TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Climate change is a growing threat to livelihoods, but social enterprises can provide sustainable solutions to its impacts, from sweltering heat to higher energy costs. During the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) in Taipei last week, business leaders held a debate on whether cities or villages are the true engines of social change. Other speakers also talked about why energy systems are crucial for tackling climate change, the role that technology can play in this, and why the climate crisis requires longer term thinking.
The debate took place on Oct. 29 and was moderated by Emily Wu (吳怡慈), the Executive Producer of Taiwan's Ghost Island Media (鬼島之音). On the side arguing that centers are the centers of social innovation were Juliana Adam, CEO and founding partner of Malaysia's Biji-biji Initiative, and Wei Shan Koh, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE). This team said that cities can provide more lasting solutions to social issues due to their greater resources, networks, and political influence.
On the team arguing that rural areas are centers of change were Matt Pfahlert, the CEO and Co-founder of the Australian Centre for Rural Entrepreneurship (ACRE), and Huda Jaffer, director of India's SELCO Foundation. They said that contrary to popular perception, rural areas are in fact drivers of innovation due to their more scarce resources, and that urban areas often fail to create solutions that truly work in the rural context. The rural side won the audience vote at the end of the debate.
Yet climate change is a problem facing both rural and urban residents, with high heat harming urban construction workers and rural farmers alike. Jaffer said that the SELCO Foundation has been working to create technology-driven solutions for heat stress, which can reduce the efficiency of social enterprises. She said the organization provides passive cooling fixes such as better building design, as well as active cooling using solar power.
Technology solutions to the climate crisis can take many forms. Celeste Fang, executive director of Taiwan's plantārium, served as moderator for an earlier panel showcasing social enterprises and the lessons their leaders have learned over time. Plantārium is an exhibition and cultural center based in Taipei that is focused on sustainability.
Fang said that sustainability goals are not just demonstrated through data, but by leading through example in every initiative. She added that companies can approach these initiatives through different data angles. For a firm that wishes to reduce its monthly electricity costs, for example, a good start is by assessing whether the air conditioning equipment has exceeded its service life, as old units consume more energy and should be properly recycled.
Huda said that climate change requires a critical assessment of the long-term vision of the goals currently held by society. While many leaders talk about climate mitigation and adaptation, for example, resilience should also be an important part of the conversation. She brought up the example of strategies to help rice farmers, when the crucial question may be whether rice should be grown in that region in the first place.
The world’s atmosphere has been warming since the mid-19th century due largely to fossil fuel emissions. So far, countries have been way off track to limit climate change to the 1.5 degree Celsius goal set by the 2015 Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, delegates are currently arriving in Brazil for this year’s global climate conference for another round of negotiations on a strategy to fight climate change.
Social enterprise leaders are not waiting for political leaders to take action on climate change, but are pushing forward solutions themselves. This drive was seen at the SEWF, which took place on Oct. 27 to Oct. 31 at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區). The gathering saw over 1000 business leaders and policymakers from over 50 countries to share their solutions for global problems such as climate change.