Environmental Innovation

Imagine a world where climate action is driven not by slow-moving global summits or distant corporations but by everyday people and communities. Jack Buffington, an expert on both supply chains and sustainability, reveals why top-down approaches to address the climate crisis often fail and provides an inspiring blueprint for a sustainable future powered by local initiatives, community resilience, and genuine human connection. Buffington offers thought-provoking insights into capitalism, science, and environmental policy for anyone who wonders how real change can happen.

The world must seek solutions from empowered local communities and individuals, not global institutions, to the problems caused by climate change.

Throughout the Earth’s history, conditions have constantly changed. But the past 10,000 years have seen unusual stability in the climate, making human evolution possible. Now, human activities have caused this remarkable climate equilibrium to become destabilized, and CO₂ levels have increased to 150% above pre-industrial levels. Global responses to climate change, such as United Nations initiatives, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement, have proven inadequate.

The root cause of this failure lies in human limitations: Cooperation is achievable at a tribal level but remains challenging on a global scale. The COVID-19 crisis showcased the pitfalls of global systems, as competitive resource allocation overshadowed collaborative solutions. Communities and individuals — rather than multinational organizations or international bodies — must drive environmental change if humanity hopes to achieve sustainability by 2050. Only on a local level can people and communities succeed in establishing networks that bridge ideological…

Jack Buffington is a consultant in supply chain management and innovation. He’s founder and academic director of the supply chain management program at the University of Denver, where his research focuses on the intersection between environmental policy, science, and supply chains, and the author of books including Reinventing the Supply Chain, The Recycling Myth, and Peak Plastic.