We’re bringing
climate solutions home.
Inspired by Project Drawdown®, we are building a movement in Georgia to accelerate progress toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions.
What’s Possible by 2030
If we get this right, we can cut Georgia’s carbon impact by at least one-third in just 10 years, from 125 megatons (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) to 79 Mt. This is based on emissions reductions in five high impact areas:
Electricity
Buildings & Materials
Food & Agriculture
Land Sinks
Transportation
Electricity
Capturing sunlight, turning waste to energy and
creating new habits around energy usage.
Buildings & Materials
Buildings and toxicity often go hand in hand,
but we now we know better. Let’s build clean, Georgia!
Food & Agriculture
Many things about our food systems need an
overhaul. Let’s grow something new.
Land Sinks
Georgia has 22 million acres of working forests that
offset 8% of our emissions. Let’s plant more trees!
Transportation
In 2017, vehicles accounted for 43% of our emissions
— if we get this one right, we’re nearly halfway there!
What’s a Megaton of Carbon?
Drawdown Georgia is the first state-centered effort to crowdsolve for climate change, with 20 high impact solutions that are tailored to Georgia’s unique natural, economic and social resources. These solutions can help us take multiple megatons of carbon out of the atmosphere. What does a megaton of carbon look like? Check-out the Megaton Explorer below.
Explore
A State
of Change
Georgia is
Leading the Way
Drawdown Georgia is the first state-centered effort to crowdsolve for climate change, with 20 high impact solutions that are tailored to Georgia’s unique natural, economic and social resources. These solutions can help us take multiple megatons of carbon out of the atmosphere.
Drawdown Georgia Solutions
Project Drawdown’s theory of change is based on scaling the best solutions we have today. Each Drawdown Georgia solution has a strong track record and is market ready. Scaling the solution to the level we need to reach by 2030 is both achievable and cost competitive.
Project Drawdown’s theory of change is based on scaling the best solutions we have today. Each Drawdown Georgia solution has a strong track record and is market ready. Scaling the solution to the level we need to reach by 2030 is both achievable and cost competitive.
Electricity
Buildings & Materials
Food & Agriculture
Land Sinks
Transportation
Electricity
Accelerating Georgia’s progress to renewables means increasing solar and putting waste heat to work in co-generation plants, capturing methane from landfills and turning it into power, and shifting our electricity usage to off-peak.
Buildings & Materials
Buildings are huge energy hogs and some of the materials that you’ll find inside them, like hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants and recyclable materials, are big emitters. Improving how we design, source and build infrastructure is on par with the choices we make for how to fill and power homes, offices, schools, and other structures.
Food & Agriculture
The way we grow our food, what we eat, and what happens to excess and waste are all essential parts of our carbon footprint. Drawdown solutions aim to grow food in ways that benefit the land and sequester carbon, increase lower carbon plant-forward diets, reduce food waste, and increase composting. In Georgia, the estimated food waste in 2018… was 2.03 million tons, and it is estimated that each ton of food waste diverted from landfills would decrease CO2 emissions by 1.35 tons. If Georgia could reduce 50% of its food waste by 2030, it would decrease emissions by 1.38 megatons.
Land Sinks
Georgia’s natural land sinks - including 22 million acres of working forests and rich coastal wetlands - sequester 46 Mt of CO2 each year, offsetting 27% of total emissions in the state. It’s just as critical to increase our capacity to sequester carbon as it is to reduce emissions elsewhere.
Transportation
Georgia has nearly 90,000 miles of public roads and the world’s busiest airport. In 2017, vehicles accounted for 43% of our emissions — our single largest source! Drawdown aims to massively reduce our consumption of gasoline and diesel with a big push for electric and fuel-efficient vehicles, more and smarter mass transit, and better alternative mobility options.
Beyond Carbon
A changing climate makes bad things in our society and communities worse. Getting back to a healthy climate can improve more than just our planet’s health. Drawdown Georgia solutions impact our state’s economy, social inequities, public health and the environment.
Economy
Most solutions will create local jobs, especially in the solar and energy efficiency fields, however, it’s also possible that some solutions may displace workers, for example, as we shift from coal-powered electricity to…
Equity
Too often, underserved communities are left out of the conversation when it comes to climate solutions, and even more often, you bear the worst of climate impacts. Getting it right means that we are all at the…
Public Health
We favor solutions like electric vehicles, mass transportation, alternative mobility, healthy buildings, cleaner refrigerants and renewable energy because they improve air quality and reduce the chance that our…
Environment
We’re truly all in this together - you, me and Mother Nature. Lowering emissions means better air quality, while regenerative agriculture practices and temperate forest stewardship extends the benefits of our natural…
What’s Crowdsolving?
If you have ever used Waze to outsmart traffic, you’re a crowdsolver! Crowdsolving brings the collective genius of the community - or lots of communities — together to solve big problems and bring big ideas to life.
Meet the Climate Change Makers
Our solutions are market-ready and already happening in Georgia. From the peanut farmer who sold 1,400 acres of his farm for community solar, to an ambitious project to create the most sustainable highway in the world, Georgia is boldly innovating its way to a promising future.
We’re a State of Change
Community and business leaders, policy makers, advocates, innovators, entrepreneurs and municipal officials — you have the power to breathe life into each of our solutions.