Why Climate Change Intervention is WAY Easier than We Think
For those of you that follow me on other platforms, you’ll have seen, heard or read some of my thoughts on the lab grown proteins from firms like #ImpossibleFoods or #BeyondMeat.
I’m a fan of those lab grown protein concepts arriving at that position whilst undertaking a Master of Science in 2004 in which my main thesis focused on global water issues. In that piece of work it became clear that the level of water consumed to produce say 1kg of beef was untenable in a world where starvation persisted and lack of fresh water impacted around 40% of the planet. Even with improvements, that 1kg requires (depending on location and farming methods) between 30,000 litres and up to 150,000 litres of fresh, potable water. For each and every kilogram.
And I’ve worked with both Beef and Dairy producers and with Government agencies looking at biosecurity issues for both crop and animals. I’ve worked with mid cap VC investors and discussed the challenge of Australia permitting cotton to be grown when food producers don’t get access to water. I coined the phrase #FitForPurposeWater (borrowed by a large consultancy a few years later) in which you allocate water to what is the best fit for the quality of that water and best need for that water. And no, ‘highest price on the market’ is NOT a ‘best need’ when determining usage.
I discussed the #EatOrExtract problem about what you can do with your land – you can choose to Eat from it OR Extract out of it but you cannot do both. And once you’ve extracted from it you can never go back to eating from it.
And now there’s another compelling reason why a change in diet is warranted. If we are going to talk about addressing climate change then yes, we need to lower fossil fuel use. We also need to work out how to solve the methane leakage problem.
Solutions are getting a lot clearer and more stark than we think. Recent reports that just 5% of coal fired power plants produce 73% of all CO2 emissions is an obvious ‘no brainer’ intervention. Simply shut them down today. https://lnkd.in/gdZKAZsm
And now we look at the food we eat and the report today that JUST 20 meat and dairy firms produce more CO2 pollution than the entire populations of France, UK and Germany. This is ‘decision time’ that is more glaring. We change our diets away from meat and dairy to ones that are less carbon and water intensive, and we make instant, long ranging and highly impactful decisions for retaining a sustainable platform for human life on this planet. I’m not telling you what to eat. Just don’t say you find climate change too difficult to solve. https://lnkd.in/gQxWaHMC
I’ll be talking with Vicki Kerrigan again this afternoon, this time discussing robotics as in-home carers. I’m due on at about 4.45pm Darwin time which is around 5.15pm on the eastern seaboard. You can listen to the audio stream via the link below http://www.abc.net.au/darwin/programs/webcam_radio.htm?ref=listenlive If all things go well, I’ll record the session and…
Read More >I recently attended a session with South East Business Networks where the CEO of Siemens Australasia provided some great ideas as to where Australian Manufacturing was headed and could go, and indeed perhaps needed to go. What I found most useful from Allan Goller’s perspective was the encouragement for businesses to just get on with…
Read More >In this very brief chat with Vicki Kerrigan on ABC Darwin, we kick off the discussion of the future of clothing – not the ‘style’ elements but the functional elements like capturing perspiration to convert for water. You can listen to the audio via the link available here – cue it up about a…
Read More >Marcus Barber will present the case study of his work with Central Highlands Water and their use of Scenarios for Strategy setting at World Water Week in Stockholm this Thursday. You can follow the twitter feed via #watermanagement, #rightfuture or #wwweek This case study looks at the flaws in a reliance on forecasting as the…
Read More >A quick note for the history buffs among us – in this month of August fifty years ago, the first components of the Berlin Wall were constructed with rings of barbed wire severing Berlin into visually distinct west and east Berlin. Russia’s main challenge at that time was the 10,000 or so East Germans each…
Read More >Let me start by saying that my Masters of Science qualification is NOT held in economics and with that said I’m holding an interested person’s perspective toward wanting to know ‘why’ and ‘how’. I have some questions and thoughts about the theory of Supply and Demand and would be happy to have some feedback from…
Read More >Below you’ll find this afternoon’s discussion with ABC Darwin radio in which host Vicki Kerrigan chats with futurist Marcus Barber about the emerging research into lab grown meat as a potential addition to or replacement of, existing livestock farming methods. The program streamed live on 105.7 ABC Darwin this afternoon, discussing the University of…
Read More >Continuing the futures discussions on ABC Darwin Radio, this time with Paul Dale who is filling in for Vicki Kerrigan whilst Vicki is handling the breakfast time slot, we discuss some of the conference sessions at the World Futures Conference here in Vancouver You can listen to the audio stream here and cue this…
Read More >My slides from today’s presentation on ‘Getting You Future Right’ can be found at the link below To those at the session, my apologies for the technical challenges and hope these slides can provide more context for you – contact me if you have any questions. Access the Slides Here
Read More >Here’s the upload of my conversation with Vicki Kerrigan at ABC Radio Darwin. In it I offer the first three of ten steps designed to help you get your future right. In last week’s session I left Vicki with a question to ponder: Is my life headed where I want it to go, and if…
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