False Summits in climate impact
As one might probably guess, a lot of the crew over here at Carbon A List falls pretty squarely in the “outdoorsy types” personality category. When working at a company committed to tackling the climate crisis, I suppose it just comes with the territory. Personally, I’ve done a lot of volunteer work for conservation, climate and outdoor spaces for many years, including as a volunteer mountain guide and trip leader for the Appalachian Mountain Club. This work requires a fair amount of skill in and familiarity with alpine backcountry, and the work requires patience, planning and mental agility to make sure that trip participants have a good, safe time.
On one trip a few years back, I was leading a team through a particularly hairy and strenuous hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. In the thick humidity and heat of a New England August, the group of about 10 hikers was sweating and groaning as we methodically ticked off over 2,500 feet of elevation gain. We started anticipating the views from the peak and the cooling breeze on the ridgeline. Eventually, one participant stopped, peered ahead and saw blue sky peeking through the trees above and ahead of us. Pointing, he said “we’re almost to the summit!” Knowing that we were at least a good hour away and trying to manage expectations, I’d have to explain the concept of a “false summit” to the group, which is basically this: all the signs seem to point to you arriving at the peak. Maybe that anticipated breeze kicks up. You appear to be emerging from the trees and into the scoured granite landscape above the treeline. Even the timing seems right. But you turn a corner or clear a hump to realize the summit still taunts you in the distance.
This can seem deflating when you’re tired and mildly dehydrated, but you march on nonetheless. While there is much wisdom in the old adage that “the joy is in the journey, not reaching the destination,” there is a lot to be said for overcoming obstacles and achieving a goal. And, as much as anything this is a mental game. Optimism, diligence and commitment are what keep us placing one foot in front of the other, and if we persist and keep a positive mindset, then the summit is soon within reach, and you feel the elation and satisfaction of having achieved something that once seemed out of reach.
In consulting, large-scale, long-term strategy work is full of false summits. You can spend months or quarters planning for business results that you are certain will manifest as soon as you get the concepts down on paper. But, obviously, this is just the beginning. There’s a ton of work to get done, and along the way, the end goals and results will tease you, making them seem closer than they actually are. Inevitably, some staffing, operational or budget SNAFU puts things frustratingly out of reach.
In a recent project here at CAL, we had our own false summit experience. We partnered with the Foundation for Regeneration (FfR) in St Louis to explore and help craft an ecosystem standard that could be used to measure outcomes in urban and municipal contexts. This was exciting work. After being consumers of and advisors to standards and protocols for many years, we had the opportunity to lead the development of a new standard that focused on carbon, water, land use and other ecosystem dimensions that are largely overlooked in marginalized urban landscapes. We knew that this would be an amazing challenge.
As we took those first steps, things looked promising and we were full of energy. We kicked off with a multi-stakeholder working session in Kansas City, and dove into the municipal climate action plan with representatives from the city and community. We applied our institutional knowledge and primary research toolsets to weaving information from existing standards and protocols, like VM0042, CAR, City Forest Credits and ANSI, into early concepts. We explored angles in risk and green financing. We crafted an AirTable outlining the landscape and some of the gaps the project needed to close. The research was interesting, the concepts were challenging and the deeply rewarding project goals really motivated us. But, the further down this path we got, the steeper the terrain got. Digging into one dimension of a standard revealed other dimensions — important dimensions — that we had not anticipated. The work became harder. Just when we felt we had everything sorted out, when we felt that the summit was in sight, another complication would arise and we’d be hard back at work teasing out some nuance or detail.
At this point, it can feel easy to quit. Things can get frustrating and sometimes confusing as thoughts, ideas and directions become a pile of information that needs sorting through. Each day, though, we remind ourselves about why we are here. We remind ourselves about the mission and vision of Carbon A List. About why we exist. And that reminder is simply this: we are here to help figure out exactly these kinds of problems when no one else can. This is what gets us out of bed every day. We are committed to important climate work and know deep down that someone has to do it. And, that someone is us. So, shoes on. One more step.
Last month, we reached a key milestone for the project: a draft concept paper for an Urban Ecosystem Standard that lays the ground rules for pursuing ecological projects and outcomes in municipal and heavily developed environments. We were able to produce several airtables including the one below that sorts data principles by application.
This work, along with delivering a draft was a cause to celebrate here at CAL. Not just because FfR loved the result of the work, but because we put so much into it. Anyone who has been hands-on with authoring a standard knows how difficult this type of project is and what a great challenge it will continue to be. More than anything, the work to date is a great testament to our team’s ability to keep putting one foot down, then the other, and moving forward with persistence and determination. As we arrived to the top we realized it was a false summit.
We know there are a lot of miles left on this road. We need to explore governance models, convene communities, create project documentation, build data and communications protocols and a lot more. However, we are emboldened by what we have done and confident that the skills, tools and experience we have brought to bear have all benefited from the work and made a strong team even stronger, and a client relationship even deeper.
