Effective Environmentalism

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• Will MacAskill: An Introduction To Effective Altruism

  • ​Of all the problems facing humanity, which should we focus on solving first? Moral philosopher Will MacAskill quickly introduces the ITN framework and puts it to use, showing us how we can address the most urgent problems.

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• Taylor Sloan: Applying effective altruism to climate change

  • An investigation of the most cost-effective ways to reduce CO2 emissions and which industries have the most potential for change. The results are surprising!
     

• Webinars recorded by the Effective Environmentalism community

  • Our YouTube channel has recordings of webinars on topics such as electrification, finding charities, and carbon removal.
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• 80,000 hours: Climate Change Problem Profile

  • An overview of climate change and why it is a top cause area for Effective Altruism (within the larger category of existential risks). The profile includes arguments for and against working on this problem and how are people currently tackling climate change.
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• Founders Pledge: Climate Change Executive Summary

  • The Founders Pledge is a “community of entrepreneurs” that is committed to funding “evidence-led” solutions to global problems. This executive summary from 2020 outlines the scale of the current climate crisis, discusses the role of energy, and recommends ways to harness low-carbon technology.
     

• Project Drawdown: Table of Solutions

  • An integrative assessment of solutions to climate change. Note that Drawdown Scenario 1 is roughly in-line with 2˚C temperature rise by 2100, while Drawdown Scenario 2 is roughly in-line with 1.5˚C temperature rise at century’s end. Reduced food waste, health and education, and onshore wind turbines are among the highest-impact solutions.

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• Vox Future Perfect: Want to fight climate change effectively?

  • A breakdown of the six of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations working to fight climate change. 

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• Vox: Climate change policy can be overwhelming. Here’s a guide [...]

  • A summary of a new book from veteran energy analyst Hal Harvey that simplifies decarbonization.
     

• New York Times: The Best Climate Change Charities

  • This article aggregates recommendations from several climate change experts who evaluated (in an EA-fashion) which charities can make the greatest impact with your donations. These charities focus on initiatives like reforestation, clean energy, rainforests, climate justice, and clean air.
     

• Effective Thesis: Do research that improves the world

  • A wealth of information for researchers and students that want to pick an impactful research topic, including on environmental issues.

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Legacy Material

You can find a document with resources collected by our community between 2019 and 2022 on Google Docs, but please note that some recommendations may be outdated. We'll soon post an updated list of resources.