HCI Earth Day 2020 on Facebook Live

 The Purpose of the event was to create an awareness of Climate Change among the people on the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, with a focus on Climate Restoration, i.e., removing CO2 from the atmosphere to a safe and healthy level, as a pathway to ensure the survival and flourishing of humanity. HCI planned the event in two parts:
(1) Identification of problem, a case study on devastating effects of climate change in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India, and another part of the world.
(2) The solution, i.e. climate restoration. The event was lined up with the leaders of the global campaign for climate restoration and eminent speakers on the following topics.

 1. Climate Preparedness in the Delta of Sundarbans by Dr. Sugata Hazra, Professor of Coastal Zone Management, Jadavpur University.

 2. Climate Restoration & Leadership in a Conversation among Mr. Peter Fiekowsky, Co-founder and Chairman of the foundation for climate restoration (F4CR), Mr. Rick Parnell, CEO of F4CR and former COO of United nations foundation and Dr. Erica Dodds, COO of F4CR.

 3. Waging Optimism, a Pathway to Ensure the Survival and Flourishing of Humanity, and People's New Deal Pillar: Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) by Dr. Paul Zeitz, Funder of Build A Movement 2020 and Co-chair of the COVID-19 Emergency Response Group.

 The event began with welcoming the audience by Mr. Dwijadas Ghosal, General Secretary of HCI, and explaining the significance of Earth Day. It was followed by Dr. Soumitra Das, President of HCI, elaborating HCI’s mission, activities, and calling for people’s involvement in the movement for climate restoration. Then, the event moved to the main topics by the eminent guest speakers.

 TOPIC-1: Climate Preparedness in the Delta of Sundarbans by Dr. Sugata Hazra,

 Key Points: Dr. Hazra started with a reference to the current pandemic situation of the world due to COVID-19, something that we were not prepared for and resulting in loss of over two hundred thousand lives, morbidity, and loss of livelihood. He stated that if the current adverse climatic conditions are not taken care of, the catastrophic consequences will be faced by humanity. He has stated how global warming is responsible for the sea level rise in the coastal areas. The 'Mangrove Forest', "a national heritage site" is in danger due to the advancing sea. He shared his incredible research and works in the Sundarban Delta. Dr. Hazra concluded his speech by a powerful message that, " there is no vaccine against climate change, we ourselves need to be prepared at the individual, national and global levels to embrace a more sustainable lifestyle in order to win the struggle for existence in the Sundarban Delta and in the world and let this be our pledge on Earth Day."

 TOPIC -2: Climate Restoration Leadership in Conversation among Mr. Peter Fiekowsky, Mr. Rick Parnell, and Dr. Erica Dodds.

 Key Points: The discussion was presented in a fireside chat format in which the anchor Ms. Alexandra Pony from F4CR engaged Mr. Fiekowsky, Mr. Parnell, and Dr. Dodds in a discussion on the origin of the idea, the strategy of the Foundation for Climate Restoration, progress, and next steps. What is the origin of climate restoration? To stop emitting carbon dioxide in the air is common knowledge to the people for many years. Mr. Fiekowsky came up with the idea of climate restoration saying now we must take out the carbon dioxide that we have put in the atmosphere. Otherwise, all the human progress we have made will be meaningless. Consequently, Mr. Fiekowsky created the Foundation for Climate Restoration (F4CR) to advance climate restoration and make the world safe and healthy for the future generations.

 What is climate restoration? Climate restoration in its simplest term is to remove the carbon dioxide that we have been putting in the atmosphere for the last two centuries and bring it to the preindustrial level of under 300 parts per million where humanity has survived and thrived for thousands of years. Mitigation and bringing the carbon dioxide emission to net-zero by 2050 are very important, but most people do not realize that 95% of the carbon dioxide that is causing global warming with all its devastating effects will still be there even if we stop emitting carbon dioxide in 30 years. F4CR is working on market-driven approaches for both technological solutions that can be employed to remove the excess carbon dioxide by 2050.

 Is it possible to restore climate by 2050? F4CR and the top scientists in the area also believe that it is possible to restore climate by 2050. We knew how to remove carbon dioxide from the air 100 years ago and the processes for “direct air capture” were known for many decades– so, these are not new and emerging technologies; we are learning to do it more efficiently and cheaply. F4CR is working with the United Nations, national governments, local governments, technology entrepreneurs, organizations with a similar mission, universities like Cambridge University and Arizona State University, faith community from the Vatican to all different faiths to bring the political will and to help build ecosystem necessary to restore climate by 2050.

 What technologies are out there for climate restoration? Fair numbers of technologies are out there to remove carbon dioxide from the air. F4CR selects technologies that meet three criteria: (1) permanence, i.e. the removal of carbon dioxide should be permanent, (2) scalability, i.e., it should be able to remove all the excess carbon dioxide in 20 years, and (3) financeable, i.e., someone is willing to pay for the implementation. Using these criteria, F4CR found technologies that nature has been using to remove carbon dioxide for millions of years, which generates confidence about the safety of these technologies. For example synthetic limestone. 99% of all carbon on our planet are held in limestone through natural processes. We can do the same chemistry in the laboratory, and large factories to create synthetic limestone removing carbon dioxide in copious amounts from the air and sell them in the market for building roads, bridges, and buildings at a comparable cost. The demand for limestone sufficiently high to restore climate in 20 years. Another approach is restoring photosynthesis in the ocean by mixing necessary nutrients in the ocean. Because of the vast size of the ocean, the increase in photosynthesis would remove enough carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and restore climate in 20 years. As a by-product, it will increase fish production which can finance the cost of the nutrient.

 What is the strategy to implement these technologies? The technology entrepreneurs and universities are working on these technologies separately and without the knowledge of the potential investors. In addition, these technologies need to be sufficiently tested to ensure confidence among the investors, and favorable policies need to be created to attract investment. F4CR is connecting investors, technology entrepreneurs, and universities, and working with governments to conduct tests, and create favorable policies for climate restoration technologies.

 What is progress has been made so far? (1) The most exciting progress is that faith leaders, corporate leaders, investors, student community have begun to understand the need for climate restoration and demand for it. (2) The affordable technologies for carbon removal are growing, (3) The Vatican, and UN, i.e. the high priests to determine what is important for humanity, are showing interest in climate restoration.

 Note that HCI is a partner of F4CR.

 TOPIC - 3: Waging Optimism, a Pathway to Ensure the Survival and Flourishing of Humanity, and People's New Deal Pillar: Climate Restoration Emergency Action (CREA) by Dr. Paul Zeitz. Key Points: Dr. Paul Zeitz has expressed his excitement to all the audience in HCI, India in recognition and honor of Earth Day. He stated that our existence in the current global pandemic situation and its effect on economic fragility is threatened. He spoke about his vision to a positive future of being optimistic about addressing the climate emergency. He talked about his research on climate restoration, i.e., the cycle of 'three pillars of climate action', namely Restoration – Mitigation and Adaptation. He explained the focus of Climate RestorationEmergency Action (CREA) led by him - enumerating efforts to catalyze a fast transition to a net-zero carbon economy by 2030. He encouraged all the audience towards the goal to restore climate and create a sustainable atmosphere. Dr. Paul Zeitz is looking forward to work with HCI and every individual who is committed to restore the climate and bring this vision into reality over the coming weeks, months, and years. He believes that we can do it if we work together, learn together, and take action together.

 The event ended with offering a vote of thanks by Mr. Chandan Kumar Bhattacharyya, Vice President of HCI.