Data at heart of collaboration on climate change

In this SustMeme Guest Post, Pranuthi Chander, COO of climate-action incubator Subak, explores how community and data-based collaboration can drive the transition in agriculture, forestry and other land use.

PC: There’s no silver bullet to solving the climate crisis. It’s complex, multi-dimensional, and needs a host of solutions – working together – to tackle the problem. So how do we all align?

We need an integrated, whole-systems approach to climate action. Addressing issues holistically will make sure we don’t create or exacerbate other inequalities or disadvantages.

For example, large-scale rail projects may lead to lower carbon emissions from transport. If undertaken without due regard for other sectors and actors, however, they can pose risks to biodiversity and nature.

Synergies across the transition

So, for a sector to undergo a climate transition, there must be concurrent development across multiple fronts including technology and innovation, investment and funding, policy creation and behavioural change. By working together, actors can ensure there are synergies between each part of the transition.

Collaboration between industry, trade unions, and policymakers is also essential to ensure workers in fossil fuel industries are supported as we transition to cleaner, more sustainable methods of production.

It’s crucial that the shift to greener alternatives doesn’t leave workers behind. Acting together, groups can help ensure that workers are retrained, reskilled, and safeguarded throughout the transition.

Similarly, partnerships between the private sector, not-for-profits, and government bodies are vital for industries such as automobiles and heating to meet increasingly stringent climate targets.

When these stakeholders align their efforts, businesses are better equipped to adapt to new regulations and innovate in ways that reduce their carbon footprints, without sacrificing jobs or communities.

Evidence-based info and data

At the heart of this collaboration lies data.

Without robust, evidence-based information, climate policies risk being misguided or ineffective.

Sharing resources and insights across sectors helps create a clearer, more actionable understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead, ensuring we are all on the same page.

At Subak, we are working to make this collaborative climate action possible.

We launched our Impact Lab to investigate the most critical climate challenges. It creates and funds groups who can tackle these challenges and deliver positive systemic change.

In practice, this means we run sector-specific missions to map, understand and address key challenges in the most carbon-intensive sectors. Our first focus is on agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU).

Agriculture, forestry, and other land use

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), AFOLU is responsible for around a quarter of global emissions. An increase in demand for resources is putting additional strain on land, and stats show food consumption will likely rise by up to 70% by 2050.

Climate change also affects the sustainability and efficiency of food production. Both adaptation and mitigation are essential to ensure a sustainable future for consumers, workers, economies and the planet.

AFOLU challenges cannot be solved by markets alone. We need intervention to tailor systems to human and planetary needs, and to tackle inefficiencies such as food waste and insecurity, resource and land depletion.

To put matters into perspective, a Climate Policy Initiative report states that annual funding for AFOLU needs to be 26x that of 2019/20 totals to shift to a low-carbon and climate-resilient trajectory.

Sharing knowledge and resources

Fundamentally, we need to change the way we use land for agricultural purposes.

Take the United Kingdom as a case study: To ensure food security and support for local communities, the UK needs to transition towards regenerative farming practices. In response, Subak is bringing together not-for-profits working across the sector to effect change in land use and agriculture policies.

Through the Impact Lab we’ve assembled established organisations Nature Friendly Farming Network, Sustainable Soils Alliance and UK Youth 4 Nature who will share knowledge and resources to inform UK government policy, improve soil health and support the transition from intensive to regenerative agriculture.

Together, Subak and these three organisations will help those working in agriculture reduce their carbon emissions and increase biodiversity, which will support the UK in meeting its climate goals.

Diverse cohorts in collaboration

By providing organisations with space, funding and resources we enable our community of climate actors to harness sectoral knowledge and data effectively, and to change narratives within their specialist sectors.

By assembling diverse cohorts and engaging with a variety of perspectives and needs, we are able to go beyond traditional boundaries to tackle challenges and shift policies across major climate sectors.

Empowered and data-enabled, community and collaboration are key to mitigating climate change.

Portrait of Pranuthi Chander, smiling, wearing light-coloured, floral-patterned collarless jacket.

Pranuthi Chander is the COO of Subak, a climate-action incubator driving systems change by mobilising and funding networks of not-for-profits to tackle urgent challenges. She started her career in the creative industry, working as a consultant in fashion, art and design in India and the UK, before moving into what was then an emerging, tech start-up and scale-up boom. Pranuthi has more than 15 years of experience as co-founder and operations leader, building and growing technology teams and startups from idea stage to fully operationalised Series A. Her work spans diverse sectors including transportation, healthcare, AI, and sustainability.

Further Reading: