Combat Climate Change with Multisolving

Why It Matters

Multisolving aligns climate goals with social equity, delivering cost‑effective emissions cuts and stronger community resilience—critical for sustainable economic development.

Key Takeaways

• Combine mitigation and adaptation through “multisolving” to boost resilience.
• Deep energy retrofits in low‑income housing cut emissions and bills.
• Pair retrofits with microgrids, rooftop solar, and district geothermal.
• Multisolving improves health, equity, security, and economic prosperity.
• Public assistance is essential for owners lacking resources to upgrade.

Summary

The video introduces “multisolving,” a strategy that merges climate mitigation with adaptation, arguing that simultaneous action amplifies benefits across resilience, equity, health, and prosperity. The concept, coined by Beth Sawin of Climate Interactive, emphasizes that emissions‑reducing measures can also fortify societies against climate impacts. Key insights focus on deep energy retrofits, especially in low‑income housing, where improving building efficiency lowers both carbon output and utility costs. When combined with microgrids, rooftop or community solar, and district‑scale geothermal systems, these upgrades create a more resilient energy ecosystem that can operate independently of centralized grids. The speaker highlights that owners of affordable housing often lack capital, necessitating public or private assistance to fund retrofits. By targeting these vulnerable units, multisolving delivers a triple win: reduced emissions, lower energy expenses for residents, and heightened community resilience against extreme weather events. The broader implication is that policymakers and investors should prioritize integrated projects that deliver both mitigation and adaptation outcomes, as they generate measurable returns in security, public health, and economic growth while advancing climate justice.

Original Description

Multisolving is the practice of using one investment of time, money, or effort to simultaneously solve multiple problems.

The concept was defined by biologist Elizabeth Sawin, PhD ’96, founder and director of the Multisolving Institute. MIT Sloan professor John Sterman, who collaborated with Sawin on the En-ROADS climate simulator, champions multisolving as central to the private sector’s role in responding to climate change.

Sterman, co-faculty director of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, outlines why multisolving is critical for organizations navigating climate risk, integrating emissions reduction with resilience to drive more effective, scalable outcomes.

For business leaders, this means moving beyond single-solution approaches toward strategies that reflect the interconnected nature of climate challenges.

Learn more at multisolving.org, and watch Sterman's full address here: https://bit.ly/4meHMtc