I (Marianna) had the honor of attending a virtual meeting of the Balaton Group in September. Members gave updates on their work. I left the meeting feeling more hopeful about how understanding the world from the perspective of complex systems can help us take meaningful action at a chaotic and frightening time.
Steven McFadden, a writer and healer from New Mexico shared this quote: “When a complex system is far from equilibrium, small islands of coherence in a sea of chaos have the capacity to shift the entire system to a higher order,” from Nobel Prize-winning chemist Ilya Prigogine, describing how small, orderly systems can emerge within larger, chaotic ones. These islands are pockets of organization, harmony, and shared intention that can potentially shift the entire system toward a higher order, even when the larger system is far from equilibrium. Minerva’s View strives to illuminate these centers of resilience. You can read more about some of these islands shared at the recent meeting here.
Events
Climate Leaders Monthly Meeting
Thursday, October 16, 4:00 - 5:00 PM PT
Join the Climate Leaders Meeting to exchange resources and inspiration with others who are working to create a vibrant and healthy future.
All leaders are welcome.
This is a monthly on-line event hosted by Minerva Ventures.
Opportunities for Action
Convene your community to enjoy Climate Music’s live streamed concerts.
Climate Music would appreciate if you let them know if you are planning to host. Use the guide to engage in a post-stream conversation around climate solutions. Guides are available from info@climatemusic.org.
Explore Project Reimagined’s Declaration for a New American Climate
Planet Reimagined has published a call to action for essential changes to how we talk about the climate challenge and the solutions, proposing a new way of embedding collective actions into daily life. It calls for a shift from seeking individual consumer changes to demanding collective civic action to change policy. It also advocates for new, tested language and framing that is proven to appeal to broad public opinion, behavior, and, by extension, policymaking. For example, research shows it’s more effective to talk about “pollution” than “emissions” and in the U.S., to replace “renewables” with “American-made clean power.” From Katherine Hayhoe’s Talking Climate Newsletter.
Become a Food Rescuer With Food Rescue US
Food Rescue US helps to coordinate the transfer of fresh food surpluses from local businesses to social service agencies serving the food insecure. You can get involved as a food rescuer, a food donor, or consider starting a Food Rescue US Site in your local community. Learn more here.
Good News Updates
Climate Action
AMPLIFY: Building a Fan-Based Climate Movement
Planet Reimagined’s Amplify project leverages the power of artists and performers who are concerned about climate change as messengers to catalyze focused climate action. After doing the research and finding that 3 out of 4 live music pans surveyed care about climate change and are ready to act — especially when asked by their favorite artists, they launched a pilot with the multi-platinum indie-pop band AJR that resulted in more than 35,000 fan actions. The next step: working with other artists, including Billie Eilish and the country singer Tyler Childers.
Good News From New York Climate Week
Project Drawdown found much to celebrate at New Work Climate Week. Some of the highlights include: the U.S. and the world are moving forward on climate, with leadership from non-state actors including philanthropists, investors, businesses and cities; local leaders in the U.S. are stepping into the void being left by the federal government — mayors, governors, community organizers, and civil servants are taking climate action; reducing food waste and more sustainable methods of production are gaining focus; there is an increased focus on triple-win solutions that benefit climate , biodiversity and human well-being.
And More Evidence of Positive Action: The 2025 Grist 50
The 2025 Grist 50 list highlights the work of 50 leaders making a real difference on climate. The impact they’re having in their communities and sectors shows that progress is still possible, spotlighting bold, surprising climate solutions. Read about them here.
Food and Agriculture
ReFED Food Waste Action Network
ReFED’s Food Waste Action Network (FWAN) is a member-driven community for practitioners in the food waste space, built to facilitate collective action by helping members set practical, achievable goals that can be met within 12 months. By connecting professionals, grassroots organizations, and more from across sectors, FWAN creates a space to share needs and expertise that can help members achieve their food waste reduction goals. FWAN is accessible to anyone who wants to contribute, from concerned individuals to professionals working in the food system. Learn more here.
Energy
Underground Garages: A Novel Geothermal Heat Source
Globally, heating accounts for nearly half of all energy consumption. Traditional geothermal, with it’s drilling requirements, can be a poor fit for cramped cities. Startup Enerdrape’s system gets around this with energy-harvesting panels in manmade underground spaces like parking garages or basements. The Swiss company focuses on older multifamily buildings, which are harder to decarbonize than newer builds. Enerdrape, which already has installations across Europe, says its panels can meet 100% of the space heating, cooling and hot water needs for buildings up to 10 stories in height. Read more.
Debunking Myths About Renewables in the US
One myth about solar and wind is that they will require too much land. However, the truth is solar and wind require less land than fossil fuels and ethanol. According to Solar United Neighbors, solar is 20 times more efficient than ethanol, even when accounting for useful byproducts such as animal feed. Harvesting solar energy rather than ethanol leads to less pollution from fertilizer runoff and less erosion from tillage while providing a new drought resistant revenue stream.” And this video by Mark Jacobson of Stanford busts all the myths about renewables and land use. Thank you, Bill McKibben.
Global Growth in Solar and Wind Outpaced Demand in First Half of 2025
For the first half of 2025 renewable energy produced more electricity than coal. More to the point, solar and wind grew so fast that they covered all the growth in demand for electricity so far this year, with room to spare, according to a report from Ember. Sadly this was not true in the US, but the global news is still good news. Read more.
Circular Economy/Materials
Bamboo Bioplastic Outperforms and biodegrades in just 50 days
A recent study, published in “Nature,” details how Researchers at China’s Northeast Forestry University and Shenyang University of Chemical Technology have developed a type of strong, biodegradable plastic from bamboo that resembles oil-based plastics in both strength and shapeability, while biodegrading within just 50 days. In addition it can be completely recycled while maintaining 90% of its original strength, meaning it can likely be reused repeatedly. “Bamboo’s rapid growth makes it a highly renewable resource, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional timber sources,” Dawei Zhao, one of the study’s authors, told New Scientist. Read more.
Water/Natural Resources/Biodiversity
Data Centers Place Huge Stress on Water Resources
A lot of attention has been paid to the energy requirements of data centers, but energy is not the only constrained resource they require huge supplies of. And, in fact, while data centers’ direct on-site water use is significant and has been subject to increasing attention, a new report from Ceres finds that indirect water use – primarily from power generation to meet their massive energy needs – has an even greater impact. And it gets even worse for local areas when multiple data centers are clustered together, as they so often are.
Built Environment
Transportation
Health
Heat Pumps in Manufacturing Can Save Money and Lives
A study released in August by the nonprofit American Lung Association quantifies the gains from manufacturers switching to heat pumps. A gradual transition would not only decarbonize the combustion boilers used to produce a wide range of products, but could deliver a staggering $1.1 trillion in public health benefits and avoid 77,200 pollution-inflicted deaths from 2030 to 2050,.It’s a move “that’s going to save lives, reduce health emergencies, cut asthma attacks, [and] keep kids healthy enough to be in school rather than missing school days,” said Will Barrett, an assistant vice president at the American Lung Association who works on national clean air policy. Read more.
Science
New Molecular Structure Could Trap Carbon, Harvest Water from Air
Three chemists — Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar Yaghi — won the Nobel Prize for “groundbreaking discoveries” that “may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest challenges, from pollution to water scarcity.” Just a few grams of these metal-organic frameworks could have as much surface area as a soccer field, and holes engineered to trap specific molecules. Their discovery has great potential application in carbon capture, harvesting fresh water from the atmosphere, and other areas of environmental concern.
Politics
Climate Interventions:
Regeneration, Methane, Geoengineering, CCUS
Adaptation and Resilience
Wildfire Recovery With the Help of Fungi
Wildfires leave behind heavy metals, asbestos, dioxins, and other contaminants that seep into soil and water, threatening communities long after the smoke clears. The conventional approach to remediation is to dig up huge amounts of soil and move it elsewhere. A new approach, pioneered by scientist Danielle Stevenson, harnesses fungi and native plants to break down pollutants, pull heavy metals from the soil, and help devastated landscapes heal. You can see a video produced by PBS highlighting her work here.
Policy
Ending the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program Would be Harmful and Costly
The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program is a foundational data source that shapes the work of sustainability professionals across multiple sectors. The Trump administration’s plans to cancel it would force companies to report via a patchwork of alternative frameworks, increasing cost and complexity. “The Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program matters to everyone, not just the companies that report,” said Sean Hackett, senior manager for energy transition at the Environmental Defense Fund. “It’s the most comprehensive source of emissions data. It underpins investor confidence, regulatory oversight and supply chain accountability across the economy.” Companies have until Nov. 3 to comment on plans to discontinue the program. Read more.
Evaluating Corporate Strategies
Trellis has introduced the idea of a “Climate Strategy Window” to examine the effectiveness of a corporation’s climate strategies. The Trellis team developed the concept through their wok on installments of Chasing Net Zero, a company-by-company look at progress toward net-zero targets. the Climate Strategy Window is shaped by stakeholder groups — investors, customers, regulators, the media and more, and helps explain the wildly different approaches to climate in the private sector. Read more.
California To Implement Six New Climate Bills
Governor Newsom has signed six climate bills into law that attempt to balance decarbonization with cost-reduction. According to coverage in Heatmap, “the package reauthorizes California’s signature cap and trade program, rebranded as “cap and invest,” with a slight tweak that will help lower electricity bills. It clears a major hurdle to creating a more integrated Western electricity market that has the potential to deliver cleaner energy throughout the region at lower cost. It replenishes a rapidly diminishing wildfire fund that ensures utilities don’t go belly-up when they’re found liable for wildfires — and offsets the cost to customers by limiting how much of the cost of transmission upgrades utilities are allowed to pass on. And lastly — and most controversially — in an attempt to stabilize gasoline prices, it streamlines approval of new oil wells in Kern County, California.”
Climate News
Book and Film Recommendations
The Problem with Plastic, from Beyond Plastics, is an accessible, easy-to-read educational resource and also a call to action that includes:
History - how we arrived at the current plastic pollution crisis
Solutions - how to spot the false ones and advance the real ones
Reasons for hope about ending plastic pollution everywhere
Practical guidance on how to reduce your plastic use and be an even bigger part of the solution, and much more!
“Adam’s debut book Amplify: How to Use the Power of Connection to Engage, Take Action, and Build a Better World is a blueprint for boosting your activism and building support for the causes you care about, featuring fan-building tactics from the music industry and the voices of today’s most passionate change-makers. Featuring interviews with thought-leaders and cultural icons such as Adam Grant, Christiana Figueres, Andrew Yang, David Hogg, Bill Nye, Jim Gaffigan, Glenn Beck, and many more, the book offers practical tools, research-driven insights, and real-world case studies to help anyone architect meaningful momentum behind climate action, social justice, public health, and other critical causes.”
A Four Part Documentary on The Impact of Surpassing 1.5°C
From Planet B and the Stategic Climate Risks Initiative, this 4 part podcast, Overshoot: Navigating a world beyond 1.5°C, attempts to answer the question, “What happens next?”
Minerva Ventures LLC believes:
MV and our team believe in the US Constitution and the importance of upholding the rule of law, including the rights of freedom of speech and assembly to ensure a vibrant democracy. We believe in the necessity for sound scientific research to guide policy and risk assessment. We believe that a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives makes our society more creative and resilient. Our culture, economy, and well-being depend on collaboration with people, nations, and institutions around the world. We will do all we can to defeat fascism and to build an inclusive society that works to restore healthy ecosystems, welcoming communities, and a safe and stable climate. Humanity faces challenges that we humans set into motion. It will take all of us working together to overcome those perils to build a better future.
About Minerva Ventures:
Are you concerned about climate change and seeking ways to take action? Business survival depends on addressing competitive challenges every day. Leaders attend to urgent business matters while counting on tomorrow’s weather and operating conditions to be similar to yesterday’s. What happens when underlying conditions change as climate consequences become more severe? It is hard to adjust to a disruptive future while you are focused on competing today.
Minerva advises clean tech companies on strategic and business development. We help you find customers, new markets, and new investors to build your momentum and success. Minerva helps established companies create strategies to identify and contend with climate risks to your business. Discover how you can protect your operations, assets, products, and services. Understand how climate risk will affect your suppliers, customers, and partners. Determine how you can strengthen your company to navigate change and seize opportunities as markets reconfigure in the face of the coming changes. Find innovative ways to change your operations, products, and services to help address climate change. Consider policy measures that your industry can pursue that will help address shared risks.
Minerva can help you find new solutions that will make your business more resilient and adaptable to change. Your company will be advancing climate solutions rather than just reacting to disruptions to your industry and markets.
Visit Minerva Ventures’ website at MinervaVentures.com!
Newsletter Editor: Dinyah Rein, Consultant, Minerva Ventures, LLC
Managing Partner: Marianna Grossman, Minerva Ventures, LLC
Copyright (C) 2024 Minerva Ventures. All rights reserved.
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