What can we really do about Climate Change?

Project Drawdown, a comprehensive plan to reverse global warming, has 100 practical solutions for you to consider. Addressing climate change in a way that is truly meaningful is what they are all about.

Who?

Drawdown is the work of a prominent and growing coalition of geologists, engineers, agronomists, researchers, fellows, writers, climatologists, biologists, botanists, economists, financial analysts, architects, companies, agencies, NGOs, activists, and other experts who draft, model, fact check, review, and validate all text, inputs, sources, and calculations. Their purpose is to provide helpful information and tools to a wide variety of actors who are dedicated to meaningful change: students, teachers, researchers, philanthropists, investors, entrepreneurs, business people, farmers, policymakers, engaged citizens, and more.

To be a tad more precise, if you check out the list of their advisers (here), you will spot familiar organisations such as 350 org, the Sierra Club, Boston University, etc… and familiar names such as Michael Mann of Penn State university.

What solutions have they got?

Below is a table of their top 80 solutions. I’ve cut and pasted it from their website, because each has a clickable link that you can use to jump into it and explore it in a lot more detail.

Rank	Solution	Sector	TOTAL ATMOSPHERIC CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)	NET COST (BILLIONS US $)	SAVINGS (BILLIONS US $)
1	Refrigerant Management	Materials	89.74	N/A	$-902.77
2	Wind Turbines (Onshore)	Electricity Generation	84.60	$1,225.37	$7,425.00
3	Reduced Food Waste	Food	70.53	N/A	N/A
4	Plant-Rich Diet	Food	66.11	N/A	N/A
5	Tropical Forests	Land Use	61.23	N/A	N/A
6	Educating Girls	Women and Girls	51.48	N/A	N/A
7	Family Planning	Women and Girls	51.48	N/A	N/A
8	Solar Farms	Electricity Generation	36.90	$-80.60	$5,023.84
9	Silvopasture	Food	31.19	$41.59	$699.37
10	Rooftop Solar	Electricity Generation	24.60	$453.14	$3,457.63
11	Regenerative Agriculture	Food	23.15	$57.22	$1,928.10
12	Temperate Forests	Land Use	22.61	N/A	N/A
13	Peatlands	Land Use	21.57	N/A	N/A
14	Tropical Staple Trees	Food	20.19	$120.07	$626.97
15	Afforestation	Land Use	18.06	$29.44	$392.33
16	Conservation Agriculture	Food	17.35	$37.53	$2,119.07
17	Tree Intercropping	Food	17.20	$146.99	$22.10
18	Geothermal	Electricity Generation	16.60	$-155.48	$1,024.34
19	Managed Grazing	Food	16.34	$50.48	$735.27
20	Nuclear	Electricity Generation	16.09	$0.88	$1,713.40
21	Clean Cookstoves	Food	15.81	$72.16	$166.28
22	Wind Turbines (Offshore)	Electricity Generation	14.10	$545.30	$762.50
23	Farmland Restoration	Food	14.08	$72.24	$1,342.47
24	Improved Rice Cultivation	Food	11.34	N/A	$519.06
25	Concentrated Solar	Electricity Generation	10.90	$1,319.70	$413.85
26	Electric Vehicles	Transport	10.80	$14,148.00	$9,726.40
27	District Heating	Buildings and Cities	9.38	$457.10	$3,543.50
28	Multistrata Agroforestry	Food	9.28	$26.76	$709.75
29	Wave and Tidal	Electricity Generation	9.20	$411.84	$-1,004.70
30	Methane Digesters (Large)	Electricity Generation	8.40	$201.41	$148.83
31	Insulation	Buildings and Cities	8.27	$3,655.92	$2,513.33
32	Ships	Transport	7.87	$915.93	$424.38
33	LED Lighting (Household)	Buildings and Cities	7.81	$323.52	$1,729.54
34	Biomass	Electricity Generation	7.50	$402.31	$519.35
35	Bamboo	Land Use	7.22	$23.79	$264.80
36	Alternative Cement	Materials	6.69	$-273.90	N/A
37	Mass Transit	Transport	6.57	N/A	$2,379.73
38	Forest Protection	Land Use	6.20	N/A	N/A
39	Indigenous Peoples’ Land Management	Land Use	6.19	N/A	N/A
40	Trucks	Transport	6.18	$543.54	$2,781.63
41	Solar Water	Electricity Generation	6.08	$2.99	$773.65
42	Heat Pumps	Buildings and Cities	5.20	$118.71	$1,546.66
43	Airplanes	Transport	5.05	$662.42	$3,187.80
44	LED Lighting (Commercial)	Buildings and Cities	5.04	$-205.05	$1,089.63
45	Building Automation	Buildings and Cities	4.62	$68.12	$880.55
46	Water Saving – Home	Materials	4.61	$72.44	$1,800.12
47	Bioplastic	Materials	4.30	$19.15	N/A
48	In-Stream Hydro	Electricity Generation	4.00	$202.53	$568.36
49	Cars	Transport	4.00	$-598.69	$1,761.72
50	Cogeneration	Electricity Generation	3.97	$279.25	$566.93
51	Perennial Biomass	Land Use	3.33	$77.94	$541.89
52	Coastal Wetlands	Land Use	3.19	N/A	N/A
53	System of Rice Intensification	Food	3.13	N/A	$677.83
54	Walkable Cities	Buildings and Cities	2.92	N/A	$3,278.24
55	Household Recycling	Materials	2.77	$366.92	$71.13
56	Industrial Recycling	Materials	2.77	$366.92	$71.13
57	Smart Thermostats	Buildings and Cities	2.62	$74.16	$640.10
58	Landfill Methane	Buildings and Cities	2.50	$-1.82	$67.57
59	Bike Infrastructure	Buildings and Cities	2.31	$-2,026.97	$400.47
60	Composting	Food	2.28	$-63.72	$-60.82
61	Smart Glass	Buildings and Cities	2.19	$932.30	$325.10
62	Women Smallholders	Women and Girls	2.06	N/A	$87.60
63	Telepresence	Transport	1.99	$127.72	$1,310.59
64	Methane Digesters (Small)	Electricity Generation	1.90	$15.50	$13.90
65	Nutrient Management	Food	1.81	N/A	$102.32
66	High-speed Rail	Transport	1.52	$1,038.42	$368.10
67	Farmland Irrigation	Food	1.33	$216.16	$429.67
68	Waste-to-Energy	Electricity Generation	1.10	$36.00	$19.82
69	Electric Bikes	Transport	0.96	$106.75	$226.07
70	Recycled Paper	Materials	0.90	$573.48	N/A
71	Water Distribution	Buildings and Cities	0.87	$137.37	$903.11
72	Biochar	Food	0.81	N/A	N/A
73	Green Roofs	Buildings and Cities	0.77	$1,393.29	$988.46
74	Trains	Transport	0.52	$808.64	$313.86
75	Ridesharing	Transport	0.32	N/A	$185.56
76	Micro Wind	Electricity Generation	0.20	$36.12	$19.90
77	Energy Storage (Distributed)	Electricity Generation	N/A	N/A	N/A
77	Energy Storage (Utilities)	Electricity Generation	N/A	N/A	N/A
77	Grid Flexibility	Electricity Generation	N/A	N/A	N/A
78	Microgrids	Electricity Generation	N/A	N/A	N/A
79	Net Zero Buildings	Buildings and Cities	N/A	N/A	N/A
80	Retrofitting	Buildings and Cities	N/A	N/A	N/A
1034.75	$29,609.30	$74,362.37

How Much do you really know?

OK, so this last bit is a pointer to a fun quiz. CNN has taken their facts and figures and rendered them into a set of 8 drag and drop selections. Below for example is an image of their “Moving People and Goods” bit …

The idea is to rank them by dragging the tiles into the order that has the most imp[act upon climate and then click the button to see how you did. (No not above, that’s just a screenshot, on the CNN website).

So looking at the above 4 options, which will have the greatest impact upon climate change?

You can click here to jump to the CNN site and give it a go to find out. Don’t worry if you get it wrong, it is not a test and you would not be expected to know. This is simply a fun way to learn a bit more.

One Last Thought

Why is Project Drawdown truly significant?

One reason – There is no other plan in the world to actually reverse global warming trends. If we step up to the mark and execute it, then this actually will, it is viable meaningful solution.

References

• Project Drawdown website
• CNN quiz