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 (CO2e) 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 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 keep 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 keep multiple megatons of carbon out of the atmosphere.
Drawdown Georgia Solutions
The Drawdown 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, are big emitters. We can cut emissions in Georgia by recycling more, making our buildings more energy efficient, and replacing refrigerant chemicals with less polluting options.
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.
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 critical to increase our capacity to sequester carbon as we 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
Innovation is the engine of economic growth and renewal. Drawdown solutions can drive local economic and employment growth, bring high-skill jobs to our state, and drive infrastructure investments that make Georgia…
Equity
Successful climate solutions lift people up, ensure that all communities are at the table, and deliver benefits to those who are under-resourced. Focusing on equity ensures that community concerns…
Public Health
Solutions like electric vehicles, mass transportation, alternative mobility, healthy buildings, and renewable energy improve air quality and reduce the chances that our kids will have asthma…
Environment
We all win when we protect the environment and ecosystems. Conservation agriculture practices and temperate forest stewardship extend the benefits of our natural carbon sinks like trees, soil, and other vegetation…
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.
Stories & Studies
The False Dichotomy of the Food Waste Problem
Black or white. On or off. A or B. Winner or loser. Mutually exclusive. These are all expressions we use to refer to the same idea - that sometimes a thing must be one way or another. There are plenty
Black or white. On or off. A or B. Winner or loser. Mutually exclusive. These are all expressions we use to
Climate Solutions in Action: Electric Buses at University of Georgia
In July 2021, Drawdown Georgia and the Georgia Climate Project launched Drawdown Georgia Higher Ed as an effort to explore climate action in the classrooms and operations of colleges and universities
In July 2021, Drawdown Georgia and the Georgia Climate Project launched Drawdown Georgia Higher Ed as an eff
A Year of Scaling Climate Solutions: Top 5 Drawdown Georgia Blog Posts
As 2021 comes to a close, we’re looking back on all the research, innovations, and learnings around climate solutions that Drawdown Georgia has shared over the past 12 months. That’s why we’ve r
As 2021 comes to a close, we’re looking back on all the research, innovations, and learnings around climat
Climate Solutions That Go Beyond Carbon: Reducing Food Waste
Food waste is on the minds of people and organizations all over Georgia, from one of the busiest airports in the world to local governments, leading universities, and innovative businesses. Catch up on the conversation around this climate and social justice issue in this video. Moderated by Ciannat Howett, director of sustainability initiatives at Emory University, our expert panel for this event includes: Jasmine Crowe, founder & CEO of Goodr; Natasha Dyer, community programs manager for the City of Atlanta; Suki Janssen, solid waste department director for Athens-Clarke County; Polly Sattler, senior sustainability & resilience planner at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.