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Dennis Pamlin
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From debt to innovation: New perspectives offer solutions to climate change
Climate change has long been characterised by reactive thinking and blame. But meeting the challenges of the future requires a new perspective that puts human needs and innovation at the center. – Businesses and cities should see climate change not as a blame game, but as an opportunity to innovate, says Dennis Pamlin, innovation expert at RISE.
Ända sedan Kyotoprotokollet skrevs under 1997 och världens länder kom överens om att minska utsläppen med 5,2 procent, har klimatfrågan i mångt och mycket handlat om en enda sak: Att nå målen genom att optimera befintliga system. Frågan har varit, och är i många fall fortfarande, reaktiv och skulddriven. Dennis Pamlin beskriver det som ett statiskt problemperspektiv.
– Man utgår från att världen är som den är. Vi har pratat så mycket om det akuta att vi glömmer bort att världen förändras väldigt snabbt, säger han och fortsätter:
– Samtidigt har klimatledarskap nästan blivit en fråga om kreativ bokföring. Hållbarhetsvärlden har skapat sitt compliance-drivna ekosystem med offsetting (kompensation) och rapportering. Man vill kunna säga att man gör mycket.
Mission Innovation ska accelerera grön innovation och utveckling
Under COP21, i anslutning till Parisavtalet 2015, lanserade 20 av världens ledande ekonomier Mission Innovation – ett initiativ tänkt att accelerera innovation och utveckling inom grön energi och ny teknik.
– Där hände något spännande. Då sa vi att vi ska släppa det gamla perspektivet, vi ska inte blicka bakåt utan vi ska titta på innovationer som driver utvecklingen framåt, säger Dennis Pamlin.
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Ever since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997 and the world's nations agreed to reduce emissions by 5.2 percent, the climate issue has largely been about one thing: meeting targets by optimising existing systems. The issue was, and in many cases still is, reactive and blame-driven. Dennis Pamlin describes this as a static problem perspective.
– It assumes the world is the way it is. We have talked so much about the urgent that we forget that the world is changing very rapidly, he says, adding: – At the same time, climate leadership has become almost a matter of creative accounting. The sustainability world has created its compliance-driven ecosystem of offsetting and reporting. You want to be able to say you are doing a lot.
Mission Innovation to accelerate green innovation and development
During COP21, as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, 20 of the world's leading economies launched Mission Innovation – an initiative to accelerate innovation and development in green energy and new technologies.
– That is when something exciting happened. We said we're going to let go of the old perspective, we're not going to look backwards, we're going to look at innovations that drive development forward, says Dennis Pamlin.
But changing the perspective has proven easier said than done. – A lot of people are a little shocked at first when you say we should not focus on reducing emissions. They think you're a climate denier or crazy, Dennis Pamlin says with a laugh. – Of course we need to continue to reduce emissions in many places. But what we are saying is that you should shift your focus to human needs. We cannot have companies and cities looking at climate as a liability issue, they should be looking at it as an innovation issue that drives their business.
We cannot have companies and cities looking at climate as a liability issue, they should be looking at it as an innovation issue that drives their business.
A paradigm shift in sustainability
There is a paradigm shift in sustainability with the expanding innovation agenda at its centre.
– Instead of trying to create a less bad version of our current society, we want to push forward and make the world a better place. That's Mission Innovation, to try to think in new ways, to be passionate about how you can help create tomorrow instead of feeling guilty about the past, says Dennis Pamlin.
For example, instead of just electrifying the car fleet and continuing to build cities around cars, we should focus on smart urban planning that encourages cycling, walking and new solutions – Imagine a world where a drone delivers medicine directly to your home, instead of you being stuck in a queue to pick it up. These are the kinds of solutions that not only simplify people's lives but also reduce resource use, says Dennis Pamlin.
Tools measure positive effects of innovations
Within the framework of Mission Innovation, RISE has taken on a role as a leading international partner for climate innovations. RISE is leading the work on Net-Zero Compatible Innovations, with Dennis Pamlin as executive director. They have developed a tool that measures the positive effects of innovations – not just for specific businesses, but for humanity as a whole.
– Sweden is often seen as a country of innovation, but what do we actually measure? The number of patents or educational programmes is not everything. Measuring how innovations improve society is harder than measuring marginal improvements on a car, but we need new indicators to see how we are making the world better. To succeed, we need to collaborate more and create structures that steer us in the right direction – even without perfect data, says Dennis Pamlin.
RISE plays a key role as a catalyst for climate innovation by combining technical expertise with national and international collaboration. Through partnerships with cities, startups and global networks, the institute also connects actors.
– We have developed tools to help actors identify their strengths and weaknesses, with a focus on linking human needs, solutions and export opportunities," says Dennis Pamlin.
Cities and companies can use the tool to analyse their needs and resources to create conditions for sustainable cooperation and long-term development. From mapping stakeholders and resources to identifying common goals and initiating collaborations that strengthen both local solutions and global opportunities, the tool makes it easier.
Creating collaborations for new types of solutions
For example, a city may identify a problem but lack insight into what solutions exist. At the same time, there may be start-ups in the same city that have developed relevant solutions but have not focused on those needs.
– By creating partnerships between these actors and also involving export actors, we can not only solve local problems, but also give startups the opportunity to spread their solutions internationally, says Dennis Pamlin.
Do you want to know how your company can work with others to create sustainable solutions to human needs? Contact innovationsagendan@ri.se or fill in the form below to book a workshop, consultancy or demonstration of the tool.
MISSION INNOVATION
Mission Innovation is a global, public and private initiative launched in November 2015 during the COP21 conference in Paris. It aims to accelerate innovation and investment in clean energy and sustainable solutions to meet global climate goals and reduce carbon emissions. The goal is to drive technological progress in the energy sector and support the transition to a sustainable energy future.
