Interview: Swiss explorer proposes 1,000 solutions to tackle climate change

GENEVA, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard, well-known as a solar-powered electric airplane pioneer, said his Solar Impulse Foundation has identified 1,000 profitable solutions to better protect the environment, which he hopes "can change the world," provided that governments and big businesses will implement them.

In April, Piccard's foundation, based in the city of Lausanne in Switzerland, achieved the target it had set four years ago and passed the mark of 1,000 solutions to tackle climate change in a financially profitable way.

"We don't need vague ideas for the future. We need tools today," Piccard, who is the foundation's founder and chair, told Xinhua in an online interview.

"So this is exactly what we have now, with the 1,000 solutions. They are financially profitable, they protect the environment, and they are available today."

The solutions include technologies, products, processes or services coming from startups and big companies covering the water, energy, construction, mobility, industry and agriculture sectors.

The foundation will help governments and industries set up roadmaps to reach their carbon neutrality goals, he said, stressing that the work has only just begun.

For some governments and corporations which aim for carbon neutrality in the coming decades, "they need the tools, practical tools to reach these goals, and these tools have to be financially profitable and not expensive for the economy, they need to create jobs because this is the way to motivate the economy and they have to exist today."

SOLUTIONS FROM CHINA

Piccard emphasized that he would welcome more candidates and innovators from China to participate in the program.

"China is a very, very innovative country, we have several solutions from them," he said.

"For example, there is a way to transform waste into construction materials. Or there is a way to have new copper routers for electric engines of higher efficiency. There is also a very ecological detergent for washing machines. There is a special system that allows us to have lighting in remote areas much better than candles or oil lamps."

China has said that it will aim to bring carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and become carbon neutral before 2060.

Asked about his views on China's climate targets, Piccard said China's efforts to become carbon neutral, and to modernize the industry and the energy system are "admirable."

"The speed of change is very impressive in China, and if I can contribute by bringing some of these solutions that we have identified everywhere in the world and help China to do it even faster, it would be my honor to do it," he stressed.

COP26 CLIMATE SUMMIT

Piccard said the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) set for Britain's Glasgow in November would be an opportunity to provide a clean print for governments and businesses to move towards their climate targets in accordance with the Paris Agreement, by using the solutions they have identified.

"Glasgow will be very important for us because we will demonstrate there that these solutions can be implemented now," he said.

"This is the biggest market opportunity of a century. Because we need to replace everything that is polluting by everything that can protect the environment. Because it is more efficient (and) it pays for itself."

Together with Brian Jones, Piccard was the first to complete a non-stop balloon flight around the globe in 1999. He was designated as a Champion of the Earth by the UN Environment Programme in 2012.

In 2016, Piccard completed the first-ever solar-powered flight around the world together with his Solar Impulse co-pilot Andre Borschberg.