Picture this 

You are in a restaurant with your family standing in front of the buffet. Looking at the buffet knowing that 30-40% of the food you are looking at already was discarded as waste before it even makes it to the shelves. The food we use so many resources for creating in the first place is later thrown out in the trash by the end of the day because restaurants have to keep a high standard to their customers. Why? The reasons vary: from stringent regulation on shapes and sizes of vegetables to kilograms upon kilograms of perfectly edible restaurant food being thrown away at the end of a day’s service. Not only is it costly (for both the environment and our pockets) but it’s unnecessary and unfair. Why should we accept that it’s right to waste such vast amounts of food that we’ve worked so hard to create while people are starving around the world?

Food waste consequence 

The impact that food waste has on our environment is colossal. Our planet is warming at unprecedented rates. Whilst the media focus on heavy industry and automation as the main sources of pollution, the fact that 13% of all the US greenhouse gas emissions result from the food supply chain continues to be widely ignored. 

What role does wasted food play within this? Arguably the most important. When sent to landfill, rotting food releases methane, an extremely damaging greenhouse gas that in the short-term is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. 

BuffetGO is a revolutionary new concept that is changing the way we deal with food from Hotels, Restaurants, and bakeries. Our unique "excess food service" are changing government laws in Europe as we speak because it is a sin against humanity to throw out perfectly good food to eat in the trash when 1 out of 4 humans don't know when their next meal is on the table.

Our goal is to increase the percent of reduced food waste in America by 1% each year witch is the equliant of (338.000 tons) and we will continue to do so until we reach a 10% nation wide.

Image credit: BuffetGO

BuffetGO created in 2014

I was living in Copenhagen, Denmark. We used the platform "Airbnb" to rent out one of our extra bedrooms from time to time. It is a great way to get that extra income when struggling with the house and car payment. This is also how I got introduced to the BuffetGO concept.

Mikko lived with us for five days. After three days we started talking business. What did we do and so on? I was working in a European startup called Colego and working on another project on the side that is on hold for now. Mikko was giving lectures in business intelligence around the world while having a car rental company in Finland. Mikko also had a great idea called BuffetGO. 

I never forget how impressed I was with such a brilliant idea and concept and wondered why nobody created this before. Here we have the perfect solution for food waste, combat climate change and ending world hunger and nobody is doing anything about it.

At this time I already visioned every major restaurant and hotel group in the world being a part of the BuffetGO concept since this is a no brainer. Why throw out food when you can get paid and doing what is right? While standing with this printed four-page power point presentation Mikko asked me if I loved the concept and course my answer was YES. He then asked me if I really believed in this. I said YES. He then said, "Take it, It is yours".. I was speechless. Mikko was standing with the holy grail and just handed it over to me. I still remember I asked him if he was an angel sent to help the earth because this is exactly what the world need. Three days after I had quit my job and have been working on BuffetGO since. With time I became more and more passionated about the cause and effect for climate change and realised how important it is we do something. At this point, it is no even about the money anymore even though there is money involved. Money is important, but integrity is more important and with both money and integrity you can do so much good for people around the world like building schools for homeless children in Columbia or helping humanitarian organisation saving lives in the water around Greece and turkey causes by the world crises we created. This concept has since we started to spread to 8 different countries in Europe within the last one and a half year and now we are in America as first movers in a totally new market trying to save the world. So far we inspired at least 4 other companies to follow our lead in Europe. BuffetGO is the only one operating in the US.

The restaurant problem in a nutshell 

Restaurant managers have trouble estimate how much food is needed and for the same reason this food in been thrown as waste by the end of the day. This is for great irritation for the business owners since wasted food is wasted money too. Also, there is some moral in this. Like if you have Jiminy Cricket from Pinocchio telling you that it is bad throwing out all that food. It simply does not feel right well knowing about the global climate change and catastrophic hunger issues we have.

 

Image credit: BuffetGO

The perfect solution for food waste, climate change and world hunger

Now buffet style hotels and restaurant / bakeries can sell the surplus food 15-30 minutes before the food is taken down from the shelves instead of wasting it. This one of a kind partnership provides restaurants with 100% profit margins while reducing food waste at the same time. We raise the average income per restaurant with 3.2% with zero/no cost. We also provide them with a better image that proves they create fresh food on a daily basis. New customers tasting their food and their carbon footprint is reduced since each meal sold through BuffetGO saved the environment 3 litres of petroleum in energy. This will make every business owner feel good since they can both help and get paid at the same time.

BuffetGO customers have already paid for the food online when they arrive at the restaurant. BuffetGO has full legal responsibility for the food, takes care of marketing and any customer service related issue making it easy for the restaurant. The only process the Restaurant has to do is simply hand over a takeaway box to the arriving customers 15 minutes before closing. The customer picks up the food them self and leaves again as a takeaway customer. The majority of the profit belongs to the restaurant, but BuffetGO does donate 20% to the World Food Programme. BuffetGO does not only solves local hunger but global hunger too while combating climate change at the same time. It is truly a win\win solution for addressing the food waste epidemic in the world. 

By ordering through BuffetGo, you can show your support for a fair, just and equal society. Moreover, an equal society in which access to capital doesn't dictate a person's capacity to feed themselves.  

Communicating about a phenomenon like climate change, which by nature is complex, in plain language is a process fraught with several challenges.  

The most important aspects of climate change issues, ideas, and policy measures are lost in the rumpus created by the confusion resulting from the lack of proper understanding of what climate change is really about.  

While the basics of climate change is well known, that the world is warming due to increased levels of greenhouse gases emitted by humans, the real phenomenon is often reduced to an abstract theory. The evidence clearly points to a warming world, with record temperatures recorded every year, and still some argue that Earth is cooling. Some even argue that global warming is a scam, though overwhelmingly the Scientific community has shown that climate change due to a warming world is a reality. The difference in opinion is so much that there is very little room for rational argument.

The opinion on climate change is divided not because of the unavailability of proper information, but mostly because of the way the available information is falsely analyzed and mis-presented to the public. Communication with the vast majority of people who range from being dismissive to indifferent or undecided about an issue like climate change sure isn’t a cakewalk.

Creating an efficient communication strategy that brings about real change in people’s perception requires understanding the target audience’s psychology.

Photo credits: Feel green. Think green, Kristina Bychkova, Carpi, IT , Voices4Climate competition

While evidence-based science is something climate change specialists are comfortable with, common people are far removed from the harsh realities of climate change and the scientific data and concepts surrounding climate change. Also, since essays, research findings, and scientific data can be full of jargon, simplifying such information and presenting it in a well-articulated manner can be the first step towards getting and retaining the audience’s attention.

To overcome challenges and effectively communicate the causes and effects of climate change to a widespread audience, it is necessary to:

1. Craft messages that offer immediate benefits. Since climate change is not something that would top everyone’s priority list, it is important to create and deliver messages that would make them want to give a serious thought to climate change implications.

Instead of saying: Weatherization is essential to battle the consequences of climate change.

It’s better to say: Give your family a better and safer environment by protecting your home and taking action against climate change.

2. Let go of jargon. The language used for the purpose of communicating climate change is full of jargon, which at times can be intimidating. To make sure that more people pay attention to the issues at hand and understand the proper context of communication, it is imperative to simplify the language.

Instead of saying: Research bears testimony to the fact that the recent climate change is anthropogenic.

It’s better to say: Research supports the fact that the recent climate change has been brought about by human activity.

People should be made aware of the availability of  jargon busters and acronym finders.

3. Tell a story. The focus should be on the audience rather than the argument. Putting out numbers, graphs, percentages, and other statistical information will not help drive the point home. It’s important to use a narrative that appeals to the emotions of people. To bring about a behavioral change, it’s important to understand what really appeals to the people. Using an emotional appeal which is also logically sound can help make the language more persuasive.

4. Make the messages relatable and credible. People respond better to someone they can relate to. People tend to react with skepticism towards things they can’t completely grasp. Therefore, it’s important to deliver messages that people can relate to, which in turn can have a lasting impact, when compared to climate change messages put out by Government and other institutions of authority.

5. Harness the power of social and visual media. Social media has tremendous reach and can be utilized to deliver messages to the masses. From graphs to charts to infographics, one can use different types of visual messages that summarize the cause and consequences of and solutions to climate change. Creating other impactful visual media such as videos and images can help garner much attention since they elevate the experience of the viewers.

Photo credits: Tomasz Wawer

Although the basic idea of communication is to help people know about something, it’s also important to focus on what they would do with the information they’ve access to. A message without any call to action hardly brings about any change. A change in behavior can be brought about by changing people’s mindset, which is why it’s important to deliver messages that can strike a chord with people and influence long term behavior.

It’s crucial to implement effective communication strategy sooner than later because we are at a juncture where creating awareness is more necessary than ever before.

Banner photo credits: Stefano Cefalo Geronimo, UK, Voices4Climate competition

Connect4Climate was excited to join our partner Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Climate CoLab’s Crowds & Climate conference on September 28th.  

Climate CoLab, a project of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, is an online community of over 75,000 people who collaborate and compete through a series of interrelated contests focused on different aspects of the climate change problem. At this year’s Crowds & Climate conference, 27 climate change projects were recognized including the grand prize winner, the Vancouver, BC company Climate Smart for its Business Energy and Emissions Profile (BEEP) Dashboard - a carbon mapping tool that connects cities and businesses working to cut carbon emissions.

Lucia Grenna, Program Manager of Connect4Climate, served as a judge of the Shifting Behavior Session. The winners included DearTomorrow, ENGAJAMUNDO, and ClimateX and presented at the “Inspiring the Public: Climate Education & Collaboration” breakout session of the conference. Each project showcased interesting ways to engage and empower people’s voices and to educate about climate change. DearTomorrow invites parents and grandparents to submit letter, photo, and video messages, while ENGAJAMUNDO raises youth voice as an important driving force of the climate action in more than 20 states of Brazil. ClimateX develops a platform where MIT Alumni and broader audience can learn climate-related science, technology and policy.

The room where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Climate CoLab’s Crowds & Climate conference took place. Photo credits: YeJin Kim

Other topics such as transportation transformation, urban designs, social enterprises in developing countries, sustainable and efficient supply chain, and carbon price were presented in a series of focused breakout sessions, demonstrating how we can use our global collective intelligence to tackle this important global issue.  

The day ended with the keynote speaker Janos Pasztor, Senior Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on Climate Change and Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Pasztor emphasized that the Paris Agreement was significantly important not only because it concluded with an agreement of 175 Parties and built a long-term vision, but also because of the active participation and presence of non-state actors such as civil society organization, youth groups, private sector to support the negotiation and demonstrate what they have been doing and what they will do in the future. He also shared a #Youth4Climate message with us.

[video:https://vimeo.com/185661285]

Connect4Climate was very inspired to see the stimulating and innovative climate proposals, and we look forward to hearing more ground-breaking ideas for its new contest, Anticipating Climate Hazards: How can vulnerable communities best prepare for climate-related hazards, and what new tools can be used to incentivize early action?

In collaboration with the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Resilience Initiative A2R — Anticipate, Absorb, Reshape, this contest invites solutions on how the world should prepare and respond to climate extremes and climate hazards. A2R is a global, multi-stakeholder initiative, launched in November 2015 to accelerate action on the ground to enhance climate resilience for the most vulnerable countries and people by 2020. Proposals are due February 10, 2017. 

Every year, thousands of campaigners, businessmen, diplomats and everything inbetween descend upon New York City for Climate Week. In recent years, the week has carried particular significance as it coincided with United Nations General Assembly meetings where climate change was a top agenda item. This year, while the UN focused heavily on a number of other issues including the global migration crisis, the discussions of Climate Week focused on a wide range of issues that lie under the vast climate umbrella.

Shifting investments away from fossil fuels and towards the renewables was one topic. Figuring out the best ways to deploy solar power to the developing world as soon as possible was brought up in other venues. Making sure countries hold true to their commitments of Paris was the focus of many events, while working with Wall Street to figure out how to get fossil fuel companies to disclose their carbon risks was another common topic of the many discussions taking place in New York City during the third week of September. Of course, the topics were all connected by climate change, but there was another connection running through all these event: storytelling.

Everyone has a story to tell when it comes to climate change, and getting those stories out to the masses is clearly a priority for those calling for climate action. There’s a real story for everyone: from the investors on Wall Street to the families putting solar panels on rooftops near Main Street.

Image credit: Years of Living Dangerously

Nowhere was the power of climate storytelling on bigger display during Climate Week than during a screening of season two of National Geographic’s Years of Living Dangerously series at the Museum of Natural History. As far as celebrity power and the environmental movement go this was a pretty solid showing as former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke ahead of the screening to a crowd he brought to laughter a number of times -a crowd that included both prominent environmentalists and superstars like Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen.

Bundchen and Schwarzenegger are among the hosts for each of the episodes in the Years of Living Dangerously Series. During the screening the two stories on display were David Letterman’s journey to India and Saturday Night Lives Cecily Strong's expose on politicians working to hold back the solar industry in Nevada and Florida.  Letterman’s journey was funny, as expected, but it was quite revealing of the intertwined infrastructure and development challenges India faces. When it publically airs, this episode will be Letterman’s first television appearance since retiring from the Late Show with David Letterman. He now has a beard, which plays a prominent role in the episode. While Letterman used his typical wit to tell his story, SNL’s Cecily Strong took on a surprisingly serious tone during her episode documenting the tricks individuals are still willing to play despite their climate implications. Both episodes were powerful and both left the audience intrigued for more. They were good stories.

But the storytelling wasn’t just restricted to celebrities. Throughout Climate Week events focused on the narrative. When Bank of America announced it plans to go carbon-neutral; reduce location-based emissions by 50%, energy use by 40% and water use by 45% in its operations across the globe - all by the same 2020 deadline,” Andrew Pleper explained how building on previous commitments has to be part of the business story for taking climate action. “Together we can accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and low-carbon economy,” said Pleper during the opening ceremony of Climate Week. Former United States Environmental Protection Agency Administrator and current Apple Vice President of Environmental Policy and Social Issues picked up on Pleper’s line when Apple announced it too would be joining the RE 100 campaign and would be making significant investments in solar energy. “We have to be the ripple on the pond. We can’t just be 100% renewable energy, we have to bring others with us,” said Jackson. Even when real steps are being taken, it seems they are all coming with real narratives.

Over the last several years, progress in climate policy has clearly coincided with concerted efforts to make the issue more relatable. Climate change is a security issue, and over the last several years you have seen countless military personnel tell their climate stories. Climate change is a health issue and the stories of moms fighting for cleaner air or safer neighborhoods are permeating throughout the movement. Pope Francis’ climate messages, starting to gain traction a bit more than a year ago, created a religious narrative for those seeking to get involved, while those living on the front lines of climate impacts are increasingly making headlines. It’s all about the story.

Connect4Climate invited filmmakers between the ages of 14-35 years old from all over the world to share their climate stories on video.

Storytelling is the backbone of our Fim4Climate global video contest. When the Connect4Climate team of the World Bank decided to launch a film competition with numerous partners, rewarding those telling the best climate stories in a number of categories, the idea was to encourage more story telling, gather a diversity of perspectives and provide another venue for spreading these very real experiences.

As September drew to a close so to did the submissions for entries in the Film4Climate contest. With more than 860 entries from more than 150 countries it is becoming clear the demand for climate stories is being met with a steady supply. So while 2016 may not be known as the year the world reached a historic climate agreement like we had in 2015, perhaps it is the year of the climate story. If the last few weeks are any indication there are still plenty more to tell.

The closer you get to diplomacy the more you realize it is not that sexy. No offense to all my pals at United Nations and the yearly COP meetings, each of you are incredibly sexy in you own special ways, but then it comes to the process of getting the international community to agree on something let alone on begin acting on it, well the process can be quite drawn out, but it certainly isn’t a tease.

When the world’s countries agreed to the Paris Climate Agreement last December, it sparked what many thought would be a very lengthy process of each and every nation ratifying the agreement in their own special way. I remember someone telling me at a meeting shortly after Paris that it could take years, depending on the domestic politics in each nation, to get everyone onside. Hearing this, my optimism surrounding what was achieved in 2015 shifted to concerns that we wouldn’t deliver the dish we all ordered in before the end of 2016. Now, three quarters into 2016, I am back to feeling confident and for good reason.

All eyes were on the French capital last year during the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21). Photo Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

Before I explain why I am confident that the Paris Agreement will ratified before year’s end, let’s do a quick refresher. In December of 2015 representatives from 195 nations negotiated and agreed to the Paris Climate Agreement, which among other things was the first globally comprehensive climate agreement, it bound nations to contain warming to 1.5 degrees, and made financial flows consistent with a pathway towards lowering greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development. Pretty cool right? Still, the agreement that started in Paris didn’t end there. In the months after Paris, 191 nations have “signed” the agreement, which is a largely ceremonial distinction with most nations “signing” during a high profile event on Earth Day. Still, signing doesn’t equal ratification. Ratification only happens when the government’s of each country undertakes their own unique process back home to making the deal official. Ratification, in all it’s forms, has been taking place throughout the year, but not every country that has signed has ratified at that point, it’s an ongoing process that begs the question, “Do we need to wait for all 195 to do this and if not when does this happen?”

Well our friends at the United Nations had an answer for that question and, like all things United Nations, it’s a bit more complicated than it probably should be. For the Paris Agreement to go into effect, or into “force” as they say in UNland, two things need to happen. First, at least 55 countries have to ratify the deal and second, countries representing at least 55 percent of the world’s emissions have to ratify the deal. I’ll let you do the venn diagram in your head for that one, but after you draw the two circles you will get it and be sure to note that the overlap in the middle is fairly irrelevant.  

As of the time I write the comma at the end of this introductory clause, 61 nations have ratified the Paris Agreement. So the first threshold has been met, however, the second one remains just out of reach, as those 61 nations fall just short of reaching the 55% threshold. Still, the world is very close to hitting the second mark, and there's reason to be confident it is about to be met.  And it’s only October. For an unsexy process, this is actually pretty steamy.

The Headquarters of the United Nations in New York City, United States. Photo Credit: Daniel Pinto Lopes

Now to the confidence, which stems from two big develops since the UN General Assembly meetings in mid-September. The first relates to India and the second relates to the European Union.  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi used October 2nd - the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi--as the day for submitting India’s instrument of ratification to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. There remains some discussion about the exact procedures required for India’s submissions, but after uncertain comments from Modi relating to India's ability to ratify before the end of the year, it seems as though this latest ratification is the real deal. India’s ratification brings the emissions percentage up to 51.89, which gets us just a bit closer to the big moment.

And then we got even closer.

On Tuesday October 4th, the European Union agreed to its ratification in a historic vote. This brings us over the 55/55 threshold, and after 30 days, the Paris Agreement goes into force. By my calendar, the force will be with us (I thought of that all by myself), right around November 3rd -just in time for the COP 22 meetings in Marrakech, Morocco and a less than a year since the deal was struck in Paris. That may seem like a very long time ago for this relationship to be begin but, like I said, for diplomacy this moved really fast.

Today’s youth are energized to tackle climate change. They are supporting initiatives around the global to call for ambitious climate action. At the American School of Brasilia, during their annual basketball tournament, the #1o5C campaign was presented as a bold call to action.

Emil Raiser emphasizes: “Being able to represent the 1.5 campaign in our EAB Basketball Invitational was a huge honor. Not only was it a sublime success to advertise the logo on our tournaments shirts, but also, more importantly to spread the message conveyed by the campaign to an international audience. I hope for bright and flourishing future with the campaign.”

The #1o5C campaign, presented by the Sport4Climate initiative of the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program, calls for action to prevent global warming below 1.5°C. Key partners include the Climate Vulnerable Forum, UNDP, UNEP, GIP, Care, CAN International, Purpose and many more, who lent their efforts to materialize the campaign, brining more than 135 athletes on board during the Rio 2016 Olympics. 

Find out more about the campaign: 1o5c.org

[video: https://youtu.be/LGXIaUNNtbU]

 

Thirteen game-changing initiatives from around the world were announced today as winners of the UNFCCC's Momentum for Change climate change award.

Winning activities include:

• A Google-led project that could catalyse the rooftop solar market for millions of people across the United States
• An ingenious net that harvests fog from the air to provide drinking water for people on the edge of Morocco’s Sahara Desert
• North America’s first revenue-neutral tax that puts a price on carbon pollution
• A project that has established the first women-specific standard to measure and monetize women’s empowerment benefits of climate action

Other winners include the EU’s largest crowdfunding platform for community solar projects and a project in Malaysia initiated by Ericsson that uses sensors to provide near real-time information to restore dwindling mangrove plantations.

Further winners are a company that provides solar systems to homes and businesses in rural Tanzania through an innovative financial package and a Swedish city that became the first in the world to issue green bonds, enabling it to borrow money for investments that benefit the environment.

The Momentum for Change initiative is spearheaded by the UN Climate Change secretariat to shine a light on some of the most innovative, scalable and replicable examples of what people are doing to address climate change. Today’s announcement is part of wider efforts to mobilize action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities underline how climate action and sustainable development is building at all levels of society from country-wide initiatives to ones in communities, by companies and within cities world-wide,” UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said. “By showcasing these remarkable examples of creativity and transformational change, along with the extraordinary people behind them, we can inspire everyone to be an accelerator towards the kind of future we all want and need.”

Each of the 13 winning activities touches on one of Momentum for Change’s three focus areas: Women for Results, Financing for Climate Friendly Investment and ICT Solutions. All 13 will be showcased at a series of special events during the UN Climate Change Conference in Marrakech, Morocco (7 November to 18 November 2016).

The 2016 Lighthouse Activities were selected by an international advisory panel as part of the secretariat’s Momentum for Change initiative, which operates in partnership with the World Economic Forum Global Project on Climate Change and the Global e-Sustainability Initiative.

Read on to learn about these 13 game-changing activities: