The one that really leaped out at us was the lack of openly available data regarding nature-based solutions - particularly planting trees.
Ground Truth is a two-man operation of former Canadian reforestation/afforestation contractors. Our clients usually demanded precise breakdowns of exact number of trees going into each site, species breakdown, etc. Monitoring of survival is equally rigorous.
A lot of projects around the world for carbon sequestration or habitat restoration are doing a great job of trying to be transparent, but for the most part we see no such evidence in planting projects. Mainly just grand claims.
In our minds, what's needed for the world to take these kinds of solutions seriously is a demonstration of rigorous accounting, to avoid accusations of double-counting, greenwashing etc.
Hey! Thanks for your reply. I agree, people who quote Hayek would not likely argue for more regulation (though for the record neither of us at Ground Truth are libertarians - we can see the merit of an idea outside of the context of who comes up with it).
I have one idea for a power outside of government: the public. Consumers. Investors. What if there was a great popular movement to see concrete evidence of project activities and impacts?
Preface for the reader: F.A. Hayek was an author and economist who wrote a critique of centralized fascist and communist governments in his famous book, "The Road to Serfdom," in 1944. His work was later celebrated as a call for free-market capitalism.
Say what you will about Friedrich Hayek and his merry band of economists, but he made a good point: that markets and access to information make for good choices in aggregate. Better than experts. Or perhaps: the more experts, the merrier.
This is not to say that free-market economics will necessarily lead to good environmental outcomes. Nor is this a call for more regulation - or deregulation. Hayek critiqued both fascist corporatism... (read 539 more words →)
True. I've seen this happen firsthand.
But we will try. And maybe this is where it starts. Perhaps this audience is receptive to such a message.