Pioneers Climate Summary 2022: Analyzing the year from a climate perspective

As the new year has started we would like to share our climate change highlights and lowlights from this busy, dramatic and long year 2022.

Low points

• The climate gap is widening: the climate gap is the gap between where science tells us we should be and where we actually are. We should be reducing our emissions by between 7-8% per year. In 2022 the world will emit the highest amount of CO2 emissions EVER. Read more. 
• The emissions of 20 years ago are already intensifying natural disasters. It was the 4th warmest year on record, only 2016, 2017 and 2020 were warmer. Read more.
• Europe was hit by heatwaves, fires and flooding, as was China. Read more.
• Devastating floods hit Pakistan, displacing 30-50 million people. Read more.
• The COP27 conference in Sharm el Sheikh largely underwhelmed expectations, which were already low. Read more.
• Solar energy got more expensive, driven by material and energy prices. Read more.

High points

• Scientists managed a fusion energy breakthrough: they produced the first fusion reaction in a laboratory that created more energy than it took to start it. Read more.
• Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, slashed its CO2 emissions by 99.999% by switching to PoS. Read more.
• Patagonia initiated a new form of climate philanthropy by transferring 2% of voting and 98% of non-voting stock toward causes to fight the climate crisis. Read more.
• Alphabet, Meta, McKinsey, Shopify, and Stripe launched Frontier, an advanced market commitment for carbon removal worth $925 million, sending a demand signal to potential buyers and sellers.
• CSRD regulations were accepted in the EU – committing many companies to report on ESG topics. Read more.
• Climate action received a big financial boost through the Inflation Reduction Act in the USA. Read more.
• We launched our Climate Tech report, featuring the most promising startups with the potential to dramatically reduce, store or track emissions. Download here.

We remain optimistic that through collaboration and innovation, we can tackle the world’s biggest challenges. The Ukrainian war has contributed to an awareness of the fragility of our worldviews as well as the need for systems powered by renewable energy and circular material flows. We will contribute to closing, with our partners and clients, the “climate innovation gap”.

Have a good start to the new year.