Exploring AI/advanced technologies to address climate change Yael Rozencwajg and Yangbo Du

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Exploring artificial intelligence advanced  technologies to address climate change. This is a   prerecorded version you can find the full agenda of the conference on http://eces2022.neu.edu.tr. First of all I would like to  thank the Near East University   for inviting me to this prestigious  conference, and more particularly to   Mr Bolouri and the president of the  conference Professor Dr Gökçekuş. I take this opportunity to wish everybody celebrating Happy Holidays excellent health and happiness. My name is Yael Rozencwajg and I am the founder and CEO of Nevelab Technologies and the Road to Sustainability.

I'm also the chair of  the IEEE standards AI/S wellbeing initiative and board advisor at growing startups. A case study  will follow this keynote presented by Mr Yangbo   Du, a member of the road to sustainability and  managing partner Investments at Innovo and then   a Q&A between us. The road to Sustainability is an  inclusive network focused on enhancing sustainable   communities you can find us on all social channels  and the http://roadtosustainability.com. Nevelab is a   purpose-driven platform that leverages artificial  intelligence to provide organization with the   tools to integrate sustainable imperatives while  generating actionable insights you can find us   on http://nevelab.com. Greenhouse gas emissions must  be reduced by nearly half by 2030 and then to  

Zero by mid-century to avoid the worst effects of  the climate change. Hundreds of organizations and   countries have joined the pledge. Apple 2030. Amazon  2040. The US 2050 and China 2060. Yes but many Net   Zero commitments are either Limited in scope or to  a goal that the company has yet to figure out how   to achieve. Hope is not a strategy. Transparency  won't solve the problem and most road maps fail.  We don't know how much is achievable today  versus what require different technologies.   We need to understand the current state of climate  change clearly the near future may be divided into   two distinct phases title monetary policy. High  inflation and slowing growth will continue into   2023 necessitating careful investment positioning.  However the good news is once's real interest rates  

peak, the economic cycle will shift creating  opportunities to increase risk asset allocations   with the Russia-Ukraine war continuing an  economic uncertainty looming organizations   must be prepared for increased threats yet the  ongoing crisis presents opportunities more than   ever it's time to look for innovative solutions  alternative energy sources and different supply forms.  Three perspectives to slow down greenhouse  gas emissions for climate-focused goals. Strategies   and activities. New financial solutions:  moderate inflation for more productivity   gains. New business opportunities: support new measures to ease the burden of those most affected.   New tech systems: emphasize the technological  revolution. Incentives are needed to encourage   the sustainability transition but a large part  of this transition the energy the environmental   transition is inflationary what is needed next  for the world to unleash the state on the climate   crisis climate adaptation helping people animals  and plants to survive despite Rising climate   volatility climate resilience and mitigation  the result will be a more robust World economy   a robust implementation mechanism must back up  commitments incentives for developing countries to   prioritize new protection nature-based Solutions  and credible Innovative financing to reinforce the   systems allocate new models and channel funds to  high value conservation projects here is what is   needed cut emissions realign science-based  targets control deforestation more risks   more emerging Technologies there is no one size  fits-all approach to climate change each company's   policy will depend on its particular business  and should mesh with its overall strategy the   system must include initiatives for every company  to mitigate climate related costs and risks in its   value chain systemic changes and our ability to  adapt to Evolution requires us to move the needle   forward technology plays a critical role in our  lives at the community local level the main Tech   barriers to overcome for a more sustainable Planet  are engagement awareness and adoption at the   Enterprise organization level a simple view of the  process could be research and development explore   measure and manage to reduce negative impact  through critical data market validation defined a   mission and the purpose to enhance organizational  capabilities producing at scale we want the value   to support market demand for responsible economies  what type of Technology do we need for what   purpose what climate issue are we addressing if we  use a SWOT model to help improve Capital knowledge   and our Effectiveness what are our strengths  weaknesses opportunities threats strengths   bold leadership specific skills movement  capacity building and diversity weaknesses   lack of Legacy systems no inclusion and no ethics  opportunities carbon Zero Energy Efficiency Supply   Chain management threats uncertainty insecurity  population in need our climate driven Tech can   benefit our businesses by implementing climate  driven Solutions at the core of our systems   Financial Services reporting productivity growth  Healthcare software and Hardware manufacturing   logistic and supply chain retail distribution and  optimization public sector safety and urbanization   considering that companies can use critical data  operations leadership core values and progress   to address the growing challenge knowing that the  world population is now at 8 billion people 25 of   the world population is about to face a Warner  crisis severe food insecurity at 276 million   people and knowing that 1.6 billion people living  in adequate housing conditions a hundred million  

people in extreme poverty due to health expenses  the end of the beginning learning to live with   complexity artificial intelligence and ethics  organizations have made great strides in running   complex systems even big ones by researching  breakdowns and adapting accordingly yet they   have made less progress in running complex  systems that defy conventional modeling and   put traditional management practices to the test  leaders must use better tools to predict how   these systems will behave data-driven tools that  can help understand numerous elements constant   interactions and the impact of uncertainty complex  organizations are much more challenging to handle   than simple ones it is more difficult to to  predict what will occur because complex Legacy   systems interact unpredictably it is harder  to make sense of things because complexity May   exceed cognitive capabilities machine learning  and NLP have the potential to help address the   most significant societal challenges of our time  from climate change to caring for an aging Society   however responsible technology adoption is  emperored by several impediments including   poor data quality and governance issues which  undermine public confidence in the institutions   they rely on moreovers complex systems are imbued  by data that may be managed in patent ways but   whose interactions are continually changing three  properties determine the complexity of data-driven   environments multiplicity interoperability  diversity multiplicity refers to the potential   interacting data in the system in a general sense  interoperability is defined by the ability of two   or more systems to exchange data understand the  exchange data now and use the data meaningfully   for the purpose it was intended in a meaningful  and secure way diversity has to do with the   degree of their heterogeneity to prevent  biases some answers generated by chat GDP foreign of unsustainable processes in a particular  ecosystem May destroy the whole ecosystem   thank you case study presented by Mr yangbodu a  member of the road to sustainability and managing   partner Investments at inovo yep excellent then  so again um thank you very much and for those   of you uh new to this uh yeah and I've been  collaborating since late 2020 when the road   to sustainability series first ticked off with  the focus on presenting a more comprehensive   and systemic perspective on sustainability  resilience and other means of addressing the   poly crisis that we're facing today it's not just  climate but we're also dealing with socio-economic   inequalities biodiversity laws agriculture Walter  how all of those issues are very interrelated   so at first to really give a very high level  approach about this is to reframe the climate   conversation while it's very important that we  do keep in mind things like temperature rise and   affects climate hazards and whatnot those more  acute those more measurable and tangible impacts   what's very important for us is to consider that  it's part of a much bigger systemic challenge   about transitioning from a once through economy  where you effectively accept that there will be   waste material there will be refuse that you're  going to dispose of and then rather treating that   as waste treat that as assets say what opportunity  is there so that's fundamentally what the circular   economy is about and as far as the climate the  emergency and poly crises are concerned that means   a circular carbon economy so for example right now  you have three quarters of global emissions coming   from fossil fuels now what if those emissions  can then be converted into something useful   for example by fertilizer that can then be used to  restore soils so improve soil carbon sequestration   thus boosting crop yields also helping  restore natural vegetation so potentially the   power generation plants whether coal oil and steel  as well as coil and gas or heavy Industries like   steel aluminum cement anything else glass you name  it like all of those that are very difficult to   decarbonize today because they require a lot just  a lot of electricity but also of processed heat   that what if they then become part of the solution  by turning what it's emitted into fertilizer it   could also be turned into graphene and hydrogen  as well graphene for Advanced Materials it's like   you can call it the Silicon of the 21st Century as  well as hydrogen for energy storage and carriage   and the right now as we're currently positioned  I'm most active with this group but innovo Net   Zero we work with large corporates as well as  governments in the public sector to achieve   a net zero profitably and cost effectively and  what better way to achieve problem at zero than   turning what would be a waste stream that either  emit or otherwise have to pump deep underground   Department storage what if then you use that as  valuable raw material that would then go on and   address things like potential like a looming  crisis around soil depletion that's going to   be arriving by the 2040s 2050s given excess  use of traditional fertilizer which depletes   the soil and contrast as we mentioned earlier  with biofertilizer with carbon-based fertilizer   actually then enhances the soil quality and the  conditions and in particular the main area focus   is obviously the Mediterranean surrounding  areas given that it has had the longest   one of the longest histories of any place in  the world of Millennia of degradation of human   settlements so now with the future of human  settlement region if that then becomes instead   of extractive and depletive it actually becomes  regenerative so you could think of this as an   intentional anthropicing in one way or another  in which what we're now doing is restoring that   balance within the carbon cycle whereas during  the industrial era emissions have far exceeded   the amount that can be sequestered from natural  habitats and other natural ecosystems sinks   so now if we stopped restoring those ecosystems  it's not just about reducing the emissions because   even if we aggressively build out Renewables as  fast as possible given what I mentioned earlier   about the demands of heavy industry that's only  going to get us halfway to Net Zero by 2050.   so we actually have to enhance the sequestration  capacity as well and what best to what better   way to do that than to actually position  heavy industry as part of the solution from   one of the most in traffic climate problems  to one of the most potent climate Solutions   so um that's the high level overview of  really where we need to be pushing things   in the remaining seven years of this decade  of action and delivery so thank you very much thank you youngbo and thank you for this uh for  providing us with you know so much perspective   I just want to get back to some points that  we've shared earlier um and and try to format   um how can we Define uh the circular carbon  economy um I think you've mentioned that exactly   over the past few weeks and what about this  yes so if you're defining a circular economy   the most fundamental principle is that you have  designed waste out of the system so that every   co-product is used in one way or another and a  case study that uh recently again just thanks   to interest from places like India and quite  a number of other high growth regions of the   world that I've been using is that let's say for  those of you who've traveled there just north   of Delhi there is a large landfill called the  Boswell landfill and you can see it if you're   driving on the highway north of Delhi it's  one of the most visible landmarks in the area   so in terms of a circular Colony approach within  the landfill you have plenty of both organic and   inorganic matter that can actually be utilized so  for one is let's say if you take those streams out   you have your inorganic matter which then  can be manufactured we have the technology   available today to manufacture cement and  other building materials from that matter   and then when you're left the organic matter  if you have Technologies like gasifiers like   all of those they're very well established  Technologies just need greater deployment   then you can convert that into things like if  you have pure carbon well you have graphene   obviously but also then from the syngas the  carbon monoxide hydrogen mix then you can also   make uh biofertilizer and biochar at the same  time both help with soil sequestration as well   as hydrogen for energy storage and carriage so  that's just one example of what you start with   at everything is refuse and how every component of  that refuse stream can actually be no matter what   no matter how it's configured it can be turned  into a valuable material for heavy industry   excellent and that leads us um to to the future  of asset allocation because we found that um and   I personally mentioned that also over my last  uh reviews how do we manage the different types   of opportunities that occur right now instead of  having them as you mentioned as considering the   waste management with much more about opportunity  management um all these all this future that is is   yet to be done is yet to be defined how how can  we at least you know provide a few highlights   well um it's really a good sum it up by the phrase  hidden treasure essentially that's what it is and   it's it can be applied in multiple contexts and  connotations here so we've already went over how   a very problematic waste stream which is CO2  emissions from combustion Health that can be   turned into something that is restorative that is  regenerative in a form of biochar Bio fertilizer   also graphene hydrogen all those streams and  let's zoom out a bit let's take it a bit more   broadly that it's not just that there have been  over much oversight of these potential it's not   waste streams but these value streams actually  that's how we should be referring to these value   streams not just on the physical environmental  aspect but also if you go into the area of just   the financial system very broadly so one of a  key case in point is the concept of public wealth   um for those who haven't either haven't read  the books uh public wealth of cities or public   Nations or any of the papers he's co-authored by  gentleman doc the other highly recommended reading   yeah we'll have I think um in the in the chat  with at the different uh resources links exactly   yeah so for sure so what uh basically in short is  that around the world what has been happening for   so long is that not all but many governments  have been neglecting what is the highest best   use of their real assets especially their real  estate so that's another example of there's um a   lot of being having a lot of opportunity there so  for example take the UK as an example that in the   1980s until the global financial crisis for this  whole quarter Century the UK sold off over 400   billion pounds worth of its public assets yeah  your private hands for only Pence on the pound   so that's how much poorer the general public the  public in the UK had gotten because they had no   idea that those assets were actually worth that  much that for example let's say you have land   that's owned by a city government or a national  subnational government that is undervalued because   it's relatively marginal it may have been recently  used for heavy industry it may have been docs that   have been disused because of changes in shipping  technology for example but because they did not   know what is a validated they were not aware that  this can be redeveloped into things like social   housing it can be used to really make the city  center make the urban core more vibrant make it   more inclusive that you can actually bring broader  economic value to it you just end up selling off   without knowledge of had they kept it and been  able to leverage it redevelop it they would have   gotten much greater value from it and one case  study here is you have the city of Boston this   is technically the point yeah and thank you for  mentioning that I was discussing with one of our   common friend um the other day about you know  local communities um and the value that can be   brought biodiversity inclusion sustainability  and everything's that yeah exactly say the city   of Boston for instance studies on their books they  only had in the 2010s one and a half billion worth   of assets yet if you were to Value the city's  real estate holdings at highest best use yeah then   their asset base would be 55 billion US Dollars  wow so more than a 70-fold uh 30-fold increase   on what their Book value is so which effectively  means that with so many cities uh places thinking   that they're insolvent they don't necessarily have  to be it's that they just haven't been realizing   they have not quite tapped into this proverbial  people call it a gold mine that's right yeah   indeed they're real assets that leads us directly  to um and you mentioned that a bit earlier about   fertile soils and everything that's related to the  future of Agriculture and yeah I mean there is we   can find innovative solutions and we've mentioned  that and we can we can speak about values   um on the go as we as we as we start looking at  what is going to happen and what is happening   currently in India what is happening  currently in Africa with the soils but   the the point here um I think everything  seems to be pretty pretty combined   um we we generally you know select the topics and  we try to separate the different focuses but what   I see is that more and more as we go through um  as we go forward and and through the different   cups I think there there are too many distinction  and we need to to find out you know the the right   balance to speak about the different challenges of  the topic so what would be your take about fertile   soils and in the future of Agriculture which is  related to exactly what you said earlier yeah and   all of that it has to be uh treated it can't be  treated in isolation uh for sure since one of the   biggest shortcomings lately of these copes  so whether the biodiversity cup the climate   cop any of those is that they have taken still  despite efforts to be more comprehensive they're   two big straw coming as number one are relatively  siled approach to those matters um that if you're   dealing with climate then of course you have to  deal with biodiversity agriculture all of those   that both are affected by climate action and also  contribute to climate action at the same time so   just you can't really think of them as Exclusive  Calls in fact you have to think of them as a whole   system of reinforcing and balancing Loops stocks  and flows that's how you have to think of these   things and secondly is the second big shortcoming  is and this was even the sentiment I got in years   ago um back in late 2018 at call 24 in kativiza  when they happened there be there on site   that much of a sentiment there was even then the  sentiment was that we know what we need to be   doing but you go first so what has still been very  lacking and it's something I'm doing personally   My Utmost to uh amend uh through my current  efforts is that there has to be a lot stronger   bias Focus push towards action because  everything that we've laid out what   needs to be done what tools are available what  technology have you scaled right for years now   um the big consulting firms big the national  service providers they have been writing about   these issues yet very few if any of them are  actually positioned to act on any of this so   that is a gap that seriously needs to be filled  in and incidentally I just full disclosure I'm   fortunate enough to be working with power of  team who are aptly trying to fill that yeah   that's that's why we're trying to do and thank  you for mentioning that I think that to move the   needle we really need you know movements from  the bottom up instead of waiting for decision   makers to to make the state um the first step but  that that's also I think a problem of Education   that we pointed out a couple of years ago  already when we when we first discussed   um about the road to sustainability and  my my my my my my my my last question   um what do you think about this uh this cup to 15  uh cup 15 uh with the biodiversity targets that   were defined um and uh and adopted yesterday  actually yeah exactly so with the cop of Team   what's crucial to realize is that and that  this is actually why um my impression is that   how so many well-meaning people have set  themselves up for disappointment because   they there's this tendency and I can see this  and I don't blame anyone for this because of the   urgency of those matters that we have to only  seven years till the 2030 deadline around the   global goals obviously maybe even shorter for  climate hence why it's the most urgent but   there's this tendency to treat things as once and  done try to do as much or at once whereas a much   more effective approach is first to focus on treat  this as an ongoing process that there's going to   be another cope um cop 15 in say on biodiversity  16 there will be a cop 28 coming up in the year   on climate uh of course the regional convenings as  well around the task force on nature-based natural   disclosures like they're all of these processes  the ongoing so treat each of these as steps in a   much longer much more comprehensive process so you  don't have a variety of movement yeah absolutely   disappointment there yeah and secondly is really  to focus on the fact that it's not necessarily and   more often than not it's not really the case that  you're dealing with a system you're dealing with   issues around the actual policies or regulations  or codes or anything how they're written it's   those aren't any less problematic what really is  the low-hanging fruit here and at all levels no   matter how low or high up on the decision-making  hierarchy you're situated right is that how can   what is existing how can existing policies rules  Norms regulations how can they be interpreted and   implemented differently because that's a big gap  we're seeing is that you don't need it throughout   the whole Playbook honestly that you just have  to start with first this is what's there what   can we start doing differently that just relies  on reinterpretations or what's there because the   truth is it's much more the case that it's less so  that the rules and policies are the hindrance it's   more so just human habits that things that we've  been doing for decades and we're so accustomed   to doing that often lose sight of how things can  be done differently right fantastic thank you for   this and um and being pointed um and all these  highlights really important thank you youngbo   um and and I look forward on the next  session most definitely thank you

2023-01-02

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