From tech to tracking political parties' climate records
Read on to find out about Jamie's background in tech and his recent project, the Climate Action Ledger.
Jamie Heather is the Managing Director at Carbon Critical, and creator of the Climate Action Ledger - a tool to keep track of political parties' climate policy record.
Tell us about your current role and where you are in the world
I run a company called Carbon Critical, based in Auckland. We are a small team of software developers working on innovative ways to use tech to help reduce emissions. I have a master's degree in maths from Oxford University and specialise in machine learning and computer vision. Though these days I work on all sorts of projects for a range of clients and industries.
What was your journey to becoming involved in the climate sector?
In 2019 I sold my first tech startup after inventing a 3D body measurement system called Zozosuit. Suddenly I had time on my hands and the opportunity to think beyond paying the rent. I decided to commit myself to working on climate solutions, and founded Carbon Critical. The first initiative we launched was the Net Zero Fund, which supports kiwis looking to donate to global climate charities, and has raised over $600,000 so far.
What's something new that you're working on or interested in at the moment?
I recently built the Climate Action Ledger. It's a website that tracks how NZ political parties have affected climate change outcomes, for better or worse, over the last 12 years. The idea for the Ledger came from early discussions in the KiC Election Working Group. We thought it would be helpful to analyse the parties based on their actual track records while governing, rather than their rhetoric. I picked up an action to do the research for that, got carried away, and ended up building a whole website!
What's coming next?
I'm really interested in building a platform that connects concerned citizens and supports them in taking collective action to tackle climate change. I believe most people are worried about climate change but feel powerless to do anything about it. And the people working on solutions tend to operate in isolation from each other. If we could 'join the dots' then perhaps we could accelerate positive change, and provide a sense of hope for the future. I don't have a blueprint yet for what that platform looks like, but I'm keen to develop the idea.
Check out Jamie's work here:
Carbon Critical: https://carboncritical.org
Net Zero Fund: https://netzerofund.nz
Climate Action Ledger: https://climateactionledger.nz
