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From clean energy to the EV boom, solutions to the climate crisis continue to gather pace—but not fast enough. Annual global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise; scientists now argue that we may be on track for 2.5°C of warming. With that in mind, bolder ideas are needed. “We’ve probably reached a point where the solutions that have been deployed are the low-hanging fruit,” says entrepreneur and activist Gonzalo Muñoz.
When it comes to climate solutions, Muñoz is invested. A serial entrepreneur in his native Chile, Muñoz rose to prominence as the cofounder and CEO of TriCiclos, an award-winning waste and circular economy company. In 2019, he was named a UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for COP25; from that position, he has led a series of UN initiatives, including the Race To Zero and Race To Resilience campaigns. And Muñoz knows all about ethical business practices: He helped to found Sistema B (Latin America’s version of B Corp certification); an environmental consultancy; and Polkura Winery, a sustainability-focused vineyard. Throughout, Muñoz has campaigned on behalf of entrepreneurs, while working with governments and high-level stakeholders to try and supercharge progress towards Net Zero.
It’s a CV which puts many comparable multi-hyphenates to shame, and Muñoz isn't slowing down. Most recently, he partnered with Nigel Topping, a fellow UN High-Level Climate Champion, to found Ambition Loop, a Chile-based NGO that hopes to help climate startups and governments work together. The first step? Looking beyond the traditional centers of innovation. “We mapped the voices in [UN] climate discussions, and more than 80 percent had headquarters in the Global North, and most of them in Washington, London, or Geneva,” says Muñoz. “We’re missing the voices from the emerging economies. Those are the communities confronting the crisis. How much of the knowledge can come from them?”
For Muñoz, the question is more than about simply elevating voices. Looking beyond Silicon Valley and Europe by extension means looking towards different types of ideas—simple, scalable, and, he says, often focused on some of humanity’s most urgent challenges. “Topics that are not necessarily the first that spring to mind when it comes to solutions required in the Global North.”
Take, for an example, one of Muñoz’s passions: Food waste. According to the UN Environment Programme, food waste is responsible for as much as 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, “But at the same time, we’re throwing away one third of all the food we produce,” Muñoz says. Tackling it could make a major difference in reaching our climate targets—while helping to feed hundreds of millions of hungry people. But, tackling food waste is going to take teamwork between the government and the private sector. A simple solution, Muñoz says, would be for governments to require separate collection of food waste. But how to design better collection systems, manage the waste, and put it to use, is an opportunity for startups. “What are the solutions that will make that efficient and effective and comfortable for citizens all around the world?”
Waste, Muñoz says, is a classic case of a global challenge that is neglected by the traditional centers of innovation because it’s one that, in rich countries, is often already considered to be solved. Water is another example—many countries, from India to Bangladesh, are facing urgent pressure on fresh water supplies and are waiting for scalable solutions. Or consider tackling plastic pollution, which disproportionately affects cities and rural communities in poor countries without waste management. Ideas on how to solve these problems abound. But scaling them has so far proved too difficult.
“Breakthroughs happen at the moment where an idea goes through this tipping point: It receives support, the cost goes down, and the scale of the solution reaches a point where it can become massive. We’ve seen that happening in the energy sector through renewables, through batteries—and that is happening in many, many sectors of the global economy,” Muñoz says. “Now we need to see that happening as well in other sectors, when it comes to replacing fossil fuel, plastics, and chemicals.” Circular and compostable plastics, for example, are evolving rapidly as an alternative to fossil-fuel-based single-use plastics. And there are plenty of other ideas that just need a little push. “I’m fascinated by kelp, for example,” he says.
What’s needed, then, is greater support for companies with ideas ready to scale. That’s one reason that Muñoz joined the Selection Committee for the UAE’s pioneering global award. First established in 2008, the Zayed Sustainability Prize awards $1 million to SMEs and nonprofit organizations advancing sustainable innovations. Applications for this year’s Prize, which are open until June 23, are being accepted from organizations in five categories: Health, Food, Energy, Water, and Climate Action. While a sixth category, Global High Schools, will award six schools around the world with $150,000 for projects with the potential to make a meaningful difference in their communities.
“It’s about identifying the capacity of impact that those ideas can deliver,” explains Muñoz. “How strong is the idea? How capable is the team? There are certain ideas that are at the point where they’re feasible, they’re realistic, they’re tackling a big challenge, and they just require an extra push for scaling up.”
Through Ambition Loop, and his research and advocacy work, Muñoz is now focused on the best ways for governments to empower climate-conscious entrepreneurs to scale up these ideas—wherever they come from. But his advice for entrepreneurs is simpler.
“Fall in love with the problem,” he says. “Maybe your solution is not perfect, but it can evolve in time. Be open. Work for the solution, and not yourself. And work with others.” If we’re going to save the planet, it’s going to take a village.
