Well, joining us exclusively, Jacinda Ardern, former New Zealand prime
minister and now trustee for the Earthshot Prize.
Good to have you with us, Jacinda. I mean, we talk about how this is a
crucial decade for climate. How do you see the ash price playing a
role in helping to counter some of the problems we're seeing in the world
today? Of course, we all know that we need
solutions and we need them quickly. Earthshot is based on the idea of
Kennedy's moonshot, the idea of investing in aspiring within a short
period of time, a decade to identify and rapidly increase the impact of those
innovations, those ideas that are going to make a difference to our climate and
to restoring nature. It's across five categories, and you'll
see on the green carpet over the course of the next few days here in Singapore,
just some of the incredible work that's happening out there globally, which
we're trying to spread the reach around. Talk us through some of the solutions
that you're seeing right now. What are you excited about when you see
what they have come up with? For me, it's that that diversity and
amongst the finalists that we have here and we have 15 finalists because it's
shown, is interested not just in who eventually wins the prize, but creating
a cohort of individuals who are well supported to scale up these solutions.
So if you're a finalist with Earthshot, you are receiving mentoring, receiving
support, you're receiving connection to potential investors.
Amongst the finalists, we have we everything from individuals who are
looking at how do we make the electric battery, which of course for the growing
number of events that we have globally, how do we make sure that that is a more
sustainable resource? We've individuals creating ties that
release fewer pollutants into into the atmosphere.
We have Sierra Leone, Freetown, Tarrytown, you know, initiatives to try
and restore nature in different parts of the world.
It is truly global and you'll see with the breath of ideas, truly thinking
about the individual impacts across the world of climate and and globally.
It is about scaling that is solutions. I mean, it's no good having the
solutions if they can't scale. And I know that the .2 million is
aimed to help them to do just that. But it isn't enough.
The world's issues, the world's problems are massive.
We have to do the ocean, the world.
Generally, I mean, where do you go from there?
Did you help them perhaps find mentors, Funders?
I mean, you're right. And we of course, we're interested in
waste. We're interested in clean air, we're
interested in climate, restoring nature and our oceans.
So you have finalists working across all of these critical areas, and you write
scale and impact as critical to what we do.
You know, we know with these individuals, you know, the difference
between them having a massive impact will often be their ability to connect
with investors and to scale up quickly. We see these a growing number of
individuals, private equity and so on who are looking to climate investment.
We are connected to that. We're trying to create more of a really
a foundation for greater connection. But we know there will be no one
individual idea that that will be the cure all.
If there was, we would have, I would have hoped, found it by now.
But collectively, by amplifying these ideas across the course of ten years, we
hope to have impact and demonstrate that there is cause for optimism.
We just need to move with pace. What's the state of funding?
Because we know the smaller nations have been crying foul, saying the rich
nations have not been able to provide the kind of funding they have promised
on the lower level. In terms of the startups, I mean, how
are you looking at funding? So let me let me look at it from within
the frame of this show, because of course there is, and rightly so, a
global conversation over those who impact the climate the least, perhaps
carrying the greatest burden. And I, I know and understand that well,
coming from the Pacific, which is which is, of course, experiencing climate
change as we speak, it's one of the reasons why this is truly global.
We are we initially the awards began, of course, in London, moved to Boston.
We are now in this part of the world, both because of how exposed this part of
the world is to climate, but also the climate innovation that we see here, and
particularly anchoring ourselves here in Singapore.
We look globally for the ideas that are elevated by Earthshot.
And so one of the criteria as we look around is do we have broad
representation because every corner will be affected by climate in some way?
Innovation, we're talking about technology to a very, very large
extent as well. Do you think technology can help counter
the difficulties that we're seeing in the world today?
How much how much can it do? Certainly it has a role to play.
And already we're seeing where technology is having an impact
just amongst one of our finalists. The way that they're using data to try
and deal with overfishing and fishing sustainability.
So we see it in lots of different parts of our finalists, I think, in.
Increasingly we'll see it. But of course, one of the concerns
around the world is no one can bank on any one technological solution or sit
back and wait for that to emerge. We need to be making sure we have the
solutions now and that we're investing in those solutions.
Now, we can't afford to wait. Suffice to say the macro environment is
not healthy. We have a difficult one in Ukraine.
We have the Israel-Hamas war. What that expedite the process to
perhaps clean energy or will that hinder our transition?
Look, there is no question that as the globe, as a global community, as we
confront the issue of climate change, we are going to be pushed and pulled in a
number of different directions because it is indeed an incredibly fraught time
for the world. But climate change is one of our crises
amongst many, and we have to find a way that we continue to keep our eye on on
that whilst of course, the global community tackles those other issues.
But increasingly it is persistent. It is and it is in front of us now.
We're experiencing those natural disasters now.
My hope is that would be expediting as well, of course, the economic costs of
fossil fuels, but there's no shortage of reasons why we need to move quickly.
What conversations are you hearing on the back of that?
Yeah, I mean, such a commitment from governments, of course, when you're in
and I can only reflect on my own experience when you're in office, you're
always looking for ways that you've got a bit of double duty.
How can I how can I resolve kind of our obligations around climate change, but
also improve people's lives? And I think this is increasingly the way
we need to think about climate change. It's so often posed as a challenge, a
burden. It also poses massive opportunity.
If I could share an example of one of our past winners.
She lives in Kenya, and her child experienced a boon from the commerce
commonly used form of wood burner that they have in Kenya, which of course is,
you know, for her demonstrate it was unsafe.
It also produces air pollution and of course the climate impact of wood
burners. So she created coal burners as well as
their use. She created an alternative that was
using a form of fuel that was much less harmful for the earth, much safer for
her family, and created less air pollution.
These are the kinds of initiatives, even though that, of course, is hugely
impactful for those who are using them in her part of the world demonstrates
the triple duty that you can find in some of these solutions.
We're counting down to COP28 later this month.
Previous cops have been pretty disappointing.
How confident are you government leaders would come together and make some
progress at this meeting? I mean, it's imperative.
But the one thing I would say, regardless of what is happening at COP,
because it is a fraught time for any global any negotiation of a global
nature. What I would say regardless is, yes, it
matters what leaders decide and what leaders do, but they are not the only
players on the field. The responsibility
is nonetheless, of course. But, you know, no one in the private
sector who has a carbon footprint right now should be waiting to say that
they'll take action based on what emerges around COP.
They should be acting now. We all should be.
And so that is a cause, I think, for us all to exercise our own power and
ability to make a difference. And we just have to hope then that our
leaders follow.