Mission: Restore the Earth
Clean Energy / Capture Carbon / Create Community
My mission when I left college was to help humanity change for the better, motivated by a positive vision of the future. As we humans have delayed action for environmental protection we have inflicted so much harm that my mission has shifted to protect and restore the life support systems of the earth and to help humanity build resilience along the way. I founded Minerva Ventures to catalyze change in light of the enormous and difficult challenges we face. I have faith in human creativity, will and ingenuity and our ability to work together for a better future.
We believe that economic success requires a stable climate and healthy ecosystems to enable robust markets, access to materials, transportation, clean energy, food, water and infrastructure that works for all, supporting highly skilled workers in welcoming communities. We need a realistic understanding of the risks and costs of climate consequences to enable full-scale investment in solutions.
We help our clients become resilient to an uncertain future through innovation for sustainability, circular economy and GHG emissions, water and carbon reduction. We help you assess and address climate risk. We also encourage strategies that will regenerate and restore climate health.
There are many others engaged in this important work of repairing and restoring the earth.
Jared Blumenfeld interviews Randy Hayes on his wonderful Podship Earth. Randy is the founder of Rainforest Action Network and Foundation Earth. He also consults with the World Future Council. Jared led the U.S. EPA Region IX and before that the San Francisco Department of the Environment. He recently hiked the Pacific Coast trail from the Mexican to the Canadian border.
During the podcast, Randy said much that resonated with me. Some salient points:
Science indicates that many of the Earth's life support systems are at or near collapse, from climate and weather to population, biodiversity, ocean health and more. Humanity has put all beings in the web of life (including ourselves) at peril.
Environmental organizations are afraid to tell the full truth of our predicament, wanting to inspire hope and confidence, so as not to discourage major donors or grassroots volunteers. So for the most part, they are not recommending the truly transformational change and rapid action needed.
Humans must transform how we related to the earth and to one another so that we repair and restore the life support systems of the planet. We are but a thread in the web of life and simply tweaking our behavior to be "less bad" or to gradually reduce carbon emissions will not suffice. We need to take bold actions for restoration, based on an understanding of complex systems. We need to cherish and nurture the Earth's systems and resources and not exploit them.
There are organizations working to build a circular economy and to restore planetary systems. One is the Healthy Climate Alliance which is committed to giving our children a healthy climate and a thriving planet. They say:
"Restoring the climate requires removing 1 trillion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere and restoring the Arctic ice. These two actions are necessary and sufficient to restore the climate. They can be done for less than 1% or 2% of global GDP, if humanity commits to doing it."
Ice911, founded by Leslie Field, offers a solution for protecting and restoring polar ice. Their forth-coming peer reviewed paper is being published by the American Geophysical Union.
"We can preserve Arctic ice by spreading our eco-friendly reflective sand on top of ice in a strategic location of the Arctic. The sand is low-cost, scalable, and safe for all. Applied in a specific location of the Arctic, it can restore the Earth’s natural heat shield, rebuild wildlife habitat, and help stabilize global climate. Like a white shirt on a hot summer day, our material reflects heat, protecting the ice below."
We provide consulting and advisory services to accelerate your impact and success. Please explore the resources on our website to discover books, organizations and events to help you in your journey to resilience and restoration.