If we want a low-carbon future to happen, we should look to Silicon Valley

(guardian---commentary_blog, 12 Oct 2015) The internet has monumentally changed our world in just 40 years. If we harness the vision and belief of those innovators a low-carbon revolution is possible too.

Do you really believe? I’m not asking if you ‘believe’ in climate change – thankfully that question has been delegated to the world of trolls. I mean, do you believe we can build a low-carbon economy in which 9 billion people thrive? That’s a much harder question for many of us. But until we all answer with a resounding ‘yes!’ we won’t move far or fast enough.

That low carbon transition requires mass re-engineering of our global infrastructure, economic systems and even our personal behaviours. The scale of revolution is admittedly hard to imagine, until you remember that we’ve already lived through one. And the leaders of that revolution unequivocally believed not only that it should happen, but that it would.

The internet is almost exactly the same age as I am. In those 40 years the reach, speed and impact on our lives, economies and even built environment has been monumental. Today nearly half the world’s population can Skype loved ones, order food and access education and cat videos online. We plan our lives and run our businesses all through a system that didn’t exist when I was born.

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guardian---commentary_blog, 12 Oct 2015: If we want a low-carbon future to happen, we should look to Silicon Valley