Pitch Perfect : Saving the planet all the way to the bank!

Now let’s turn the tide a bit, talk about how #ActOnClimate makes business sense for us.

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The other very important way in which the low carbon pathway makes business sense is the very altruistic reason of human and animal/ plant health. Fossil fuels right from when they are being mined right up the chain to the level when they are combusted or used, are harmful to the health of the inhabitants of planet Earth.

For example, burning coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, can cause neurological damage, heart failure, cancer and respiratory problems in humans just to name a few. This occurs as result of contact with dioxins and furans (harmful chemical compounds), heavy metals as well as fly and bottom ash. If these harmful by products leached into the soil and neighboring water sources, then we are certainly a doomed lot, one for the direct effects and two because we ware feeding the very thing that devours us.

And we all know, if we want to have money, then we need to be alive and to be alive, we need to avoid these fossil fuels and embrace clean energy.

Think also of waterways, streams and groundwater poisoned by coal ash and left over material from coal mines and power plants. Whichever living thing drinks this water will suffer health wise. The byproducts of coal combustion contain heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury.

Coal mining does not spare even ‘its’ workers. Miners suffer from black lung disease. Read that up.

The cost of coal, lassies and laddies is far too heavy and too expensive, in all manner of ways, for us to let this continue.

Fossil fuels are best where they lay, in the ground. So, keep it in the ground.

Healthy workers are productive workers.

Another thing is that we, millenials are the most talented and unique group in the workforce. Haha bragging rights! What I mean is that we are different aren’t we? We don’t work just for the sake of it; we work because of the passion that drives us. We follow the dream that shines bright and true in our hearts, all else be damned oui?

Anyway, statistics have it that millenials are the largest group in the American workforce. Millenials are also the largest population group in African countries. Millenials by the way are those born at the turn of the century, circa 1990 onwards to the 2000. That means a millennial musta be in her very early thirties and below.

So where was i? Oh yes, millenials choose work that is fulfilling and satisfying and most oft than not, it means we want something that doesn’t cause harm or affect others. That is, the freedom of work that you enjoy does not impinge nor infringe on the right of others to enjoy their freedom in life.

Therefore looking at a company’s overall vision and methods of achieving that vision is integral to our choice of that company as our employer.

Is it climate friendly?

And since we realize that we need to stop dangerous climate change both for our sake and that of the planet, we will most likely choose a company that has decided upon the low carbon pathway on its agenda.

Or else we form our own companies.

We haven’t touched on tech so far so let’s get to it. Technology has been used in many ways to adapt or mitigate climate change. A few examples include its use in early warning systems, as biotech - climate resilient plant species, and also in drawing water from the atmosphere. It has been used or rather it is still largely being developed for CCS (carbon capture and sequestration) – removal of CO2 from the atmosphere. Technology has also been used to create bladeless turbines, more efficient photovoltaic solar panels, electric vehicles and solar roofs such as Tesla’s etc.

Need i say that we need more innovation? Think of a way to extricate CO2 from the atmosphere and use it commercially in large scale – without of course other more harmful effects.

One of the most powerful ways tech has been used is in ICT. As the methods of communication become more interconnected, faster and quicker, it provides us with a more potent avenue to drive the climate agenda.

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Information is power and we need to reach the people at the level where they are to be found and in a language they understand.

Again, we are young and we are both fresh faced and minded. Where people see problems, we see opportunities. Innovation in tech is one of the ways we can solve climate change.

For young scientists, there is still help needed in developing other alternative fuels like nuclear fusion and hydrogen fuel.

You, young people are responsible for your future.

Let me tell you something. In 2006, neither Whatsapp nor Uber existed. But can we do without them today? They have revolutionized our way of life as we know it. This is called disruptive technology. Good tech.

In other words,      The Future Is Yours, claim it.

Right class! That marks the end of our lesson today. Do take notes but do not copy entirely. That would constitute a crime many people frown upon. That crime is called intellectual theft or plagiarism.

Drink in knowledge, it doesn’t have a caveat.

Change lives.

Save the planet.

Alrightie, do have a good one.

See you later.