Award-winning innovators Caroline Lair and Lucia Gallardo will be speaking TNW conference on June 15th and 16th in Amsterdam. If you want to experience the event (and say hello to our editorial team), we have something special for our loyal readers. Use promo code READ-TNW-25 and get 25% off the TNW conference in your business coupon. See you in Amsterdam.
Social inequality and climate risk have become central to understanding what will drive innovation and investment in the future. On day two of the TNW conference, Caroline Lair, founder of the startup and scaleup communitythe Good AI and Women in AI and Lucia Gallardo, founder and CEO of a “socio-technological experimental lab” for impact innovation, will be on the Growth Quarters stage for a keynote session. “Technology-Based Climate Justice”.
The climate crisis itself is the result of deeply embedded and systematic exploitation of nature and people in the name of profit. Its effects are already being felt disproportionately around the world, with severe heat waves, droughts and entire nations disappear below sea level. Furthermore, people who have contributed little to the greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming are the most affected.
Climate justice is the idea that climate change is not only an environmental but also a social justice issue, and aims to ensure that the transition to a low-carbon economy is fair and beneficial to all. Lair and Gallardo will specifically talk about how technologies such as AI, blockchain and Web3 can play a crucial role in solving these problems.
Good for AI
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Artificial intelligence can be applied in the pursuit of climate justice in several ways, given that it is implemented in a way that ensures transparency, accountability and fairness. These include data analysis and forecasting, pattern detection and information policy, as well as evaluating their effectiveness.
It can also enhance climate modeling capabilities, which is important for developing adaptation strategies. Furthermore, AI-powered technologies can monitor, for example, weather systems with real-time data, as well as optimize resource allocation and energy distribution.
Redefining value
Emerge’s goal is to “redefine impact innovation with renewable monetization models.” Restorative finance moves beyond traditional models that focus on profit to consider broader social, environmental and economic impacts.
Blockchain technology, for example, can offer transparency to transactions, ensuring that funds are truly channeled into rehabilitation investments. It can also tokenize renewable assets such as renewable energy installations, sustainable agriculture initiatives or ecosystem restoration projects, representing them as digital tokens and making them more accessible to a wider range of investors.
At the same time, in the words of Gallardo, “Integrating crypto into existing environmental initiatives does not automatically translate into restorative finance. We have to be intentional about how we redefine value.”
Restoring a just future
Why am I looking forward to this session? The theme of this year’s TNW conference is Reclaiming the Future. Frankly, I belong to a generation that, while I hopefully have a few more decades of Earth experience ahead of me, probably won’t have to deal with full dystopian scenarios struggling to survive climate catastrophe.
I am also privileged in terms of geographic location and socio-economic status not to worry about imminent drought and famine. (Flooding might be another issue, but as someone said when he was trying to convince me to move to Amsterdam, “wouldn’t you rather live in a place that’s already used to not letting water in?”)
However, this does not mean that those of us who enjoy such privileges should simply shrug our shoulders and go about our business as usual. TNW has always been about the good technology can do in the world. And what better way than to use it for one of the greatest challenges of our time?
Aside from the obvious urgency of the topic, I’m excited to attend the session because, let’s face it, moments in the tech industry where women alone grace the stage are few and far between. By: World Economic Forum, only 22% of global AI jobs are held by women. In this case, it is particularly influential because women and girls suffer even more from climate change-related problems such as food insecurity, water scarcity and displacement related to gender-based violence.
The female lead
Caroline Lair is the founder of The Good AI, a community of AI talent, startups and scaleups committed to helping companies transition to more responsible and sustainable business. She is also the co-founder of the non-profit Women in AI, a platform where women in AI can come together to share, learn and support each other. Additionally, he worked at Snips, building a proprietary AI Voice Assistant that was acquired by Sonos in 2019, and was an investor and partner at venture capital firm HCVC.
Lucia Gallardo is the founder and CEO of Emerge, which calls itself an experimental technology lab for the convergence of sustainable development and social impact. He also participates in advisory boards and standard-setting committees and councils, such as those at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Economic Forum. Among many other honors, he was named an MIT Innovator Under 35 and has worked with clients including the US State Department, Hard Rock International, and the United Nations Development Program.
Caroline Lair and Lucia Gallardo are just two of the amazing speakers we’ve lined up at the TNW conference this year. You can find more agenda of the event — and remember. use promo code READ-TNW-25 for 25% off business tickets