On April 22nd 2020, the Open Climate Collabathon launched a year-long event to leverage technological expertise found around the world for developing a climate accounting system. It is envisioned that by using modern technologies, such as blockchain, big data, and machine-learning, it will be possible to create a system that tracks climate mitigation and adaptation investments and targets set out by the 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement was signed by 195 nations to establish a global effort for preventing that global average temperatures increase more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This Agreement is meant to lessen the impacts of climate change in the long-term, such as rising sea levels and ocean warming (Box 1)
Now, in 2020, the Open Climate Collabathon aims to create a climate accounting system to improve transparency with regards to global emissions targets. One of the ideas they have put forward to participating groups is to build a Carbon Ledger to count in near real-time the atmospheric carbon budget using blockchain technology. Many other ideas have been put forward so that participating teams can engage in projects that are of interest to them. So far, there are 7 participating groups in various countries—including 1 in Montreal, Canada.
Recalling the Earth day launch event
During the Collabathon launch event in April, many experts gathered online for Open Dialogues to discuss contemporary challenges related to climate change, economics, data and technology and governance. Two of these Open Dialogues are highlighted here; however, all the talks are available online.
The first Open Dialogue focused on institutional change as a catalyst for technological development that can be used to increase stakeholders’ levels of trust, transparency and accountability in formulating international climate related agreements. Sue Biniaz, a climate lawyer and former lawyer for the United States State Department, and Tom Baumann, founder of the Climate Chain Coalition, led this discussion.
Sue and Tom indicated that the provision of data by national and state governments and international standards are required to encourage countries to standardize practices relating to greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Both presenters highlighted the importance of ‘trusted data’ and how it should be harnessed effectively when working with governments to create science-based standards that are achievable by non-state actors. The need for a paradigm shift that moves from standard societal norms where actions are often delayed and increasing urgency around instituting climate actions is necessary to motivate change by increasing accountability and transparency in technological processes to help nations achieve their climate reduction targets.
A second Open Dialogue was presented by Bonnie Wolfe from Hack for LA, John Jordan from British Columbia’s Digital Trust Service and Franz Hochstrasser from Raise Green Inc. They highlighted the role of government for empowering citizens by providing them with the tools and the platform to create sustained change.
The fundamental building block to civic engagement is to develop trustworthy relationships between governments, private industry and citizen stakeholders that drive digital trust capabilities and apply it to different facets of the climate problem. A challenge that many governments face when it comes to innovation are the restrictions (e.g., funding, accessibility guidelines) that can hinder their progress thus reducing their agility, speed and opportunity on user facing technological advancements compared to that of private industry.
The speakers highlighted the importance of linking available technology, government requirements and citizen needs to increase transparency and accountability. An example that was emphasized was when there is public trust of digital services and platforms, it will be possible to embed new technology into sensors or flowmeters that are used to extract natural resources from the ground which then can be audited. Utilizing all levels of government, private industry, not for profit and civic engagement are key to shifting the governance framework and moving towards a more sustainable, equitable and healthy economy.
If you are interested in participating in the Collabathon, you can find more information about how to get involved here.
Box 1: Climate change mitigation and coastal risk
What does climate change mean for Canadian coastal communities? In Canada, climate change can impact the frequency and severity of extreme weather-related events, such as: coastal flooding, droughts, wildfires and rainfall (Lemmen et al. 2016).
Efforts to mitigate climate change have cascading effects for coastal communities. Sea level rise, for example, is caused by melting land ice and thermal expansion of ocean waters as global temperatures increase.
Studies (PDF) of Canadian coastal communities, for example, have modelled how much sea levels can increase depending on whether the Paris Agreement is successful and if it is not, as well as some scenarios in between. In Halifax, for example, sea levels can increase by 81 cm by 2100 without achieving the Paris Agreement. But if the Paris Agreement is achieved, sea levels would increase by 48 cm for the same time period.
Though the differences between these two numbers may seem subtle, sea level rise maps have shown that achieving the Paris Agreement can reduce future exposure to sea level rise and associated coastal hazards (e.g., storm surge,coastal flooding).
References:
Lemmen, D.S., Warren, F.J., James, T.S. and Mercer Clarke, C.S.L. editors (2016): Canada’s Marine Coasts in a Changing Climate; Government of Canada, Ottawa, ON, 274p.