The New Yorker recently hosted a podcast with Kim Stanley Robinson, the American science fiction writer who penned "The Ministry for the Future". In this interview, Bill McKibben asks Robinson about his role as a utopian science fiction writer, and his thoughts on humanity's response to climate change.
 

Chatham House presents a written interview with Kim Stanley Robinson, in which he talks about the threat of a mass extinction, and his planned talk at the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow this year. In the interview Robinson mentions Dr. Delton Chen (GCR Founder), as the main inspiration for the "carbon coin" that features in "The Ministry for the Future" as the economic resolution to the climate crisis.

Greenpeace recently made a bold statement that there is no time for carbon offsets because there is a climate emergency caused by our reliance on fossil fuels. They also claim that carbon offsets are "greenwash".

Just for the record, the GCR Initiative understands that carbon offsets do create new risks because they are not in themselves sufficient to transition the world to net-zero emissions or to achieve the main goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. The key problem with offsetting is that they transfer risks from the source of carbon emissions to other geographic locations where the authenticity of the avoided/stored carbon needs to be monitored and controlled over the long-term. Also, carbon offsetting in compliance markets is not designed to reduce emissions, because it is used to reduce the cost of compliance for polluters. Voluntary markets for carbon offsetting are more progressive, but they also suffer the same governance uncertainties, and moreover the voluntary offset market is not highly scalable because voluntary purchases are not required by laws or regulations.
 

The possibility of providing scalable climate finance through the GCR policy underscores the importance of quickly developing the GCR demonstration and engaging with policy think tanks to discuss the new policy — the end game being to integrate the "carbon reward" into the world economy and standard economy theory.

It appears that the GCR policy is aligned with the broad advice given by Greenpeace, as stated on their website:

1. Rapid reductions in emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial activities.
2. Rapid reductions in emissions from land use impact, mainly from deforestation and via a reduction of meat & dairy production.
3. Increased commitments and contributions to rights-based nature protection and restoration. 

The team at GCR warmly welcomes Logan Eales, who is helping us with research and outreach from his hometown—Cape Town—in South Africa. Logan's early career began with receiving a B.Sc. (Hons) in Corporate Real Estate Management from the University of Cape Town. Logan earned a Cum Laude for his thesis on green buildings and their impact on tenant behaviour. Please reach out to Logan on LinkedIn if you would like to support the GCR from Africa.

Weekly Event:  Do you know how to join Clubhouse? You will need an Apple or Android phone or tablet, and you will need to send your mobile number to a friend who is already a member of Clubhouse. If you email info@GlobalCarbonReward.org with your mobile number and details, we can invite you into Clubhouse.

You will then need to search for our room, which is called "Carbon Reward and UN SDGs". We meet every Wednesday at 2 pm, Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). The session goes for two hours. It's a great opportunity to ask questions, and the conversation can lead anywhere.