We are in dual emergencies – the assault on democracy, whose consequence is tyranny; and the assault on nature, whose consequence is catastrophic climate and ecosystem disruption. How do we mobilize to address them? My operating assumption is that because human beings have precipitated these predicaments, it is up to us to solve them. Surrender is not an acceptable option.
The hoof fungus on the tree in this photo is a symptom of internal rot that will lead to the death of the tree. It has already damaged a nearby home when a huge limb broke off. If the tree lived in a forest, it could gradually breakdown, providing food and habitat for many organisms and nourishment for young trees, reaching for sunlight made available by its collapse. In an urban context, the tree’s demise creates more hazards than benefits.
By re-wilding our gardens and planting strips, perhaps we can add to our neighborhood resilience, as heat, storms and fires intensify. We can advocate for distributed green energy and make our buildings healthier. We can walk, bike, take transit, carpool and vacation locally. By participating in community and political life, we can make our elected leaders more responsive and strengthen our democracy. Show up at meetings, submit comments to government agencies, write and call our elected officials, demonstrate, vote, run for office, support others running for office. Our voices and our small and large actions can spread courage and hope. – Marianna Grossman
Events
Climate Leaders Monthly Meeting
Thursday, September 18, 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.
In Person Event, Wednesday, September 10, 9:30 AM - 5:00 PM, San Francisco, CA
The Inner Development Goals (IDGs) were created to bridge this gap. They were developed as a framework to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by equipping individuals and organizations with the skills necessary to drive meaningful, systemic change. Join a diverse and forward-thinking community of leaders, changemakers, and visionaries for an immersive experience designed to strengthen your leadership, expand your network, and deepen your impact.
Activate transforms scientists and engineers into founders. The two-year Activate Fellowship provides early-stage science entrepreneurs with funding, technical resources, and a robust network of scientists, technologists, and peer founders, enabling them to bring their research to the real world.
Bioregioning: How to Thrive Where We Live
Free 90-minute Online Event, September 30, 2025 • 10:00am PT
Opportunities for Action
Weigh in on Preserving the EPA’s Endangerment Finding
As the EPA moves forward with potentially revoking the ruling, which asserts that greenhouse gasses threaten public health, they have opened an opportunity for public comment through September 22nd. For a full briefing on how you can step up and both comment, and get the word out, see the most recent newsletter from our friends at Climate Voice.
Tell California Legislators to Invest in Nature Based Climate Solutions
In the 2024 election, California voters approved a historic $10 billion climate bond, Prop 4, by a 60-40 margin. Prop 4 committed to investing $10 billion in clean air and water, solutions to extreme heat, wildfire readiness, climate-beneficial agriculture, and more. There is a September 12th deadline for the legislature to allocate funds, or a whole year of action will be lost. Reach out to your legislators now.
Join a Draw The Line Protest, September 19-21, organized by a coalition including 350.org and a host of others, to coincide with a meeting of the UN General Assembly, and in advance of the upcoming Climate COP in Brazil.
Join In Sun Day: Day of Action
On September 21, 2025 communities around the country and the globe will join together to celebrate the power of renewable energy: from cutting the ribbon on new solar parks, to marching for laws to make it easier to benefit from renewables, to ebike parades and more. Find out how to get involved here.
Proposed Repeal of the Roadless Rule Comment Period Ends Sept 19
The Roadless Rule — the most important land and forest protection measure of our lifetime — protects 45 million acres of unfragmented, pristine national forest lands from clearcutting and damaging new roads. Permitting road development in these areas will increase risk of fires (the opposite of administration claims), eliminate essential habitat, recreational opportunities and climate buffers, and enrich the logging industry. It’s up to us to step up and flood the agency with comments, and support the groups working to stop this wrong. Read more from Earthjustice and submit a comment.
Convene your community to enjoy Climate Music’s live streamed concerts.
Use the guide to engage in a post-stream conversation around climate solutions. Guides are available from info@climatemusic.org.
Domains for Climate Action
Food and Agriculture
Turning Food Waste To Animal Feed At The World’s Largest Bug Farm
Black soldier fly larvae are natural gifted recyclers, converting dead and decaying plants and animals into a source of protein that nourishes fish, birds and other creatures. The French start-up Innovafeed is harnassing the fly larvae to do this on an industrial scale, turning thousands of tons of food waste into animal feed on ultraefficient, mechanized farms. The result holds the potential to reduce carbon emissions and limit the environmental damage of our food system. It appears the success lies not in the approach, but in finding buyers willing to pay a premium for a more sustainable source of protein — and winning over regulators to get approval for feeding insects to fish and animals. Read more.
Mars Steps Up Efforts to Farm Rice Sustainably
Rice, a daily staple for 3.5 billion people globally, is also a major source of income for roughly 19% of the world's population. At the same time, traditional rice production uses approximately 40% of the world's irrigation water and accounts for up to 10% of global methane emissions, making current methods unsustainable. Mars, owner of one of the world's biggest and most recognized brands of rice – Ben's Original, has stepped in to help pioneer climate smart interventions, like alternate wetting and drying of fields, and more efficient use of farming inputs. The pilot project in Thailand has increased yields and reduced water use by as much as 43% and 56% respectively. The program is now being scaled across Thailand’s rice sector. Read more.
Energy
Clean, Resilient Energy Solutions Can Power the Digital Future
According to RMI, more than 95 percent of future demand can be met with fast, scalable, and available clean energy solutions like battery storage, demand flexibility, and clean energy portfolios that offer practical, cost-effective options that align with modern load dynamics. Far from being a reliable backbone for the coming era of energy demand, coal-fired power plants, by contrast, are a brittle, outmoded technology. Read more.
An Induction Stove for Every Home
“Meet Charlie” is the invitation on Copper’s website, announcing its sleek, modern induction range with a built-in 5 kWh battery. It skips the costly 240-volt upgrade, avoids tearing out the drywall, and eliminates the need to run new wires. “We can make kick-ass appliances if they have batteries inside of them. I sell the most powerful induction range on the market. It preheats four times faster than gas, boils water three times faster than gas. It’s made possible by that embedded battery storage,” says Sam Calisch, Copper’s co-founder and CEO, and co-founder of Rewiring America. Copper aims to bring this model of electrification to appliances throughout the home. Read more. And on why make the switch, more here.
Finance
$1 Billion in Investment Financing For Latin America
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Latin America’s largest investment bank, BTG Pactual, unveiled a major climate finance initiative set to deploy up to $1 billion by 2028 toward sustainable development across Latin America. "The private sector can and must be a key player in advancing the climate agenda and driving transformative initiatives that improve lives and foster economic growth," said Alfonso Garcia Mora, IFC's regional vice-president for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Circular Economy/Materials
Red Onions Can Help Protect Solar Cells From Degrading UV Rays
Solar cells often degrade due to ultraviolet exposure, but scientists have achieved 99.9% protection using an extract made from red onion skins, rather than toxic films derived from petroleum currently in use. Nanocellulose is derived from plant-based materials and is produced by breaking down cellulose into nanoscale fibers. A new study found that combining nanocellulose with a dye made from red onion skin extract provided "very effective UV protection." surpassing that of current petroleum-based films. Read more.
Water/Natural Resources/Biodiversity
Built Environment
Transportation
Vital Public Transit In Jeopardy in Philadelphia, More Could Follow
Across Philadelphia and its suburbs commuters are bracing for a dramatic reduction in public transportation after state lawmakers were unable to agree on a path to continue to fund the system. Since the pandemic reduced ridership for big city transit systems the sustainability of public transportation has been in danger. Now the first system appears to be falling. Cuts of 20% in service on all bus and rail lines and the elimination of 32 bus routes will severely impact poor, elderly, students and daily commuters. Public transit is also a vital resource in efforts to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.
Health
Science
US Scientists Continue Global Collaborations Despite Government
While lower than than the number involved in previous efforts, 46 American researchers will be authors for next three important global climate reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Former NASA chief scientist and senior climate adviser Katherine Calvin, a climate modeling expert, will help guide the structure and direction of the entire climate mitigation working group. “I’m not concerned about fewer U.S. authors, because it’s made space for other folks, but I am concerned that the authors that were selected get support, and are not told by the federal government in any way, shape or form, what it is that they’re allowed to do,” said Rutgers University human-ecology professor Pamela McElwee, who helped coordinate the nomination process for U.S. scientists after the U.S. Department of State canceled the official federal process.
Politics
Affordability Is the New Forefront of Climate Politics
Removing clean energy from the grid will not only accelerate climate change, it will raise electric rates. This fact could play a key role in influencing voters who haven’t yet understood the importance of fighting climate change, but do value keeping costs under control. A host of political and environmental organizations are banding together to leverage this with new messaging, such as this billboard in Reno, NV, “Check your electric bill lately? Rep. Mark Amodei just voted for it to go up.” The $12 million campaign by organizations including EDF Action and Climate Emergency Advocates blames Republicans in Congress for the increasing cost of food, healthcare, and energy. This represents a strategic shift in how the climate movement talks about the energy transition, placing affordability at the forefront. Read more.
Climate Interventions:
Regeneration, Methane, Geoengineering, CCUS
Reducing Access to Natural Gas Saves Both the Climate and Money
Eight states have begun phasing out gas line extension allowances, saving up to $750 million in utility bills annually. These allowances have traditionally meant that the cost of expansions to the gas distribution system have been funded by existing customers, rather than the developer. The change has been precipitated by the growing shift by consumers away from gas to electric alternatives, and thus the revenue from new customers often falls short of covering their connection costs. Eliminating the allowances protecs customers from excess costs and better aligns utility practices with state climate policies that could drive large reductions in gas use.
Adaptation and Resilience
Investors are Funding Climate Adaption
French investment bank BNP Paribas estimates the climate-adaptation market could be worth some $2 trillion by 2026. Adaptation options might include landscapes designed to manage excess rainwater, to expanding wetlands and building oyster banks to restore and protect shorelines. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that 2 million homes in the U.S. at risk of flooding from rising seas by could be saved through adaptation efforts. “If you’re a homeowner, or a factory owner in California, there’s not much you can do yourself about the climate and the weather,” said Rowan Douglas, chief executive of climate risk and resilience at insurance group Howden. “The only thing you can do and what governments will need to do is reduce your vulnerabilities, which is another way of saying adaptation.” Read more.
Policy
Trump Administration Pressures Foreign Nations to Halt Climate Efforts
The administration is applying tariffs, levies and other mechanisms to compel other countries to burn more fossil fuels. Virtually all trade deals include requirements to buy U.S. oil and gas. Not only will the U.S. not be a signatory to the the International Maritime Organization’s agreement to impose a GHG emissions, but shocked the international community with its blunt promise that the United States would “not hesitate to retaliate or explore remedies for our citizens” against other countries that support the shipping fee. Energy experts and European officials have called the level of pressure Mr. Trump is exerting on other countries worrisome. Read more.
EV Charging Buildout Will Proceed
Despite the administration’s attempt to halt the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program launched under President Biden, the program not only lives, but the Federal Highway Administration issued new guidance for the program to “streamline applications,” “slash red tape,” and “ensure charging stations are actually built.” “If Congress is requiring the federal government to support charging stations, let’s cut the waste and do it right,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press release. “While I don’t agree with subsidizing green energy, we will respect Congress’ will and make sure this program uses federal resources efficiently.” Read more.
Stopping Wind Projects For No Apparent Reason
The $6.2 billion Revolution Wind project was 80 percent completed, would power more than 350,000 homes and was providing about 1000 good jobs. In an August 22nd letter to the Danish firm building the project, the administration shut it down for “concerns related to the protection of national security interests in the United States.” According to Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, “This action is a flashing red light for capital investment in clean energy projects.” “If you’ve gotten all your permits and spent billions of dollars, and even then they can pull the plug, well, who is going to want to put their money up?” Read more.
And, in their next anti-wind move, the Transportation Department has said it was terminating or withdrawing $679 million in federal funding for 12 projects around the country intended to support the development of offshore wind power.
A Strange Legal Twist that May Allow States to Regulate GHGs
If the EPA elminiates the endangerment finding, it would give states a solid argument for being able to regulate greenhouse emissions themselves, according to Ann Carlson a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a former Biden administration official. “If I were the state of California and the endangerment finding gets rescinded, I would argue that there are no federal standards,” she said. “There is, in the view of EPA, no need to regulate, and therefore states shouldn’t be preempted. I don’t know if that’s a winner, but I think it’s worth a try.” Read more.
Climate News
So Many Exciting New Technologies
RMI’s latest cohort for their accelerator includes 18 climate tech startups from around the world. “From scalable bamboo building systems to modular green hydrogen, recyclable wind turbines to zero-emission cooling, these startups represent the cutting edge of global climate tech innovation” said Rushad Nanavatty, Third Derivative Managing Director. “Our class-leading portfolio continues to stay ahead of the emissions – by focusing on the industries, sectors, and geographies that are going to be the most consequential for our planet in the decades to come.” Check them out here.
No Global Plastics Treaty After Talks Fail
Representatives from 184 countries met in Geneva, Switzerland. The draft agreement they came up with included only voluntary measures, with nothing about health and product phase-outs. Environmental groups denounced the heavy presence of fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists. “The inability to reach an agreement in Geneva must be a wakeup call for the world: ending plastic pollution means confronting fossil fuel interests head on,” said Graham Forbes, Global Plastics Campaign Lead at Greenpeace USA. It’s not clear when or how negotiations might continue. Read more.
Major Health Impacts from Oil and Gas Air Pollution in US Quantified
A paper in Science Advances found that fine particles (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide, ozone and other hazardous air pollutants in the US are responsible for to 91,000 premature deaths, 10,350 preterm births and 216,000 childhood-onset asthma and 1,610 cancer cases every year in the country, based on data from 2017, the most recent year for which it is available.. The burden falls most heavily on people of color, but no one breathing the air is immune. Meanwhile oil and gas production has increased by more than 40% since then, and consumption by more than 8%. Read more.
Amazon: Demonstrating and Leading Corporate Sustainability
Large corporations can do a lot to promote sustainability, both within and around their business. Amazon, for example shares it’s sustainability strategies and pools resources with other companies. Strategies include redesigning the delivery network to reduce long hauls and optimize for EVs and rail, deploying more than 600 renewable energy projects across 20 countries, reducing packaging, using AI to uncover energy savings, and working with business coalitions to pool demand for green steel, low-carbon trucking, and sustainable aviation fuel. Read more.
Collapse of the Vital Atlantic Current No Longer Low-Likelihood
Until recently, climate models indicated that a collapse of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) before 2100 was unlikely, but a new analysis ran the models for longer, to 2300 and 2500. According to this analysis, crossing tipping points that make an AMOC shutdown inevitable will likely occur within a few decades, but the collapse itself may not happen until 50 to 100 years later. Even with low future emissions, 25% of the models projected an AMOC shutdown. Among the consequences: shifting the tropical rainfall belt on which many millions rely to grow food, plunging western Europe into extreme cold winters and summer droughts, and adding more than 1.5ft. to already rising sea levels. Read more.
Book and Film Recommendations
Finalists in the Yale Environment 360 2025 Film Contest
The winner, “Slaughter-land” reveals how the proliferation of hog farms on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is befouling the air and contaminating groundwater. You can also view the the other honorees, “Chasing Birds” and “Amazon Tipping Point.”
According to the website: “…at the eleventh hour of global environmental struggle, comes TERRIBLE BEAUTY: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul, an expose on the failure of modern environmental movement and a roadmap for a new environmentalism in a world headed towards catastrophe.” “It’s a love letter to the world, an homage to beauty, and a warning about what we stand to lose.” — Casey Sheahan, former CEO, Patagonia
And read this edition of the Climate Voice Newsletter, written by the author.
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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