The race to protect the earth gets more critical every year. The world is set to see its warmest five years on record – in a trend which is likely to continue – and is not on track to meet agreed targets to keep global temperature increase well below 2 °C or at 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Atmospheric CO2 concentrations showed no signs of peaking and have continued to increase to new records. The Emissions Gap Report 2019 showed that the cuts in global emissions required per year from 2020 to 2030 are close to 3% for a 2 °C target and more than 7% per year on average for the 1.5 °C goal of the Paris Agreement. The Emissions Gap in 2030 is estimated at 12-15 Gigatonnes (Gt) CO2e to limit global warming to below 2 °C. For the 1.5 ° C goal, the gap is estimated at 29-32 Gt CO2e, roughly equivalent to the combined emissions of the six largest emitters.

Organizations and governments are waking up, taking action, but the pace is just not matching up. We need to piggyback on exponential technologies if we are to ride out this wave successfully.

In this seires, we want to discover the massive opportunities on the horizon to shape markets and consumer behaviours with environmental data and digital technologies. And we discuss some of the darker forces at play – including the attention economy, hyper-consumption, and the environmental and carbon footprint of digital technologies themselves.

Join the conversation and help us shape the course of human civilization by using digital technologies for our common planet.

This series is being produced in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme. The content will help inform UNEP’s own digital transformation journey as well as kickstart a global conversation on key priorities and solutions. The Infinite Leaders would not have been possible without the generous gift of time from the guests, the leadership of David Jensen and the support of the weekly co-host Jon Thor Sigurleifsson.