to rising sea levels, changing weather patterns, and leading to more extreme weather.

Scroll to hear what climate scientists say.
nrdc.org/stories/global…

In 2019, GDP per capita in the US was 65,279 USD, and life expectancy was 78.79 years.

In Japan, GDP per capita was 40,113 USD, and life expectancy was 84.36 years.

More money doesn't automatically lead to better life outcomes.

Isn't it time we value more than GDP? 🧵👇 The problem with GDP is that it only measures the value created and not the cost of making it.

Imagine running a business and only measuring revenue and ignoring costs and reputation.

You wouldn't be in business long.

Here's a thread that explains GDP

https://twitter.com/PaulEDawson/status/1486109590760693767

The biggest reason we are in the climate and biodiversity crisis we're currently in is:

GDP growth

We are focused on measuring something that doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Let me explain:

🧵👇 GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product

Essentially it's a measurement of all the economic activity in a country during a given period.

Add up the total value of all the goods and services sold, and that's your GDP.

Almost every country is trying to grow their GDP

Climate change isn't just an environmental issue; it is also an economic issue that makes us all poorer.

The subsidization of fossil fuels distorts the energy market and slows down the roll-out of renewable energy.

🧵👇 Governments subsidize fossil fuels by $11 million a minute.

Analysis by the IMF shows that governments subsidized fossil fuels by $5.9 trillion in 2020, this equivalent to 6.8% of global GDP.

The IMF expect this to rise to 7.4% of GDP by 2025.

I'm currently reading:

Less is More: How degrowth will save the world by @jasonhickel

These are the key takeaways from the introduction: Welcome to the Anthropocene: 🧵👇 In 2017, scientists reported that insect numbers in German nature reserves had decreased by 75% in the past 25 years.

The cause: conversation of forests to farmland and intensive use of agricultural chemicals.

The study went viral phys.org/news/2017-10-t…

To keep global temperatures rising by 1.5C, we need to cut emissions by 30 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases every year until 2030.

30 gigatonnes = 30 billion tonnes

A car will produce around 24 tonnes over its life cycle

So 30 gigatonnes are equivalent to 1.25 billion cars. 🧵👇 We obviously can't get rid of 1.25 billion cars every year until 2030.

So how do we reduce emissions by 30 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas each year?

The good news is smart folks have figured this out.

If we focus on just 6 sectors, we can do it. 👇

The biggest reason we are in the climate and biodiversity crisis we're currently in is:

GDP growth

We are focused on measuring something that doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Let me explain🧵👇 GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product

Essentially it's a measurement of all the economic activity in a country during a given period.

Add up the total value of all the goods and services sold, and that's your GDP.

Almost every country is trying to grow their GDP

What if we treated fossil fuels as a public health issue.

Coal is responsible for 1,230 times as many deaths as solar power for each unit of energy produced.

🧵👇 The way to stop climate destruction is to reduce and eliminate the burning of fossil fuels.

This would also reduce air pollution, a cause of serious public health problems.

Let's call this message 1

But what if we turned the messaging around?

I only post about climate change, so why am I posting a video of a gate?

Watch the gate carefully.

It's a perfect metaphor for how an incentive system should work. So here's how we can align incentives to reduce emissions! 🧵👇 Think of the gate as being the tap for greenhouse emissions.

The default position is closed. The spring on the hinge exerts a force on the gate, pushing it to shut.

We need to exert pressure on fossil fuel producers to close the taps.

Here's how we do that.

Tackling climate change isn't just about averting disaster.

It's also about making the future better than today.

We need an optimistic vision of the future that makes us jump out of bed in the morning excited to put the work in to make it a reality.

🧵👇 9 in 10 people worldwide breathe polluted air, and 8.7 million people die due to air pollution from burning fossil fuels.

Imagine a future where you have clean air no matter where you live.

Transitioning away from fossil fuels to renewables will give us this future.

Conservative's should be furious about the subsidies paid to fossil fuel companies!!!

Analysis by the IMF shows that fossil fuels receive $11 million a minute of subsidies. This is equivalent to 6.8% of global GDP, and it is forecast to rise to 7.4% of GDP by 2025.

🧵👇 A very good conservative argument could be made that the money used to subsidize fossil fuel production would be better off as tax cuts.

Surely you, the taxpayer, know better than the government (or fossil fuel companies) how to spend your money?

To keep global temperatures rising by 1.5C, we need to cut emissions by 30 gigatonnes of greenhouse gases every year until 2030.

30 gigatonnes = 30 billion tonnes

A car will produce around 24 tonnes over its life cycle

So 30 gigatonnes are equivalent to 1.25 billion cars. 🧵👇 We obviously can't get rid of 1.25 billion cars every year until 2030.

So how do we reduce emissions by 30 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas each year?

The good news is smart folks have figured this out.

If we focus on just 6 sectors, we can do it. 👇

The biggest reason we are in the climate and biodiversity crisis we're currently in is:

GDP growth

We are focused on measuring something that doesn't mean what most people think it means.

Let me explain

🧵👇 GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product

Essentially it's a measurement of all the economic activity in a country during a given period.

Add up the total value of all the goods and services sold, and that's your GDP.

Almost every country is trying to grow their GDP

Roughly one-third of the food produced in the world for human consumption every year - approximately 1.3 billion tonnes - gets lost or wasted.

Food waste is responsible for 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

#ClimateChange #Ship30for30

Learn more...
🧵👇 In the United States, 30% of all food is thrown away each year. In addition, around half of the water used to produce this food also goes to waste.

Losses throughout the entire agricultural, retail and domestic system in the U.S. amount to around US$95 billion a year.

A few days ago, I shared my plans for writing more over the coming year. However, I didn't explain why I made these plans.

I think we should be talking more about solutions to climate change and how tackling climate change can improve lives today.

🧵👇 I want to be proactive:

Writing more and engaging more with others is in my control. Some might ridicule my writing and ideas, but others might find them interesting and perhaps inspire them to take action themselves.