Humanity is at a tipping point of epic change. Many postive developments over the past two centuries have led to increased population and consumption of natural resources. We have reached a point where we’re consuming more than the Earth can provide, while causing harm to nature and humans, and we have the means to transition to better ways of doing things so that we live within our means. For some this means drastic lifestyle change, either up from having no electricity, or down from better choices that reduce overconsumption and hoarding. This imbalance is causing lots of disruption and chaos, so we need to add our energies towards The Climate Economy concepts in order to bring some balance back into our systems of life.

It’s huge and there’s a lot to remember, but everyone has a role to play. The “destination” is for each individual is to thrive authentically, where we’re living our purpose and earning a living without destroying the Earth. So order to help people reach that destination, we’ve developed the Compass as a tool to help everyone remember the key concepts. The Compass includes the most important components to finding our path in The Climate Economy: the map, values, measurements and structure. Read on to learn more about what’s in the Compass.

The Climate Venture Map

Unlike typical businesses where producing and selling products and services for profit of shareholders is prioritized, ventures in The Climate Economy aim to change behavior in positive ways. We want to help people cause generative change in support of life. Therefore we have developed a business model canvas specifically for this type of venture called a Climate Venture Map.

The Climate Venture Map (CVM) is the “business model canvas” of The Climate Economy. We start with our vision of the future that we want to see, and contemplate the postive outcomes associated with that vision. At the left side of the CVM, we have the problem action that is causing the closing of the resource funnel, i.e. causing climate change, pollution, reducing biodiversity, etc. By going through the CVM’s expanding tunnel of behavior change and getting people to take the target action, we open up the resource funnel and cause positive, uplifiting generative change that’s good for the climate, economy and humanity. The vision, mission and execution plan help support the behavior change from problem action to target action.

Every project, existing or new business or community group activities can use the climate venture map to focus efforts towards causing the change we want to see, that uplifts environmental and human well-being. Using our climate venture map, here’s what we do at The Climate Economy Education Inc, how we do it, and why:

• Vision
  • TCE envisions a future where people work together with family, friends and their community on new “climate” ventures that build a healthy environment and resilient communities for current and future generations. We call that “thriving authentically.”
• Target Action (TA)
  • We aim to get people starting or participating in climate ventures and taking target actions that are applicable to their lives and meaningful in their communities. Target actions reduce harmful emissions, increase community resilience and increase human connections.
• Problem Action (PA)
  • Burning of fossil fuels for electricity and transportation, the biggest contributor to climate change, has to stop, as well as other unnatural processes, and be replaced with better alternatives. These “better alternatives”  and best solutions will vary by person and by community and business, so it’s complicated and takes time. Also, there are many who profit from this old system that are openly fighting against change and muddying the waters. The majority of people are concerned about climate change, waste and clean energy but many don’t know what to do, where to go, or who to ask. This is a massive change, people may not even know about it, and people already are burdened by enough troubles. People just worry, they think they can’t really make an impact or it’s too late. They get angry, feel hopeless and give up. They feel that change is just scary and takes too much work. We end up maintaining the status quo, even though we know there are better ways.
• How We Cause the Change We Want To See (Funnel – causing behavior change from PA to TA)
  • Help everyone embrace the change to clean energy and climate by making it easy and beneficial to them, their families and their future. Give them a platform where they can work together on building new projects and ideas. Educate people about the many opportunities, benefits, ideas and “climate ventures” they can try out in their own lives or their communities. Show them what’s worked elsewhere. Help people learn more about what interests them personally and to develop their expertise and spend more time doing things they love doing.  Make it easy and worth their while for people to participate. Find ways to motivate and trigger people to take target actions that reduce emissions, increase community resilience or increase human connections. Make it possible for them to cause measurable, positive change with people they trust on things that effects them personally in their daily lives. Take the worry, fear and complacency out of change.
• Execution (Priorities, Inflows and Outflows, Network, Phases)
  • Build and maintain a sustainable infrastructure that can support the vision and cause the change we want to see.
• Mission
  • TCE’s mission is to help everyone, everywhere generate and participate in people-centered climate ventures through education and programs so every individual achieves prosperous net zero emissions in their lifestyles and work in order to bring and keep all the Earth’s natural systems in balance for current and future generations.

Read more about the Climate Venture Map.

Where is the Climate Venture Map in the Compass?

Take the CVM and tip it on it’s side so the problem action is on the bottom and target action at the top. The Compass sitting on the ground is the “basket” of a hot air balloon, stuck to the ground by the problem action and powered at the top by people taking target actions. So the CVM is the “engine,” providing the energy for a hot air ballon (exceedingly gorgeous balloon, use your imagination) attached to the top if if that we’re trying to lift off. The problem action has us stuck to the ground. The inside of the Compass’s tetrahedron has the “cone” of the CVM: the funnel, winding and opening towards the top, and the three “legs” holding up the tunnel: the vision, mission and execution plan. The target action is what comes out the top, powers the hot air balloon, lifts it all up and gets us unstuck from the problem action.

There are many thing we value in The Climate Economy, but in terms of our Compass, we’re focusing on four key values:

1. Courage
2. Caring
3. Creativity
4. Cooperation

Where are the 4C values in the Compass?

The four values are the corners of the Compass tetrahedron.

In The Climate Economy, we focus on at least these four measurements:

1. Climate
2. Economy
3. Humanity
4. Life Cycle

Where do Measures show up on the Compass?

Measures are represented by the four flat sides of the tetrahedron.

Cooperation is a requirement for human evolution, and it’s the basis of all TCE activities. When we’re applying our expertise and passions in cooperation with others who have complementary pursuits, everyone benefits. This also extends to business. In almost all cases, a cooperative business structure is going to be the best option for climate ventures. This ensures that we have people helping people as the main goal, while still making a living.

Where is the Cooperative Structure in the Compass?

The cooperative structure is in the bars of the tetrahedron.