Do we need new scientific ideas to help fight climate change?

A climate scientist and an entrepreneur discuss why we need new scientific ideas to help fight climate change.

Science has always been a vocation dominated by academics and traditionally trained scientists. But what if this is actually precluding many voices and ideas outside this narrow circle of influence from being considered as part of a more sustainable, long-term solution?

Climate scientist and marine biologist Deborah Brosnan noted that “you are usually in your late-30s or 40s [as a scientist] when you get to a point where you have the funding and team … We so don’t have that time.”

This radical approach would bring a lot more people, especially younger generations, into conversations around how to fight climate change, protect biodiversity and secure our future. Rachel Kropa, managing director at the FootPrint Coalition echoes this point, saying:

“It’s important to support the people that have the most factual information about the reality of the climate crisis … the stories we want to tell about what people are working on are all solutions-based – it doesn’t matter who the person is, where they are or what they do.”

Deborah predicted “in the next 20 years we are not going to see academia leading the way in climate research, it’s going to come from newer avenues, some of which do not yet exist.”

The Guardian’s Oliver Balch led a discussion with Deborah Brosnan, climate scientist and marine biologist at Deborah Brosnan & Associates, and Rachel Kropa, managing director at the FootPrint Coalition, during Web Summit 2022.

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Main image of Deborah Brosnan and Rachel Kropa deep in discussion at Web Summit 2022: Harry Murphy/Web Summit (CC BY 2.0)