Before the Flood
From the People, Planet, Profits & Projects Blog
by Richard Maltzman,
Dave Shirley
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Dave Shirley
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Date
I’d like to use this blog post to encourage you – as a project manager – to watch the documentary “Before the Flood”, which you can find on the National Geographic channels.
Here’s a description of the show, which features Leonardo DiCaprio, not in an acting role, per se, but rather as an ‘explorer’ of the issue of climate change and its solutions.
Before the Flood presents a riveting account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and as a society can take to prevent the disruption of life on our planet. Beyond the steps we can take as individuals, the film urges viewers to push their elected officials in supporting the use of alternative energy sources such as solar and wind power. “We need everyone to demand bold action from their political leaders and to elect representatives who have their best interests at heart, not the interests of corporations to perpetuate a cycle of greed and destruction,” says DiCaprio. “This documentary shows how interconnected the fate of all humanity is — but also the power we all possess as individuals to build a better future for our planet.”
The film is directed by Fisher Stevens and produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Fisher Stevens, Jennifer Davisson and Trevor Davidoski with Brett Ratner and James Packer of RatPac Entertainment. It was written by Mark Monroe and Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese, Adam Bardach, Mark Monroe, and Zara Duffy.
Why should a project manager care about this (aside from the ‘planetary citizen’ aspect)?
There are many significant opportunities for projects, large and small, in the area of mitigation of climate change. We’d like to draw your attention to the Solutions portion of the Before the Flood website.
On it, they say: “The good news is that climate change can be solved today with readily available technologies and sustainability measures. It will take significant investments on the part of governments and businesses, but that investment will be a small fraction of the price we would have to pay for increasing natural disasters and other climate impacts. New research has shown that using currently available technologies, we can meet all of our energy needs for heating, electricity, and transportation through 100% clean renewable sources by mid-century. We can get on track by 2020, when the Paris Agreements enters into force by reducing pollution through a price on carbon and protecting our forest and ocean ecosystems. Learn more about the array of solutions to solve climate change.”
Think about it. The solutions are all about projects, or in many cases, program and portfolio level management. On the site you will find examples of these in major categories like these:
- Renewable Energy
- Governmental Oversight
- Reforestation
- Climate Adaptation
- Business Leadership and Innovation
- Climate Education
- Energy Efficiency
- Green Cities
- Ocean Conservation
- Carbon Capure
My eyes were drawn to the Business Leadership and Innovation topic. In this area, we know that it will involve us as project managers, recalling that projects – by definition – are unique endeavors, like these.
In this section of the website, there is this important write up:
“The most exciting changes happening within companies are driven by raw innovation: the development of new products, services and business models that are beginning to outstrip the competition and cutting carbon emissions at the same time. A growing army of entrepreneurs around the world are leading start-ups that are making plastics from waste landfill gas, growing furniture from mushrooms, re-inventing energy markets, and redesigning windows to generate their own power. Nike is harnessing new footwear design and dyeing processes to radically reduce waste and water use whilst improving performance. Spurred on by the rise of Tesla’s electric cars, auto manufacturers like BMW and GM are developing radically different vehicles and business units. Some lesser-known industrial companies like Royal DSM and Umicore have completely shifted their core businesses away from mining to areas like nutrition and recycling. We will only see much more of this radical change in the next few years - watch this space.”
It's going to take project managers like you, me, and our colleagues, to accomplish objectives like these. Again, I urge you to see the film first, then explore this site for the kinds of projects that you may end up working on – either accidentally, or because you think that this is particularly important work.
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: November 24, 2016 10:39 PM |
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