Etosha Cave Inspires at Web Summit 2024: Transforming Carbon and Shaping the Future of Sustainability
Etosha Cave was one of the speakers at Web Summit 2024 who completely shifted the way I thought about sustainability, carbon, and the future of production. As co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Twelve, she is helping lead one of the most exciting climate technology conversations happening right now: what if carbon was not only a problem to reduce, but also a resource we could transform?
As someone who has spent more than two decades working in sustainable development, agriculture, food systems, and environmental issues, I think a lot about how we reduce waste, rethink production, and build economies that work with nature instead of against it.
Etosha’s presentation challenged me to think even bigger.
Her company is not simply reducing carbon emissions. They are transforming carbon itself into something useful. That idea feels almost impossible until you hear her explain it.
Even more inspiring was seeing a brilliant Black woman leading one of the most exciting climate technology companies in the world. Representation matters, especially in science. Watching Etosha command one of Web Summit’s biggest stages reminded me that innovation belongs to everyone.
What If Carbon Wasn’t the Enemy?
For decades, we have viewed carbon dioxide as a problem to eliminate. Twelve approaches it differently.
Instead of treating carbon only as waste, the company sees it as a valuable building block that can replace fossil fuels in manufacturing. Using carbon transformation technology, Twelve converts captured CO₂ into essential chemicals and materials traditionally produced from petroleum.
That means products we use every day, from aviation fuel to plastics and industrial materials, can potentially be produced without extracting new fossil fuels from the ground.
Rather than simply reducing emissions, Twelve is reimagining the entire supply chain.
Turning Climate Problems into Climate Solutions
One of the reasons I found this presentation so compelling is because it aligns with something I have seen throughout my career.
The world’s biggest sustainability challenges rarely have simple solutions. Food systems, agriculture, packaging, transportation, energy, and manufacturing are all connected.
We cannot solve climate change through recycling alone. We also have to rethink the materials we use, where they come from, and how they are produced.
That is exactly what companies like Twelve are doing.
Beyond Recycling: Reinventing the Way We Make Everything
Many sustainability conversations focus on consuming less. While that remains important, Etosha Cave challenged the audience to think beyond reduction.
What if we could redesign production itself?
Instead of asking how to recycle more plastic, we can ask how to manufacture products without petroleum. Instead of asking only how to reduce carbon emissions, we can ask how carbon itself can become a raw material.
That shift from extraction to transformation is what makes this technology so exciting.
Seeing Yourself on the Biggest Stage
Watching Etosha speak was powerful for another reason.
Women, and particularly Black women, remain underrepresented in engineering, chemistry, and climate technology leadership. Standing on one of technology’s biggest global stages, Etosha represented something much larger than her company.
She represented possibility.
I could not help thinking about all the young Black girls who may see her work and understand that science, innovation, and climate leadership can belong to them too.
Representation alone does not solve inequality. But representation expands imagination. And imagination often becomes innovation.
The Bigger Conversation Happening at Web Summit
One thing became clear throughout Web Summit 2024: technology is increasingly moving beyond convenience.
More founders and companies are asking how innovation can address humanity’s biggest challenges, including climate resilience, food security, energy access, health, economic inclusion, and sustainable production.
Carbon transformation fits perfectly into that conversation. Rather than accepting environmental degradation as inevitable, companies like Twelve are proving that science can help redesign entire industries.
Innovation Begins with Better Questions
One of my favorite parts of covering Web Summit Lisbon is discovering companies that challenge assumptions most of us never think to question.
Before hearing Etosha Cave speak, I had never fully imagined carbon as a resource rather than simply a pollutant. That perspective stayed with me long after I left Lisbon.
Innovation is not always about inventing something entirely new. Sometimes it is about looking at an old problem differently.
Etosha Cave reminded everyone at Web Summit that the future of sustainability will not be built by one breakthrough alone. It will be built by people willing to ask better questions and courageous enough to imagine entirely new answers.
