Happy New Year! The tide is finally turning

More than 4 000 companies, investors, cities, regions, and financial and educational institutions from all over the world have joined the UN Race To Zero and committed to net-zero emissions. These actors cover nearly 25 percent of global CO2 emissions and over 50 percent of the global GDP.
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In the EU, more than half of the region’s electricity now comes from renewable sources, the whole auto industry is going electric, and in most parts of the world, energy from wind and solar is now cheaper than coal.
This means we are now entering a new economic paradigm, leaving the fossil fuel-based economy behind, and shifting towards renewables. It’s happening quickly, and it’s happening now. In 2021, renewables accounted for 90 percent of all power capacity expansion globally, and this number is expected to rise in the coming years.
And just like renewables are expanding – so is We Don’t Have Time. When I wrote my New Year’s letter exactly one year ago, We Don’t Have Time had 25 000 members. Today, we are a community of more than 60 000 – a diverse group of academics, business leaders, investors, policy-makers, activists, journalists, and engaged consumers from more than 140 nations.
This diversity is our strength. We bring together everyone who wants to be part of solving the climate crisis, and together we create, spread, and share climate reviews, climate solutions, scientific findings, and other climate-related content to more than 50 million on social media each month.
We have grown our partners from 50 to 160 during the year, and the newcomers range from super interesting startups and NGOs, to big global actors like Volvo, Logitech, SSAB, and Scania. 
We have expanded internationally, and I am proud that we now have offices and local representations on three continents; Stockholm for Europe, Nairobi for Africa, and Washington DC for North America.
Looking ahead, I would say the most important thing that needs to happen in 2022 is to get rid of fossil-fuel subsidies. According to a recent analysis by the International Monetary Fund, these direct and indirect subsidies combined amounts to $11 million per minute? That’s $5,9 trillion per year – equal to 6 percent of our global GDP.
So at a time when every single dime would need to be invested in climate solutions, our world leaders are still handing out 36 times more subsidies to fossil-fuels than to renewables.
Due to successful lobbying and huge financial interest, these subsidies have managed to stay below the radar for decades. But in 2021 things started to change, and I’m proud to say that you and our community played an important role in this.
Just a few days before the start of the UN Climate Conference COP26, We Don’t Have Time was an official partner to the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, launching the #DontChooseExtinction campaign, urging our world leaders to phase out fossil subsidies as soon as possible. In a humorous, yet serious, way, the campaign illustrated the absurdity of the subsidies in a well-produced 2:30 minute short film.
It turned out to be a huge success. The video, released in 38 languages, has so far been viewed by more than 800 million people globally. It has had over 3 000 media mentions in 98 countries, and a potential reach of 4,7 billion unique readers and viewers. 
But we didn’t stop there. At the UN Climate Conference in Glasgow, We Don’t Have Time put a never-ending spotlight on these subsidies by having a huge counter on stage during each of our daily live broadcasts. Minute-by-minute, day-by-day, we continued to count up the amount of money spent on fossil fuel subsidies since the start of the conference.
And, at the final moment of COP26, an important battle was finally won. For the first time ever, fossil-fuel subsidies made it into the final document.
A few weeks later the European Council agreed on a proposal to phase out reduced VAT rates or exemptions on fossil fuels and other goods with a similar impact on greenhouse gas emissions, no later than 2030.
It’s a start. But not nearly enough. As long as our governments keep spending more money on those destroying the planet than on those trying to save it, it will be very difficult to transform to a fossil-free economy in time.
My New Year’s resolution is therefore this: I will never stop talking about fossil fuel subsidies until they are gone. Does this sound good? Then maybe you would like to help us spread the message.
A good way to do this is by doing the following: Recruit two new members, have them download the We Don't Have Time app, and encourage them to recruit their friends. That is how you can help us continue to grow our community exponentially. Show your friends the QR code below.
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I would like to end this letter by giving you all a big climate love💚. Without every one of you contributing almost nothing would have been possible to achieve. 
I look forward to seeing you on the platform next year as well. Together we are the solution to the climate crisis — and the time to act is now!
With the best wishes for 2022!
PS. Do you want to join our team? We are recruiting more partnership managers, read more and apply here. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxvH5OYhrzM
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Happy New Year! The tide is finally turning

More than 4 000 companies, investors, cities, regions, and financial and educational institutions from all over the world have joined the UN Race To Zero and committed to net-zero emissions. These actors cover nearly 25 percent of global CO2 emissions and over 50 percent of the global GDP.

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