Last week I attended Climate Week in New York City, which brought together leaders across governments and businesses, policymakers, scientists and NGOs to share their unique perspectives on how to collaborate to drive climate action. Historically, emissions reduction (“mitigation”) has been a primary focus of the many events and sessions, and clearly it is still an important part of the conversation. This year, however, the topic of climate adaptation played a larger role and it had me pondering how Dell Technologies should be thinking about adaptation and the supportive role technology can play.
Climate adaptation recognizes the world is already experiencing impacts from climate change and preparing for a climate-resilient future needs to start now. It doesn’t mean we lower our ambition to drive down carbon to combat the effects of climate change; it means we need to evaluate and evolve the processes, systems, tools and behaviors which can be implemented to prepare for, or live with, those impacts more effectively. Just as technology can help individuals, organizations and entire communities engage more equitably and fully in a rapidly evolving digital future, it can also help address needs that are a part of climate adaptation.
As part of this exciting week, I represented Dell Technologies during the World Economic Forum (WEF) session to kick off the newly formed Climate Change Adaptation Community. I was able to engage with other public and private leaders about organizational resilience, opportunities to drive change and how we would define leadership. This will culminate into an initial WEF report in time for November’s COP27 in Egypt and examples underpinning the report are already in progress. Dell is currently investigating various sectors which could be positively impacted by leveraging technology to drive greater efficiency or effectiveness. The agriculture industry, for example, could adapt to more volatile weather patterns and increase their yield to feed a growing world with these interventions. Data modeling could drive more accurate future-state assessments and the development of more effective early warning systems could save lives. The possibilities are endless, but to be most effective, the exploration must begin now.
Technology can be an enabler of a low carbon transition and help with mitigation strategies as well. Innovators from Dell Technologies, IOTA Foundation, ClimateCHECK and BioE gathered in New York last week to showcase a new process which will reshape what data confidence can look like when it comes to emissions. Project Alvarium is the culmination of four years of collaboration. It represents a landmark joint effort to unify open-source and commercial trust insertion technologies in a standardized environment. It could be leveraged to enable better tracking of carbon footprints and provide data to educate organizations and communities on opportunities to reduce their environmental impact. Working like this, across different industries, will only help to increase the scale and impact we can have.
And last but certainly not least, one of the strongest commitments we can collectively make to combat climate change is to zero out emissions. Dell Technologies, as part of our commitment to advancing sustainability, set a goal to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across our entire value chain – scopes 1, 2 and 3 by 2050. We are committed to achieving our net zero goal and supporting our customers, and society, as they achieve theirs.
With continued collaboration, strategic partnerships and innovative technology we will continue to drive positive change and advance climate action for people and the planet. It will take everyone working together to scale our impact on climate change. I, for one, am here for it.
