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THE INNOVATION DELUSION
America’s Love Affair with Shiny Objects and the Decline of Everything Else
“We’re drowning in technological breakthroughs while gasping for affordable healthcare.”
We live in remarkable times. Times where your refrigerator can text you when you’re low on almond milk, but your health insurance has a deductible higher than the GDP of a small nation. Times where your watch can tell you exactly how poorly you slept last night, but you can’t afford the rent to sleep anywhere decent. Welcome to 21st century America: Home of the brave, land of the free… to innovate yourself into oblivion while your quality of life circles the drain.
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute. We’ve become a nation obsessed with innovation while the fundamentals of a decent existence keep slipping away. It’s like we’re perpetually chasing the digital equivalent of a sugar high while our societal body is developing type 2 diabetes. We’re the junkie who keeps scoring the next hit while our teeth fall out and our apartment gets repossessed.
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ERS Acquires Equitable Earth to Advance High-Quality
Community-led Forest Conservation Projects
Paris, June 12, 2025 — Ecosystem Restoration Standard (ERS), an ICVCM-approved carbon standard focused on nature-based solutions, today announced the acquisition of Equitable Earth, a pioneering forest carbon standard rooted in Indigenous leadership, climate justice, and technical excellence.
Developed by a global coalition of over 125 individuals from more than 60 organizations, Equitable Earth was designed to halt deforestation and secure the long-term protection of the world’s forests. Its innovation lies not only in robust REDD+ methodologies, but in centering the rights, knowledge, and leadership of Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities—particularly in the Global South.
Today’s acquisition marks a major step forward in building a more just and effective voluntary carbon market. With ERS at the helm, Equitable Earth will operate as a fully independent, high-integrity, community-rooted standard, with the technical capacity and governance infrastructure to meet global demand while staying true to its founding vision.
A Tool for Climate Justice
“For too long, decisions about our forests have been made without us,” said Francisca Arara, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil, and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force. “Equitable Earth can help change that. As we worked to develop it, I came to see that this is more than just a carbon standard—it’s a tool for climate justice. It has the potential to channel unprecedented financing to forest communities: investments in our cultures and sovereignty that recognize our role as stewards of the world’s critical forest ecosystems. Now with ERS, we have a partner to help make this vision reality.”
Built on Community Wisdom
“From the beginning, Equitable Earth was built on the conviction that Indigenous and traditional communities must be co-creators of credible and just solutions to halt deforestation,” said Beto Borges, Director of the Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative at Forest Trends and Chair of the Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Guidance Council for the Equitable Earth Coalition.
“Private finance must align with their leadership, rights, and ancestral knowledge. In ERS, we found a partner that shares this belief and brings the technical infrastructure, governance, and operational capacity to take the standard forward. Guided by years of consultation with communities, we’re proud to have incubated Equitable Earth. We now hand it over with confidence that ERS will bring the standard to market while ensuring the priorities of forest communities remain at its center.”
Meeting the Urgency of Forest Loss
With this acquisition, ERS significantly expands its mission: moving beyond ecosystem restoration to the urgent protection of standing forests—critical carbon sinks that are rapidly disappearing. According to recent data, tropical primary forest loss surged by 80% last year alone, a stark indicator that the status quo is not enough.
A Win for Farmers and Tribes Brings New Hope to the Klamath
By: Jacques Leslie
In the long-contentious Klamath River watershed, an experiment that turned a barley field into a wetland not only improved water quality. It also offered a path forward for restoring populations of two endangered fish species that are of cultural importance to Native tribes.
In 2017, an orthopedic surgeon named Karl Wenner bought a one-fifth share in Lakeside Farms, a barley farm near his home in Klamath Falls, Oregon. His intention was to spend his impending retirement hunting ducks, which were attracted to the farm because of its unusually abundant water supply. But soon after his purchase, Wenner learned that phosphorus levels in the floodwaters that ran off the farm each winter far exceeded state regulations, at which point he turned his attention to improving water quality.
Four years later, with the consent of Lakeside’s co-owners, Wenner diked off 70 of the farm’s 400 acres and flooded them with the farm’s excess water. Almost immediately, the field filled with aquatic plants, which attracted tens of thousands of ducks, geese, and swans. It also began sopping up water-borne nutrients, eliminating the farm’s phosphorus problem. Within two years, plant biodiversity at the farm had doubled, according to an analysis of bee pollen. The farm is now a haven for otters, beavers, muskrats, and at least 140 species of birds. It also provides a home for two gravely endangered fish species revered by local Native Americans: the shortnose sucker and the Lost River sucker.
When a field is returned to production after three years under water, weeds and pests have been drowned and soil health is improved.
The success of Lakeside’s wetland restoration is only the splashiest of recent positive developments in the Klamath River watershed, which has long been plagued by battles over water quality, water allocation, and the plight of native fish. Last October, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath, and within a month, more than 6,000 salmon swam upstream past the dam sites, far exceeding biologists’ expectations and reinforcing hope for a broad recovery of deeply depleted salmon stocks. The salmons’ entrance into the upper basin, where they had not circulated for more than a century, seemed to symbolize the interconnectedness of the watershed, inspiring former adversaries to meet and plan next steps in the restoration of the badly degraded river.
Members of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon, which consists of three tribes, once ate voluminous quantities of the two sucker species — known to them as c’waam and koptu — and held ceremonies to honor the fish. Many members live close to Upper Klamath Lake, the basin’s biggest lake and home to most of the surviving suckers.
The tribes, which have senior water rights to the lake, have kept its levels close to full in an effort to boost c’waam and koptu survival. That policy has angered farmers at the southern end of Upper Klamath Lake, who receive less water for their crops. For their part, the Yurok and Karuk tribes in the lower basin argue that they have been shortchanged in water allocations, and that smaller water releases spread fish disease and deplete the health of salmon, the fish at the heart of their cultures. Amid these long-running tensions, the news that wetlands restoration had helped suckers survive raised many Klamath residents’ hopes: The tribes envisioned more fish; the farmers envisioned more irrigation water.
Some farmers resist wetland restoration because it requires taking acreage out of production. But Wenner maintains that, actually, farmers benefit. Lakeside rotates its wetland among its four fields. When a field is returned to production after three years under water, Wenner said, its weeds and pests have been drowned; soil health has improved; fewer chemical inputs are needed; and the field’s produce can be classified as organic, increasing its value. The farm also receives funding from the Natural Resources Conservation Service for creating a wetland beneficial to migratory birds.
Wenner’s experiment has shown that a combination of wetlands and agriculture “can lead to a more resilient watershed where abundant fish, wildlife, and better water quality are not divergent outcomes,” said Jeff McCreary, operations director for Ducks Unlimited’s western region. Moreover, the collaborations that benefit wildlife, agriculture, and a range of cultural values, he said, can “lift up all in the community.”
Wenner’s achievement is rooted in the power of wetlands, which are critical components of well-functioning hydrological systems. With their spongy composition, they moderate potential natural disasters by retaining water during floods and releasing it during droughts. They also act as filters, absorbing nutrients like phosphorus, whose overabundance in Upper Klamath Lake is driving the decline of c’waam and koptu.
Historically, wetlands around the lake provided a protected habitat for juvenile c’waam and koptu to reach maturity before they ventured, as adults, into Upper Klamath Lake, where predators are plentiful. But today, roughly 95 percent of the basin’s wetlands are gone, and since the mid-1990s, no juvenile c’waam or koptu have survived to adulthood in Upper Klamath Lake. Of the millions of suckers that once resided in upper basin waters, fewer than 40,000 c’waam and koptu remain, according to biologists’ estimates, and these fish are aging out.
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At a moment when all countries need to raise their ambition on climate action, the opposite seems to be happening.
Headline after headline show lackluster progress and rolled-back commitments. For one, climate change was a low priority for voters in 2024’s global wave of elections; only the UK elected a government that ran on a platform of climate ambition. Overseas development aid is decreasing — down an estimated 9-17% in 2025 — due to budget cuts in Europe and the dramatic dismantling of USAID. Scientists warn that we need to reduce emissions 7% every year to avoid the worst climate impacts, but in 2024, emissions actually increased by 0.9%. And finally, geopolitical tensions and trade wars are disrupting the global economy and making it tougher to invest in a clean future.
Meanwhile, the urgency for climate action has never been greater. Last year, droughts, floods, extreme heat and other climate disasters displaced a record 46 million people and caused $417 billion in economic losses.
These setbacks are real. They will slow us down. But they will not derail us.
Despite depressing headlines, momentum for the green transition we need is still building. In 2024, renewables made up 90% of new energy additions; they are now the cheapest source of new electricity in most countries. One in five new cars sold worldwide last year were electric.
Big, systemic changes like these aren’t happening fast enough — not yet. But as we’ve seen with other big societal shifts — voting rights, internet penetration, smart phone use — change happens piecemeal and slowly until you hit a tipping point. It’s the job of policymakers, philanthropies, businesses and organizations like ours to bring that threshold closer — especially now.
The good news is that we know what it takes to accelerate the green transition, even in the face of a new world order. Decades of experience and recent glimmers of progress show us that a path forward is possible. It will take collective action and focus around three areas:
1) Moving From Cutting Carbon to Better Lives
The green transition is not at odds with economic prosperity. In fact, investing in climate-friendly and nature-positive economic growth is the only way to ensure a prosperous future. This is not only true scientifically; companies and countries alike are demonstrating it in the real world. Ingka Group, the largest IKEA retailer, reduced its climate footprint over 30% while growing revenues by more than 23%. Forty-nine countries, including the US, France and Germany, have found ways to continue growing their economies without increasing emissions.
But this message is not clear to leaders, or the people who vote for them. Even in countries with strong public support for climate action, pro-climate parties are losing at the polls. Why? People don’t yet see how the low-carbon transition will improve their lives.
A durable economic transition cannot take place without political support. To succeed, every aspect of our approach and narrative needs to prioritize people — not carbon. For example, clean energy is not just a climate solution; it’s oftentimes the most affordable and reliable power source. Increased electric vehicle use isn’t just about cutting fossil fuel emissions; it can create manufacturing jobs while expanding access to transport and reducing air pollution, which causes 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. Planting trees in cities adds beauty while also keeping people cool during extreme heat.
A good example of pro-people, pro-planet policy support is Denmark’s recent Green Tripartite Agreement. The plan will restore nature, pay farmers to reduce their nitrogen pollution and tax emissions from livestock production in a way that not only incentivizes, but supports farmers in making their production more efficient. Similarly, Mexico City’s bus rapid transit system has continued to expand and evolve because it’s brought a host of benefits with it: reduced congestion, cleaner air, better and cheaper access to jobs, and other opportunities.
These kinds of win-win solutions are popular with people. But to really take off, they need investment, policies and other targeted support to make them happen quickly, affordably and without causing undue harm to those whose jobs and communities rely on the old economy. The clean energy transition is inevitable — but even this piece will not happen fast enough on its own. We need to work systematically to remove the barriers to the transition across all sectors and ensure people reap the benefits of a clean and resilient future. Not all policies will be a win-win for everyone, but the initial steps that are good for people can provide political momentum for the harder choices later.
2) Transitioning Large, Emerging Economies
Leadership from middle-income economies is critical for the green transition. They produce half the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, a percentage that will only increase in the coming years. They’re home to most of the world’s remaining tropical forests, centers of biodiversity. And they house three-quarters of the world’s population, including 62% of the world’s poorest people. If large middle-income countries like China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil do not successfully reduce their emissions, protect their natural ecosystems or adapt to oncoming climate impacts, the entire green transition will be at risk. A safe world will be out of reach.
In the high glare of a summer evening in Fairbanks, Alaska, Ciara Santiago watched the mercury climb. A meteorologist at the National Weather Service office, she had the dubious honor of issuing the state’s first ever official heat advisory as temperatures were expected to hit the mid-80s.
It’s the kind of bureaucratic alert that rarely makes national headlines. But in a city where permafrost thaw buckles roads, homes lack air conditioning, and the high at this time of year is generally in the low 70s, the warning comes as a sign of rapidly shifting climate. Alaska is warming more than twice as fast as the global average.
In Alaska, where hazardous cold is historically more of a concern, weather offices in Fairbanks — just 120 miles south of the Arctic circle as the raven flies — didn’t have the option of issuing heat advisories until the beginning of this month, when it was added to a list of possible public alerts. “It gives us a more direct way of communicating these kinds of hazards when they occur,” Santiago said.
The heat bearing down on Alaska isn’t entirely unprecedented, at least in meteorological terms. On the heels of a cold spring, a dome of high pressure, known as an upper-level ridge, has settled over the Interior, a fairly common pattern that traps warm air. In the state’s central valleys, that can spell high temperatures and dry conditions. Temperatures on Friday reached a high of 82 degrees Fahrenheit. An updated advisory on Sunday warned the hot conditions would last until Tuesday, with “temperatures up to 87F to 89F… Isolated areas up to 90F are possible, especially in the Yukon Flats.”
“People in [the] Lower 48 might think that’s nothing, but here those temps could feel like 110,” Santiago said.
With nearly 22 hours of sunlight approaching the solstice, daytime heat accumulates and lingers — not just outside, but indoors. Unlike the Lower 48, most homes in Alaska weren’t built to keep heat out, but to keep it in during months of subzero cold. The thick insulation this requires turns houses into ovens during extended periods of hot temperatures. In Europe, where infrastructure is similarly designed for cold climates, a brutal 2003 heat wave exposed the potential risks: It killed 35,000 people.
That’s part of why the state’s new heat advisory matters. It’s not just a weather bulletin. It’s a warning for a state where most people don’t have the coping mechanisms taken for granted elsewhere — shaded porches, central air, even knowing the signs of heatstroke.
The sudden temperature jump also poses its own challenges. “I’m originally from Texas,” Santiago said. “I’m so used to hot summers that in the 50s, I start putting on a jacket. Now living in Alaska, I’m wearing dresses at that temperature.” But it’s not just a matter of clothing: When your body adapts to higher temperatures, the volume of blood expands, allowing your heart to pump more efficiently and reducing heat stress. You begin sweating earlier, and produce more sweat per gland. But it generally takes one to two weeks of exposure to adapt, making sudden swings in temperature riskier.
The office Santiago works for, like many National Weather Service offices, have recently lost staff under Trump administration cuts. More than 560 members were laid off across the country, reducing its capacity by about a third, and leaving many stations critically understaffed. As a result, the Fairbanks office that made the state’s first heat warning must now suspend operations overnight. “We’re working to the best of our ability with what we have,” Santiago said. The early start to summer heat comes after a winter with low snow levels and early melt, raising concerns about fire season. Layoffs have also affected firefighting staff, where both technical expertise and basic manpower are in question. Concerned about federal capacity, California Gov. Newsom launched a firefighter recruitment effort this week, but in Alaska, much of the wildland firefighting force is federal, raising the question of whether those like Santiago who must prepare for threats ahead will have the resources they need.
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Dangerous pesticides and pet flea treatment detected in English rivers for first time
Exclusive: Wensum and Tone found to have high concentrations of chemicals that are toxic to aquatic life
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