“WE CANNOT ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE IN A SILO”
Project Drawdown believes that we can win the fight against climate change. As director of Drawdown Lift, Kristen P. Patterson is in charge of finding practical solutions. In our interview, she explains that implementation is the key to success. By Carlos Opitz and Axel Reiserer, OPEC Fund
KRISTEN P. PATTERSON Director, Drawdown Lift
Kristen P. Patterson is the inaugural director of Drawdown Lift, the “engine room” of Project Drawdown, dedicated to efforts to advance climate solutions that also boost
OPEC Fund Quarterly : You focus on practical solutions through the Drawdown Lift program that you are heading. How does your approach work? Kristen P. Patterson: We focus on climate solutions that also address extreme poverty and lead to enhanced human well-being. We synthesize knowledge and provide evidence demonstrating how our solutions can contribute to advancing and improving human well-being. We share that knowledge with leaders and policy makers and encourage them to prioritize climate solutions that not only contribute to alleviating poverty but also are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increasingly, people are realizing that we need to address climate change as part of achieving these goals. OFQ : Your position appears to be quite different from the often bleak warnings in the climate debate. KPP: Yes, Project Drawdown takes a different approach. People have had enough of doom and gloom. We know that climate change is happening, and we have solutions and what we need to do is deploy them at scale. It’s also not a matter of waiting for our governments. Action can be taken at every level so that together we can achieve drawdown
faster. To date, we have identified almost 100 climate mitigation solutions. What they have in common is that they are readily available and we can deploy them today. They are growing in scale, they are financially viable, they reduce greenhouse gas concentrations, and they have a measurable net positive impact. We categorize three kinds of solutions: The first category emphasizes reducing sources of greenhouse gases and bringing emissions to zero. The second category focuses on supporting what we call “sinks,” like intact forests, which absorb carbon. And the third category revolves around boosting equity and supporting societies, largely through increasing access to quality education and healthcare. OFQ : You are highlighting the interdependence between climate action and human well-being. Do we have capacity for both? KPP: I worked in the eastern forests of Madagascar for a couple of years, in communities that are isolated from the rest of the world. A woman living there does not wake up and
human well-being and alleviate poverty in emerging economies. Prior to her current role, Kristen worked for PRB, a nonpartisan research organization focused on improving the health and well-being of people globally. She was a founding member of the Africa Program at The Nature Conservancy, worked in Madagascar as a USAID Population-Environment Fellow, and served as a US Peace Corps volunteer in Niger in the mid-1990s. Kristen holds a Master in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a Master of Science in Biology and Sustainable Development as well as a Certificate in African Studies from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She is an alumna of the University of California, Berkeley Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program.
say, ‘OK, today I’m going to focus on my healthcare and tomorrow I’m going to think about my livelihood, and the next day I’m going to fix my family’s home that
38
Powered by FlippingBook