Julia Pyper: Making sustainable solutions compelling and accessible
This week, the TTI Interview Series covers our network member Julia Pyper. Julia is vice president of communications and policy at GoodLeap, America’s leading financier of sustainable home solutions. She also leads communications for the non-profit GivePower. She is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and creator of Political Climate, a podcast presented by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute. She is also the inaugural Storyteller in Residence for cleantech startup accelerator New Energy Nexus. Previously, Julia was a senior editor for Greentech Media, where she covered the global energy transition. Prior to that, she reported for E&E News, where she conducted several international projects, including in Haiti, Germany and India.
In this interview, Julia talks about decarbonization and sustainable production, sustainable home solutions, the green economy and innovative impact technologies.
Accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy
Julia, tell us about how your work intersects with the impact space.
Impact is at the core of my work as vice president of communications and policy at the sustainable fintech company GoodLeap, which is the leading financier of residential solar and other sustainable home solutions in the US.
In this role, I help lead all of our external communications with business partners, financial institutions, consumers, and the broader public with the aim of accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. I also spearhead our policy work at both the state and federal level in support of expanding the U.S. clean energy sector. In addition, I oversee the company’s ESG reporting, including mapping of our carbon footprint and offsets.
Our mission at GoodLeap is to “connect a world in which everyone can live sustainably.” To that end, I also lead communications for GoodLeap’s non-profit partner GivePower, which uses solar and battery storage technologies to deliver essential services to communities in need around the world. We currently operate in more than 20 countries that are in the process of deploying several more of our innovative solar-powered desalination systems in water-stressed areas.
My current role builds on a decade of experience as a climate and clean energy journalist where I led coverage on the global energy transition. I continue to use media channels to increase public awareness on the intersection of economic and environmental issues, including as creator and moderator of the Political Climate podcast, supported by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute.
Impact requires a multifaceted approach
What is your own definition of impact?
At its core, impact, to me, is about improving lives. This can take many forms. The primary way in which I seek to have impact is by working to build a more sustainable and equitable economy. Climate change and other environmental issues are inextricably linked to human wellbeing. These issues matter because of the impact they will have on humanity, and disproportionate impact they will have on the most vulnerable. To that end, having impact is also about combating injustice. In sum, I believe impact is about finding comprehensive and inclusive solutions to our greatest global challenges, including climate and environmental crises, in ways that benefit that demonstrably improve peoples’ lives. I realize this may not be the simplest definition, but that’s largely because I believe making an “impact” requires a multifaceted approach.
The path to deep decarbonization
Julia, what do you see as the most important issue to address in the next 10 years?
Putting the economy on a path to deep decarbonization and sustainable production is the most critical issue that needs to be solved in 10 years -- if not sooner.
Consumer education is a major barrier to impact
What is the greatest challenge you face within impact and that stands on the way of providing solutions faster?
In my sector, consumer education is a major barrier to scaling the deployment of sustainable home solutions, such as solar power, batteries, efficient HVAC systems, energy-saving windows, etc. U.S. consumers are broadly aware of these products, but they don’t know how to purchase them and are uncertain about the benefits. There is still an enormous need for consumer education and innovation to make sustainable products both accessible and irresistible. Democratizing access to clean energy technologies has also been a challenge and a space ripe for new, inclusive solutions.
Workforce training is another challenge. We need to bring local, clean energy jobs to more communities across the U.S. to support the growing industry, while increasing opportunities for workers to create wealth and make an impact.
Policy and politics are a challenge, too. There has been immense technological and business model innovation in the sustainability sector, but the U.S. has a patchwork of policies that can make it difficult to scale. Businesses like GoodLeap have found ways to grow regardless of the policy environment. However, I believe we would see solutions adopted quicker with a more unified policy strategy.
At GivePower, we see a major need for more support of local entrepreneurs around the world. GivePower currently works in more than 20 countries and the work we do is not possible without local knowledge, support and ownership. Seeing greater support for entrepreneurs looking to work in sustainability would greatly accelerate our work at GivePower.
Making sustainable solutions the new normal
What is your long-term vision and how do you measure & quantify your impact?
At the highest level, my long-term vision is to see the green economy become simply, THE economy, enabled by innovative business models and technologies, as well as a motivated workforce. My goal is to play a role in making sustainable solutions more compelling and accessible so that humanity can continue to grow and prosper on a resource constrained planet. I measure impact in reaching this big, audacious goal based on the pace scale of the sustainable solutions we deploy through GivePower and GoodLeap and the clean energy industry overall. I also measure impact based on the number of lives we positively impact. For instance, every GivePower solar-powered desalination system we deploy can bring clean water to up to 35,000 people per day. That’s 35,000 lives changed, opening up new opportunities for an entire community. At GoodLeap, we’ve so far helped more than 200,000 homeowners adopt a more sustainable lifestyle, supported more than 40,000 clean energy jobs, and helped deploy more than $7 billion into ESG assets. These are just a few of the ways we measure success on a mission to address the roughly 40% of emissions that come from decisions made in and around the home. My long-term vision is that sustainable solutions one day become so mainstream that they are no longer remarkable, they are the new normal.
Solving multiple sustainability issues at the same time
What are some misconception you’ve noticed regarding what “impact” is all about?
Some of the misconceptions I’ve observed in my work are that impact is about all about reducing emissions, when it is truly about improving human lives and addressing environmental issues will have to require a sacrifice, as opposed to producing societal benefits. We live at a time when we can solve multiple issues at the same time, without affecting our quality of life. Yes, we need change to ensure a more sustainable future, but I find there is not enough optimism about what this new future will bring.
