‘Sobriety is crucial if we want to keep 7 billion people living together on earth’
Interview of Coline Debayle, co-founder of Time for the Planet
How did the Time for the planet project come about?
Understanding the climate emergency was a trigger point for the creation of Time for the Planet. When I first heard about impact entrepreneurship during my last year of college at Berkeley in 2010, this theme was almost absent in France at that time.
Between the lack of education and political ambitions on climate change, we realize that if we, as citizens, don’t move personally, nothing will change.
We offer the opportunity to every individual or company to invest in Time for the Planet. We are raising one billion euros to create 100 companies directly targeting GHG reduction or captation. Time to act for the climate is now, not in 5 years, not in 5 generations.
How does it work?
We raise money to finance the most promising decarbonization innovations around the world and help them out by bringing money and a successful CEO. We are selecting innovations in sectors that emit the most: industry, agriculture, energy and buildings.
Each person can participate by becoming a shareholder from 1 euro. We aim at raising 1 billion euros to fund 100 companies but, of course, we are already investing, we don’t wait until the billion and we are making good progress in our ambition! We have recently reached 50,000 shareholders, including 1,500 companies, which represents nearly 10 million euros.
Can Time for the Planet really scale?
Yes, thanks to the strength of the large community, smooth processes and a particular attention to the selection method. We have already received 800 projects thanks to processes to detect innovations. 4,000 volunteers analyze the applications by questioning the externalities on biodiversity among other things, but also the potential for change on a global scale if such an innovation were to start spreading. The projects are also analyzed by a scientific committee and then the potential of the innovation on the market is looked at.
The mobilization of a huge network allows us to think big and to transform the experiment.
We are a non-profit company and our investors do not expect financial return: they will only see their money back after a few years, no financial dividends.
The leverage effect is huge! More and more companies are joining Time for the Planet because they know that the climate dividends we offer are a plus for their stakeholders.
At this stage, we have invested in 3 companies that have a strong chance of realizing capital gains. If this is the case, we will reinvest these amounts in other companies!
What is the role of tech in a project like Time for the planet?
Even if some innovations are based on technology and our community is created thanks to our web tools, we don’t think that Tech alone will be able to save the planet.
Only strong regulations, more sobriety and innovations, partly technological, can make a difference. For example, we have supported a kite sail project which, thanks to artificial intelligence, enables ships of the merchant navy to reduce their use of kerosene by 20%.
Anything that can lead us to greater sobriety is key to enabling 7 billion human beings to continue to live together on this planet. Among other projects, we are investing in a low tech company whose ambition is to recreate coral based on olivine, a rock capable of sequestering CO2, but also to ensure the development of an air conditioner that works without fluorinated gas but with water.
What role can finance play in the ecological transition?
An indispensable role, certainly. However, without political will and with green projects that may look sexy on paper but are far from approaching energy sobriety, it will not work. All solutions, including financial ones, that can lead us to adaptation to limit the damage of climate change must be considered.
If you had to choose just one innovation, which one could change the world?
The low tech that relies on olivine to capture CO2!
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