The 6 biggest communications takeaways from VERGE 23
What we learned from GreenBiz's annual climate tech event.
By Matt Calderone, Senior Vice President at LaunchSquad
The energy last week at GreenBiz VERGE was tremendous. Five thousand people from all over the world gathered in San Jose to share ideas, ambition and action centered around a common theme: how to deploy and scale solutions designed to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy.
At the close of one of the first sessions of the week, GreenBiz chairman Joel Makower reminded attendees how foundational storytelling is to our work in climate tech. Storytelling is how we integrate head and heart—and is the best way humans know how to convey ideas. Makower encouraged us all to think about the stories we want to tell—to customers, employees, community members, our children, and ourselves—about what’s possible, what success looks like, and what happens if we get things right.
This was a very grounding message to start the week that reaffirmed my thinking about just how much of an opportunity there is for storytellers, communicators, and creatives to make a positive impact across the climate tech industry.
Here are six more takeaways from VERGE that are valuable to our work as storytellers.
1. Use this framework to think about the energy transition.
Shayle Kann, partner at Energy Impact Partners and host of the excellent Catalyst podcast, outlined a framework for thinking about the energy transition in his day one keynote:
Climate tech is simple, said Kann, because it’s easily measured in a single metric (tons of CO2). Society’s job is to go from 50 billion tons of CO2 emissions/year to zero by mid-century. If you can measure the impact of something in direct carbon reductions or removals, or enabling technologies that indirectly lead to CO2 reduction, that’s climate tech.
The pace at which we need to move, though, is daunting. It took the previous 100 years to reach today’s CO2 levels, but by the time my two-year-old daughter turns 30, society needs to be carbon-negative. That’s not a lot of time to reverse a 100-year trend. Kann pointed out that “hard to abate,” the common term that describes necessary emissions reductions in sectors like cement, steel and agriculture is a bit of a misnomer. That’s because decarbonizing the energy system won’t be “easy.”
The way through, he concluded, is to think about all of these changes or transformations that need to occur—in technology, infrastructure, deployment models, etc.—as waves. Then ask: what wave will you ride, or what wave will you build? What challenge will you solve? For example, Tesla is a wave builder: We would not have the level of global adoption of EVs today if not for Tesla. Since then, there have been many companies riding the EV wave, making improvements to batteries, figuring out ways to sustainably extract lithium, building charging networks, and more.
Kann’s framework can inform how we talk about progress and innovation, while also acknowledging the immense amount of work that lies ahead.
2. Be precise, know your audience and back up clear messages with substance.
In a session focused on internal and external communications about carbon reductions, Sarah Chandler, Vice President of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation for Apple, shared the thinking behind Apple’s recent “Mother Nature” video that accompanied the launch of Apple’s first carbon-neutral product, the Apple Watch Series 9. When billing a product as carbon neutral, Chandler said that a company owes it to customers to be clear and precise about what this means, and to transparently share the detail that backs up these claims.
“We owe it to customers. We have to be clear. Words matter. Precision matters.” -Sarah Chandler, Vice President of Environment and Supply Chain Innovation for Apple
Apple’s carbon neutral product is the start of a story about the tech giant’s journey toward carbon neutrality. Chandler stressed the importance of aspiration and ambition while leaning into what’s possible today. Achieving carbon neutrality will be a multi-year effort that involves internal company operations as well as cleaning up the supply chain. She pointed out, too, that there is a chasm between technical, science-based language and what’s customer-resonant—and a lot of work remains to bridge this gap.
3. Focus on human-centric content—and don’t be afraid to make people laugh.
Climate communications is broken, according to Anna Robertson, co-founder and Chief Content Officer of The Cool Down. People are more likely to pay attention to their neighbors and those they know on TikTok, Reddit or Instagram. The issue can be so overwhelming, she said, so how do we meet people where they are, in their daily lives? In a lively, thought-provoking session, she and co-panelists Kip Pastor from Pique Action and Staci Roberts-Steele from Yellow Dot Studios explored the answer.
Pastor said the largest white space in climate is storytelling and discussed media studio Pique Action’s approach of telling human-centric stories that inspire action. He highlighted their NextNow video series that profiles entrepreneurs and companies bringing innovative climate solutions forward. The entry point here is not focused on saving the planet; rather, they aim to engage viewers with a focus on innovation (ex. “Did you know that there’s an award-winning vodka company that uses sequestered CO2 to make their vodka?”).
“If you make an emotional connection with someone about a topic, what you follow up with really matters and can push them towards action.”
-Staci Roberts-Steele, Managing Director, Yellow Dot Studios
Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit launched by Oscar-winner Adam McKay to raise awareness and inspire action on climate, uses comedy to bring an audience in. They make stuff they find funny and interesting that will connect with people. Roberts-Steele shared this video starring Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael as an example about how to talk to regular people about the clean energy and electrification rebates available through the IRA. Their focus is making sure a message doesn’t get muddled or feel like ad sales.
4. Show impact and opportunity in communities all across the country.
The State of Climate Tech Investing session at the end of the week featured some of the sharpest minds investing in early-stage climate tech startups. When discussing opportunities in the climate tech market, Tanuj Dutta from Congruent Ventures pointed out that there’s a story to be told about how clean energy companies can transform what life can look like. There’s a tremendous opportunity to show how these projects have positive benefits for entire communities, even those who are not politically motivated by reversing climate change.
He pointed to a first-of-its-kind, next-gen geothermal energy project that Fervo Energy broke ground on in Beaver County, Utah in September as a clear example where community members are excited about the opportunity a project is bringing to their region. There will be many more of these types of innovative clean energy projects coming online in communities across the country in the coming years. This presents a clear opportunity to highlight stories of innovation across diverse regions of the country.
5. Entrepreneurs need to be creative in their approach to the market opportunity.
Andrew Beebe from Obvious Ventures challenged the notion that there’s a lull in climate tech investing by pointing out how much money is being invested today compared to 10-15 years ago. Things were so frothy over the last five years that, while it might seem like a recent lull, he believes that we are back to a normal, much more stable and healthy level of venture investment in the space. Overall, there is a big universe of founders with amazing capabilities and he doesn’t expect another “climate winter” like there was from 2008 to 2015.
Beebe also predicted there will be more activity in climate adaptation in 2024. With the impacts of climate change apparent everywhere you look, companies focused on climate adaptation will likely have bigger opportunities than before. Andrew pointed out that returns on climate adaptation projects take longer to realize, so the market needs to develop to a point where these investments are de-risked and see returns over a longer period. There is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to be creative here because there are a lot of willing investors. And we need this innovation: as the UN pointed out in a new report released today, there is an “adaptation finance gap” between $194 billion and $366 billion per year.
“We need to get over the moral hazard quandary that people have talked about for years and be ahead of the curve on [climate adaptation].”
- Andrew Beebe, Managing Director, Obvious Ventures
6. Show real-world impact. And no bad PR.
Alexandra Harbour highlighted the great work she’s spearheading with the Venture Climate Alliance, an NGO made up of leading VCs committed to achieving a rapid, global transition to net zero or negative emissions by 2050 or earlier. She highlighted the need for startups, and their investors, to make sense of net zero as a concept and adapt it for the unique environment startups operate in, with much leaner teams than large corporations.
Harbour shared one of VCA’s big goals, which is to be a vehicle to share stories about data and impact for projects that are coming online over time. When talking about carbon markets, she pointed to the huge lack of data that exists for MRV, which could erode trust in these marketplaces before they get off the ground. She is “very against bad PR” which could set the industry back by 5-10 years.
We are in an era of opportunity that demands action and focus.
The climate crisis is the challenge of our time and we all have a role to play in the solution. As communicators, we’re on the front lines of translating these stories of inspiration and opportunity to the world. Our job is to reach beyond those who are already in the arena and into communities all around the country and the world where transformation is happening and opportunities are being created. This will not be easy. As The Cool Down’s Robertson pointed out, everyone has a different, personal connection to climate change. I’m leaving the event more inspired than ever to use our collective talents as communicators and storytellers to accelerate this critical work.
(Water) Cooler Talk
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Nice piece. I'm afraid the climate community isn't going deep enough in its messaging. These are important steps, but are we willing to consider how much must change for us to get off the dangerous course we're on? I'm super excited to hear the storytellers that are willing to face thoe full picture and can show us how much better life will be when we change course. Check out Solarpunk (and an intro to it on Youtube from Andrewism) for a thoughtful piece in this direction!