A couple of weeks have passed since Climate Week NYC 2024, and as I reflect on the events and discussions that took place, I am reminded of the urgency surrounding every session and conversation. One quote from the week has stuck with me. Veteran ABC meteorologist Ginger Zee opened the week with a stark reminder: “We no longer have time to react like in previous years. We have to react now.” This sentiment echoed throughout the week as Zee spoke about her experience covering hurricanes, where the usual five-day lead time has shrunk dramatically. As she spoke, the Gulf of Mexico produced two of the fastest-forming and most destructive hurricanes on record, back-to-back.

These rapidly intensifying storms underline the pressing need for immediate action. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events highlights the devastating human, infrastructural, and economic toll of climate change. This reality hit home for me during Climate Week and the days since I returned. It was a stark reminder that our work is more critical than ever.

By the end of the week, discussions had shifted towards broader environmental impacts. At the World Climate Foundation’s Biodiversity Summit, there was a strong focus on the intersection between climate change and biodiversity. Dr. Harvey Locke, who moderated the keynote, delivered an insightful reminder about the interconnectedness of climate and nature. He pointed out three key points that should frame our thinking:

1. Disturbing nature leads to an increase in emissions.
2. Disturbing nature reduces nature’s capacity to sequester carbon.
3. We cannot meet Paris Agreement temperature goals unless we protect ecosystems that serve as carbon storehouses and sinks.

This resonated deeply with me. After returning from Climate Week last year, I reflected on the role of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in addressing the climate crisis. This year, the discussions around biodiversity solidified the importance of a holistic approach. Limiting LCA to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions alone risks missing the bigger picture. Climate and nature are inextricably linked, and the broad insights that LCA offers are crucial in understanding and mitigating this interconnected crisis.

A key takeaway came from Professor Johan Rockström, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, who presented his latest findings. He emphasized that “land use change reduces the ability of natural systems to take up carbon.”

This statement underscored the role that broad-spectrum LCA data plays in capturing the full scope of environmental impacts. Companies must look beyond carbon in their reporting because addressing the climate challenge requires a comprehensive view of how land use, biodiversity, and emissions are interwoven.

On the topic of reporting, I noticed a shift in the conversations this year. There was less worry about how to report and more focus on the challenges of scaling these processes effectively. At the WBCSD Pathway to Action for Climate Transparency (PACT) Summit, I joined over 100 corporates, service providers, and non-profits to discuss the complexities of reporting Scope 3 emissions. The consensus was clear: Transitioning to a PACT methodology could offer a more accurate representation of real-world operations. The need to standardize reporting while making it adaptable for diverse sectors is something I found particularly valuable in the conversations.

I was fortunate to continue the discussion with Naama Avni Kadosh from PACT the next day. We exchanged insights on leading mission-driven organizations and explored the shared goals that PACT and ecoinvent are working towards. These discussions are vital for moving the needle on corporate transparency and accountability.

Of course, Climate Week is not only about discussions in plenary sessions; it’s also a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with partners and friends. I had a chance to join a Scope 3 workshop alongside Altana, Climate Trace, and Epoch Blue, where Walmart, Mars, and Teralytiquie were active participants. Additionally, I met with several key partners, including Watershed, Persefoni, S&P, SAP, and the GHG Protocol, to explore new opportunities for collaboration.

It was also great to catch up with former colleagues from Siemens. And on a personal note, I’m proud to say I completed a lap around Central Park faster than last year. Not too bad for an old guy!

One final reflection: In every room I walked into during Climate Week, at least one person knew about ecoinvent. After two and a half years in this role, it still amazes me to see how far-reaching our database has become. To think that a dedicated team based in Zürich is producing a resource that is so critical to organizations worldwide fills me with immense pride. Well done to everyone at ecoinvent for your continued hard work and commitment to making a global impact.

Climate Week NYC reminds us of the immense challenges ahead and the collective momentum and determination driving us forward. Let’s keep the conversations going and, more importantly, keep scaling the positive environmental momentum we are building.

— Nickolas Meyer, CEO of ecoinvent

1. Tell us a bit about your role and day-to-day work at ecoinvent.

I recently moved from Finance to HR, as my main responsibilities in managing our software for time, absences, and expenses tracking now belong on the HR team. I still work closely with Finance in supporting the payroll process; tracking changes, confirming monthly salaries, and overseeing the documentation of salary increases and bonuses.

With the move, I have become more involved in other HR matters such as onboarding and offboarding, and I am the main point of contact with our fiduciary partner on topics such as accidents and illnesses and employee changes.

2. What’s your favorite thing about working at ecoinvent?

The people, of course! Everyone is so passionate about what they do, and all roles are treated with respect. I’ve had numerous opportunities for growth and there is also understanding when I need to prioritize my family life. To have this balance at work is rare in my experience.

3. How has your role evolved since you started with us?

I would say that I have been in a unique position to experience several different roles at ecoinvent. When I joined in 2019, the team was very small and there was a need for general back-office support. I started out as Team Assistant, supporting with sales, invoicing, HR, admin—whatever was needed at the time.

As ecoinvent grew, my role inevitably became more defined, but I had the opportunity to keep the tasks I liked best and this is essentially what I am doing today, although I do miss working with the sales team!

4. How has the company changed since you joined?

When I started, there were thirteen of us in total at ecoinvent, and now we are almost eighty! Because of that we’ve moved to a bigger office, embraced hybrid working, changed how we work together, and we’ve also had to change how we meet for team days and events.

5. Share one of your favorite memories from your time with ecoinvent!

A memory that sticks out in my mind is the 2021 ecoinvent BBQ. After numerous lockdowns, I was finally able to meet new team members I’d been working with virtually for months. It was fun seeing the old colleagues again, all rocking their lockdown hairstyles and working hard to hold their drink after some time in social isolation.

1. Tell us a bit about your role and day-to-day work at ecoinvent.

I act as a subject matter expert (SME): I take part in discussions with software architects and developers.

In my day-to-day, I describe the features we need internally or from the perspective of our users. I interview users, data providers, and third-party software developers who build on ecoinvent data. I also monitor growing trends in LCA and see if we need to plan for it. My day-to-day is very diverse, but in a different way to the past.

2. How has your role evolved since you started with us?

During my ten years at ecoinvent, my role has evolved quite a bit! When I joined, there were five employees, and I was the only one who could write code.

3. How has the company changed since you joined?

For a few years, we exclusively hired people with a graduate degree in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Now, we are looking for a wider range of expertise to make sure we build a product that is useful for our expanded range of clients.

In this setting, I ended up doing a bit of everything. But after a few months, I saw what the most common tasks were, where the needs for automations lay, and I developed a generalized code base that could be reused in most projects. I used it to support data providers, manage Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) methods, compare new and previously published releases, and pinpoint what change in the source data has caused a change in scores… It was very diverse.

After a few years, I enabled ecoinvent to change the way we managed our system models. By reverse-engineering an external piece of code, I was able to develop tools that are used today by our team of fifteen data analysts.

I continue to maintain this code, responding to small bugs and implementing our analysts’ ideas for it, which makes their work easier.

4. How has the environmental data landscape changed since you joined ecoinvent?

When I started, ecoinvent’s clients were mostly academics and consultants who were already LCA experts. Now, LCA is spoken about outside of our bubble. People with different backgrounds and needs see the benefits of working with ecoinvent data.

Looking to the future, we aim to explore how the ecoinvent database could better support industry-specific needs such as ecodesign tools, circular economy projects, and environmental reporting. We publish a very complex and comprehensive product, which can be overwhelming for outsiders.

5. Share one of your favorite memories from your time with ecoinvent!

One of my favorite memories at ecoinvent is still an ongoing joke. Many years ago, while helping one of our more junior colleagues, he started calling me ‘master’. The name stuck, and as we hired new joiners, they simply started to mimic him, and now there is a whole group of people calling me ‘master’. I find this hilarious! But it also reminds me that even if sometimes I feel like I never know enough, that I have had a wide range of experiences that make it possible for me to have something relevant to say in many projects.

Our team is young and highly motivated, and even if we are sometimes stressed, we are always able to throw some fun in the middle of it.