We already have the tools we need to fight the climate crisis — but a 'green transition' will still take time, 5 sustainability leaders say

• Insider's climate advisory council convened recently for a roundtable discussion.
• They told us they're motivated by current innovation on the climate crisis, but labor is a hurdle.
• The advisory council is part of Insider's One Planet initiative, the optimist's destination for climate action.

This year, a growing number of deadly wildfires, floods, extreme heat events, and droughts reminded us that the climate crisis is raging.

As the world races to adopt and implement long-term climate solutions, we should be using tools already at our disposal, like renewable energy and electric vehicles, according to members of Insider's One Planet Advisory Council who spoke to us during a recent roundtable conversation.

Of course, there are roadblocks to adopting these solutions on a wider scale, including the ambivalence of consumers, a shortage of skilled labor, and a lack of government support.

"I think innovation is exciting," Alyssa Gilbert, the director of innovation at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Imperial College London, said during the meeting. "But it's really important that we don't get so excited about new things that we forget we have a lot of the solutions already."

As EVs and sustainable products such as clothing creep into the wider culture, companies are paying attention to how consumers respond. For example, Ford chose to electrify two of its most iconic vehicles, the F-150 and Mustang Mach-E, which are popular with customers, said Cynthia Williams, the global director of sustainability, homologation, and compliance at Ford Motor Co.

"It's going to take time to transition," Williams said. "We need to work together to educate folks about the advantages of electric vehicles. Also, working with governments to harmonize regulations so that we're not pulled in 20 different directions to meet regulatory requirements. Set a goal to get to a carbon-free future and allow manufacturers some flexibility to get there. It's not going to happen overnight, but we do have a plan to get there."

Ford reported its best third quarter for EV sales this year at nearly 20,100 vehicles, but that still only accounts for 4% of the company's overall sales. The company plans to ramp up EV production during the end of the year as part of its $50 billion investment in the EV sector through 2026.

Help wanted: skilled workers

Labor is a hurdle for the green transition, said Donnel Baird, the founder and CEO of BlocPower. His company analyzes, finances, and installs electric appliances and energy-efficiency upgrades in buildings in underserved communities.

"The challenge isn't technology or finance," Baird said. "It's the lack of skilled workers in Europe, in the US, who can appropriately install and maintain the tech that exists. What we have is a blue-collar workforce problem that needs to be solved in order to try existing technologies at scale."

Qmerit, a platform that connects homeowners with installers for EV chargers, rooftop solar, and battery storage, forecast that the electrician workforce could shrink 14% by 2030, with demand jumping by as much as 25%. The shortage comes as the Inflation Reduction Act — which provides extensively for the green transition — is pouring nearly $400 billion over the next decade into those technologies.

Even though the US has enacted the sweeping climate law, there are still new oil and gas projects cropping up — and subsidies for the companies developing them. And the US is not alone. Globally, governments spent a record $7 trillion subsidizing fossil fuels in 2022, according to an analysis by the International Monetary Fund.

That is more than triple the GDP of the African continent, said Omar Elmawi, the former executive director of the Kenya-based Muslims for Human Rights. He's also the former coordinator of the StopEACOP movement, which works to prevent the expansion of the 900-mile-long East African Crude Oil Pipeline.

Because more than 600 million people don't have access to electricity in Africa, Elmawi said there's an opportunity to leapfrog dirty energy there.

"Renewables are cheaper compared to how much it costs to generate the same amount of energy from fossil fuels," Elmawi said. "Why are we still seeing more fossil-fuel projects come on board?"

Activists aren't sitting idly by

The ongoing expansion of fossil fuels has become a rallying cry for climate activists, who are frustrated that companies and governments aren't making more progress. They're increasingly turning to more disruptive stunts, including defacing famous artwork and blockading the banks and insurance companies that finance oil and gas projects.

"We're no longer disappointed, we're angry," Elijah McKenzie-Jackson, the cofounder of Waic Up, a nonprofit focused on climate communication and activism, said.

McKenzie-Jackson noted that throughout history, mass protests and social movements have pressured the people in power to change — from granting women the right to vote to prohibiting discrimination based on race, sex, and religion. Disruptive tactics are necessary to change the status quo, he said.

"Protest is a cry for help," he said. "We've gone through different avenues of the corporate world. We see where the doors are shut. So the one thing we can do is take to the streets."