Problem Statement
The problem a social enterprise startup is trying to solve is the most important since it determines the market size, the minimal viable product, and the talent a startup needs. Hence, here is the introduction to the problem we are solving now.
Our Climate Ecosystem
Most of us agree that climate change is a human-made crisis.
It is a growing, urgent global problem that will increase the number of irreversible disasters if we don’t take action now.
Accordingly, many ecosystem stakeholders propose different solutions to solve the problem. Despite the hard work, our current progress is not fast enough to limit the temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius.
After several reflections, our current climate ecosystem problem has at least 3 layers:
- Current Climate Responsibility Problem
- Decarbonization without Nature Biodiversity
- Climate Action Movement without Finance
Current Climate Responsibility Problem
Climate change is a dynamically complex problem that requires systemic solutions. Without systemic thinking, today's climate solutions will become tomorrow's problems.
Scope 3 emissions mainly originated from stakeholders' Scope 1 and 2 emissions. When we ask businesses to take other stakeholders' Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions as their reduction responsibilities, we indirectly allow stakeholders to have free-riding problems.
In a global capital market where competition is encouraged for efficiency and effectiveness, stakeholders' free-riding problem harms voluntary climate action. It harms the market demand for the climate solutions proposed by startup founders and slows down our climate progress.
As individuals, we are our customers and the beneficiaries.
To address climate change, we must ensure that people who benefit from these activities are responsible for their external costs.
Decarbonization without Nature Biodiversity
Why should we care about nature when the net-zero goal is our priority? Doesn’t it compete with our emission reduction goal?
Yes. When we advocate, protect, and regenerate our nature, we would inevitably discount some of our efforts on emission reduction and removals. Nonetheless, “How can we live in a net-zero world where water is polluted, food is insufficient, and there are massive conflicts between different societies?”
Ocean ecosystem holds significant potential to store greenhouse gas(GHG) emissions faster and longer than forest ecosystems. Still, it is a relatively new field where people have very limited knowledge. With further support from funding and research, our progress in protecting and regenerating nature will be fast enough to stop the speed of biodiversity loss.
Climate Action Movement without Finance
Without finance, climate action is unsustainable.
Most of the climate solutions are new innovations with higher upfront costs. In addition, most human activities emit GHG emissions every day, which requires a long-term climate commitments.
Voluntary climate action is fast; however, without proper planning, it is unsustainable and unscalable. In order to support the climate movement at scale in time, we need finance to support our long-term climate engagement.
