Dawn Lippert: Community investment is the missing piece of climate action | TED Countdown

翻译人员: Kaiwen Hu 校对人员: Yan Li Xiao

Thirteen years ago, I was living in Washington, DC.

13 年前我住在华盛顿。

I was working with the Department of Energy

当时正协助能源部门

to identify breakthrough technologies to help solve climate change.

寻求在应对全球 气候变化上技术突破。

And I remember one particular day,

有一天 我记得特别清楚，

sitting in a windowless room,

我在一栋高楼的房间里，

in massive concrete buildings,

那房间连窗子都没有，

and talking with colleagues

我和同事们憧憬着

about how this particular wind technology, or solar, or battery technology

用风能，太阳能， 电池技术解决气候问题，

could solve climate, if only we had enough resources.

但绕不过一个条件： 要有充足的资源。

And then, I met my mentor, Maurice Kaya.

之后我发现我的导师莫里斯·卡亚

And he had a very different perspective.

对此抱有十分不同的意见。

He lived 5,000 miles away, in Hawaii,

他在 5,000 英里外的夏威夷，

and he'd been working on the ground,

深入一线，

implementing clean energy technology with communities.

致力于社区清洁能源的推广。

He'd been doing it for more than 30 years.

他一干就是 30 多年。

And he asked me,

他有一次问我，

"What if we brought this decision-making on breakthrough technologies

“如果我们将这些对于 突破性技术的决策落地

closer to the ground,

带到实地去，

closer to people who are actually being affected by new technologies.

带给真正会受这些新科技 影响的人身边。

What would that unlock? What would that look like?"

那会有什么发现？ 会有什么样的结果？”

And he invited me to move to Hawaii to figure out just that.

为了弄清这些问题， 他邀请我搬到夏威夷去。

And so I did, I moved to Hawaii.

我答应了，确实搬到了夏威夷。

And all of a sudden,

突然之间，

it wasn't just my job to identify interesting new technologies from DC,

我的工作不仅需要 发掘有趣的新科技，

but to actually wrestle with some of the challenges on the ground.

更需要努力解决一些实际的挑战。

I was right in the thick of it.

深度参与这件事上， 我做对了。

This was 2009.

这是 2009 年。

Electricity prices in Hawaii were three times those in other states,

夏威夷的电费是其它州的三倍高，

and people couldn't afford to pay their bills.

人们付不起电费。

At the same time, solar energy, electric vehicles,

与此同时，太阳能、电动汽车

were just starting to come into their own,

正在慢慢发展，

and it was actually cheaper to use these than burn oil.

实际上，用清洁能源也比石油便宜。

So Hawaii presented this perfect opportunity

所以夏威夷政府 抓住这个绝佳的机会

to demonstrate how to transition an entire economy

来展示该如何让整个经济体

off of fossil fuels.

摆脱化石燃料，实现能源转型。

It was all getting real.

一切都成真了。

The battery that we’d written a check for, in DC,

我们在华盛顿写支票付清的电池

was now on a ship on its way to Hawaii,

正在运往夏威夷的船上，

ready to be installed just a few miles from my home.

准备安装在距我家几英里外的地方。

And so Maurice and I, seeing this transition was happening,

莫里斯和我都目睹能源正在转型，

and the fact that we needed many new technologies

也意识到，我们需要许多新的科技。

in order to make it work,

为了让一切变为可能，

started a nonprofit called Elemental, an investment platform.

我们成立一个非营利性 的投资平台 Elemental。

We've now invested in over 100 start-ups,

我们已经投资了 超过 100 家创业公司，

and we've funded more than 70 projects

资助了超过 70 个项目，

that are first-of-their-kind technology projects

都是首创性的技术项目，

to actually implement these technologies on the ground, in communities.

得以真正将这些科技 运用到实地中和社区里。

And we’re testing this thesis:

我们在检验理论正确与否：

Can we actually make better investment decisions

如果我们和社区紧密合作，

if we're closer to communities

到我们要推广新科技的实地考察，

and the places where we're implementing these new ideas?

我们能不能做出更好的投资决定？

And what we've learned in the last dozen years

在过去的几十年里，我们认识道：

is that, yes, while technology brings half the solution,

科技可以做出一半的决定，

the community brings the other half.

而另一半的决定是社区做出的。

But there is a huge gap in the amount we're investing in the technology

但我们投资在科技上的钱， 和能源转变所需要的钱之间，

to reach this transition

有个巨大的落差。

and the amount we're investing in the communities

并且，我们对社区、社区能力 和基础设施的投资金额

and the community capacity and infrastructure

to actually deploy these technologies at scale.

和真正大规模运用这些技术 需要的资金有巨大的落差。

Last year, globally,

去年，全球

about 500 billion dollars was invested

大概投资了 5000 亿美元

in the technology side of the decarbonization equation.

用于脱碳方程的技术研究。

And while this is really necessary and needed --

这些投资是必要的——

and in fact, it needs to increase four to 10 times

实际上，投资应该增加 4～10 倍，

in order to get where we need to go in emissions --

才能达到减排目标——

we're not keeping up on the community side,

我们没有跟上社区的步伐，

and the gap is only growing.

差距越拉越大。

Last year, nonprofits working on community-based climate solutions

去年，以社区为基础、解决气候 变化问题的非营利组织

received less than nine billion dollars in funding.

收到了不到 90 亿美元的筹款。

This gap is widening quickly,

这个差距越来越大，

and it's putting our ability to deploy new climate solutions at risk.

使得我们布置的新气候变化解决方案 变得岌岌可危。

So let me be more specific.

说得更具体点，

Over the last dozen years,

过去几十年里，

we've tested and experimented

我们做了无数

with many, many ways to actually try to rebalance this equation,

测试和实验， 试着平衡脱碳方程，

to bring community investment more in line with technology investment.

让社区投资和技术投资的钱 更匹配。

You're probably wondering what we actually mean by community investment.

你们可能在想，我们所说的 社区投资到底是什么。

Obviously, [it] looks really different from investing in a start-up.

很显然，社区投资 和投资创业公司很不同，

What I mean is investing time, political capital and resources

我所指的是投资时间、 政治资本、

in government, particularly local government,

和政府资源， 尤其是当地的政府资源，

and the ability to permit, plan for, integrate,

允许、规划、整合、

work with new climate technology

同新气候科技协作的能力，

that's coming to all these local jurisdictions.

都来自于当地的管辖区。

And on the community side,

从社区的角度来看，

what I mean is investing in nonprofits,

我指的是投资非盈利组织

in education,

投资教育

and in hiring locally

和雇佣当地人

so that we actually have the capacity in local places

这样我们才能真正的有能力 在各个地方使用这些科技，

to implement these technologies,

and then investing in the bridging between these different sectors.

然后对连接这些行业的努力投资。

What we found is that investing in this more holistic way,

我们发现通过这样更加全面的投资，

on government, communities and technology,

我们的政府，社区，和科技，

not only increases our impact

不仅仅增加了我们的成果，

but also leads to better financial outcomes.

也导致财务状况变好了。

The companies that we've worked with in our portfolio

被我们投资的公司中

have now raised over five billion dollars in follow-on funding,

在后续的投资中 已经募集了超过五十亿的资金，

and they're operating in more than 60 countries globally.

而且在全球超过六十个国家经营。

I'll give you two examples from the portfolio,

让我在投资组合中给你两个例子，

one in concrete and one in water.

一个是关于混凝土的， 另一个是关于水资源的。

These happen to be the two most abundantly consumed materials

它们也是两种在地球上 消耗量最大的原料。

on the entire planet.

So first, concrete.

首先让我们来说混凝土

In 2018, we invested in a start-up

2018 年，我们投资了一个能将二氧化碳 储存在混凝土里的初创公司。

that introduces captured carbon dioxide into concrete.

And the CO2 is then mineralized in the concrete

通过将二氧化碳在混凝土中矿物化 然后永久的储存在桥梁和建筑中。

and stored forever in our bridges and buildings.

But inventing this very cool new technology alone

但是通过投资这项非常酷的科技本身 不能对解决气候危机提供多大帮助，

wouldn't do that much to solve the climate crisis.

Real people have to use it.

人们需要实际使用他们。

So in addition to implementing it with architects and concrete operators

所以除了和在夏威夷当地 建筑师和使用混凝土的人实施它，

in Hawaii, on the ground,

在实地，和交通部，在真实的高速公路上， 我们和当地政府合作，

and the Department of Transportation, in a real highway,

we brought in local government,

to create demand for this new concrete.

来创建这种水泥的需求。

So with the start-up and our mayor and our city council,

所以初创公司和市长还有市议会一起

we passed a resolution to prefer low-carbon concrete in all new projects.

通过了关于使用偏向在新建工程 使用低碳混凝土的决议。

Now you may ask,

你可能会问，

"Well, what does this one specific policy in this specific place

“这一个地方的一个政策

have to do with really solving global climate challenges?"

在真正的解决全球气候 变化的挑战吗？”

Well, a few months after we passed that resolution,

可是在我们通过 那项决议的几个月后，

our mayor brought this to 200 mayors,

我们的市长将这项决议 带给了 200 个市长，

who passed the same policy for cities all over the country.

而他们在全国的城市 通过了同样的政策。

So now --

所以现在——

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

So now, this one project,

所以现在，这一个计划，

that stores about 700 tonnes of carbon dioxide in Hawaii,

在夏威夷储存了 大概有 700 吨的二氧化碳，

which is about the equivalent of taking 150 cars off the road per year,

也就大概相当于 150 辆汽车每年的碳排放，

is scaling to cities around the country, and also around the world.

正在想全国乃至全世界的城市扩散。

But this isn't just about investing in the local government capacity

但是这不只是关于对当地可以使用 和扩展这些科技的政府的投资。

that can meet technology and help scale it.

It's also about investing in communities.

这也是关于社区的投资。

So I'll give you an example from water.

让我给你水资源投资的例子。

Last year, there was a community leader who started a nonprofit

去年，有一个社区领导人 成立了一个非盈利组织

to specifically address water pollution and pollution on reefs, beaches

专注于解决水和夏威夷礁石， 海滩，和鱼塘的污染，

and Hawaiian fish ponds, like the one in this picture.

就像这张照片展示的一样。

They didn't have the technology

他们没有解决这些 从不同建筑排放出来的污水的科技。

to figure out how to deal with the polluted water

that was coming off all of these different buildings.

So we scoured the globe

所以我们在全球寻找

and found a start-up that turns polluted water into clean water

最后找到了一个初创公司可以通过来自处理 过程的甲烷，然后将它注入特殊设施，

and clean electricity,

by using methane from the process and reinjecting the facility.

将污水转换成清水和清洁的电力。

See, like in so many cases,

所以其实在很多时候，

the nonprofit and the start-up actually have similar goals.

非盈利性组织 和初创公司有相似的目标。

The nonprofit, though, can't really reach its goal

但是非盈利性组织没没有科技 从根本上达到他们处理水污染的目标，

of addressing water pollution

without technology to address at the source.

And the start-up would have a much harder time

同时没有非营利组织在当地的关系网， 信任，和实际知识。

implementing its technology locally

without the local relationships and trust and know-how

初创公司在实地 使用这样技术又十分艰难。

that the nonprofit brings.

Now I won't pretend that bridging these two is easy,

但是我不会假装连接 和使这些组织合作很简单。

or that working together is easy.

Start-ups and grassroots organizations, community organizations,

初创公司和基层组织，社区组织，

they speak very different languages,

他们有很多不一样的做事方法，

and a lot of bridging is required between them.

所以将他们连接起来需要很多的工作。

But this is the kind of work we need to do,

但是这就是我们要做的工作了，

if we're going to start rebalancing the equation

如果我们需要在科技投资 和社区投资之间平衡的话。

between technology investment and community investment.

We, as the investor,

我们作为投资者， 其实经常花钱让非盈利组织做这些事情。

often actually pay the nonprofit to do this kind of work.

We think this is a key part of the equation:

我们觉得这是平衡中重要的一点：

paying the nonprofit for their expertise,

就像你花钱给电气承包商一样， 花钱让非盈利组织发挥他们的特长，

just as you would pay an electrical contractor,

a general contractor on a project,

他们的价值就像 这个计划的总承包商一样。

for their value.

(Applause)

（鼓掌）

And really importantly, then,

然后很重要的是

building this kind of financial mechanism into every single project

将这种经济机制用在每一个项目中

so that, as we’re scaling climate projects that are working,

因为这样，我们将有用的气候变化 项目扩大的同时，

we're also scaling investment in the communities at the same time.

我们同时将对于社区的投资扩大。

In our experience,

在我们的经验中，

it's been particularly important in honoring Indigenous communities,

尊重原住民的社区是很重要的，

bringing them into the cocreation process early,

让他们参与到早期的共创过程中来，

rather than asking for free advice.

与其问一些免费的意见。

Now we, as investors, often pay the nonprofit partners and ourselves,

现在作为投资者来说， 经常给非营利组织和我们自己投资，

and we also train start-ups to do this

而且我们也训练 初创公司做同样的事情，

so that, as they become big companies, as they scale globally,

这样，当他们成为 大公司在全球扩张时，

they're doing this around the world as well.

他们也可以同时 在全世界同样的投资。

And this isn't happening nearly enough,

虽然这种模式还不够普遍，

but it's one tool we can use to start rebalancing the equation

但是这是我们可以开始平衡 对科技和社区投资的一个工具。

between community and technology investment.

So these cannot be one-off examples,

所以这绝不能是一次性的，

if we are to meet the challenge of climate change.

如果我们要面对 气候变化带来的挑战。

Globally, we will need 700,000 electric busses,

全球上，我们需要 700，000 辆电动巴士，

25 million solar panels,

2500 万个太阳能板，

400 million vehicle chargers,

4 亿个汽车充电器，

to meet this challenge.

来应对这些挑战。

Just imagine all of the decisions that need to be made,

想象所有需要做的决定，

all the physical things that need to be installed in real places.

需要被安装的设备。

Global climate progress relies on local action.

改变全球气候变化的进程 需要地方的努力，

And this truly is where it gets really hard.

而真正的实现是非常困难的。

It's actually relatively easy to invest from a windowless room

其实相对简单的还是 在一个没有窗子的房间里做的，

and not really think about all the consequences

不思考实际落地的投资，

of implementation on the ground,

as I did when living in DC.

就像我在华盛顿做的一样。

It's much harder for us and me to walk into an unfamiliar situation

更难的是进入一个不熟悉的情况，

and acknowledge that we really don't have all the answers.

然后承认我们其实 并没有解决问题的所有答案。

I remember early in this work,

我记得在我们早期工作的时候，

bringing a new transportation app to parents

给家长们展示一个新的运输软件。

who'd said that transportation access was one of their key challenges.

家长们说交通运输 对他们来说是一个很大的挑战。

We were in this beautiful space,

我们在一个非常漂亮的地方，

open-air -- didn't even need to open the windows, all fresh air.

在户外——连窗户都不需要打开， 全部都是新鲜的空气。

I was demonstrating this new app to them,

我给他们展示了这一个新的软件，

and saying, "Do you think this would help you?

然后说 “你觉得这会帮助到你吗？

What's your feedback? Do you think you would use this?"

你有什么反馈吗？ 你觉得你会用吗？”

And they looked at me kind of perplexed, and said,

他们困惑的看着我，然后说，

“Well, this is a sort of an interesting, fancy new app,

“我们某种程度上喜欢这个有趣， 高级的应用，

but we wouldn't use this.

但是我们不会用它。

What we really want is our after-school shuttle back,

我们真正需要的是我们去年 从城市预算中去掉的放学时的校车。”

that was cut from the city budget last year."

And I was turning red,

这之后我脸红了，

and I could feel the heat rising in my face.

我可以感受到我的脸在发热。

I mean, talk about uncomfortable.

我的意思是，虽然这些很让人不适，

But it's conversations like these

但是这样的对话完全改变了 我们投资初创公司的方式。

that have changed completely the way that we invest in start-ups.

Yes, we do technical due diligence and financial due diligence.

是的，我们会在科技上尽职的审核， 我们会在金融上尽职审核。

But can we be better investors by actually asking the communities,

但是通过实际去问这些社区， 我们能成为更好的投资者，

which we ask every time now, before making an investment decision,

当我们现在每次在做投资决定之前问，

"Would you use this?

“你会用这个吗？

Is this something that you actually want?"

什么是你真正想要的？”

It's what Maurice taught me, early on.

这是莫里斯在很早的时候教我的。

You need to get out of the office,

你需要走出办公室，

get on the ground

去到实地中去，

and listen to what people really need.

然后聆听什么是人们真正需要的。

Technology can only bring half the solution.

科技只能带来一半的答案，

The community brings the other half.

而社区带来另一半。

And we have to fix this imbalance now

我们现在需要改变不平衡是

if we want to fix climate change,

如果我们想要改变气候变化，

and we do.

而我们确实想要。

For any of these new solutions to work for climate,

对于任何新的可用的对于 气候变化的解决方法来说，

they have to have at least these two ingredients:

他们必须要包含两个组成要素：

the technology that scales

科技本身可以扩展，

and the relationships and empathy that we share.

还有我们共有的人际关系的同情心。

This is what we'll need to create a future where our children can thrive.

这是我们创建一个我们孩子 可以茁长成长的未来需要的。

And I have a particularly large stake in that.

而我在其中占有很大的股份。 （笑声）

(Laughter)

谢谢大家。

Thank you.

(Cheers and applause)

(欢呼和鼓掌）