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Environmental Intelligence·Updated 15 April 2026·9 min read

The Attention Economy Has a Climate Problem

“The best way to sustain anything is to make it a genuine pleasure.” — MFK Fisher

By Byron Fuller

€700Bglobal advertising€4.1Tannual climateinvestment neededGreenSweep:the connection
規模差距:全球廣告開支(€700B)對比達成巴黎協定目標所需嘅年度氣候投資(€4.1T)。GreenSweep 將注意力導入呢個缺口。

注意力經濟嘅氣候問題係算術問題,唔係修辭問題。

全球廣告開支將於 2026 年突破一萬億歐元(WARC)

,當中約 €700B 流經數碼注意力機器。 與此同時,

氣候政策倡議組織(Climate Policy Initiative)

估算每年氣候融資缺口達 €4.1T。GreenSweep 喺兩者之間建立管道。

每年 €700B 嘅注意力實際上買到啲咩

拆解年度數碼廣告預算,你會見到幾乎全部都係自我指涉。全球數碼廣告開支約三分之二流經少數幾個平台 — 搜尋、社交同影片 — 而大部分收入要麼用嚟建造注意力機器嘅下一層,要麼餵養機器本身就係為咗加速嘅消費循環。一副新耳機推銷畀舊年買過耳機嘅人。一個訂閱服務推銷畀流失咗嘅訂戶。快速時裝推銷畀已經塞爆嘅衣櫃。

呢度唔係道德判斷。廣告一向都係話你買嘢。數碼版本嘅新意只在於佢嘅精準度、體量,以及佢可以喺毫秒之間進行拍賣嘅程度。表面上係免費內容嘅嘢,入到帳簿就係工業規模嘅注意力收割。WARC 到 2026 年全球廣告開支超過一萬億歐元嘅標題數字,代表地球上每個聯網嘅人每年大約 €125 嘅開支,而呢個機制嘅環境外部成本 — 數據中心、設備製造、持續運作嘅交付網絡 — 本身已經相當可觀。

而家將呢個數字同另一邊嘅帳簿對比。

聯合國環境規劃署適應差距報告(2024)

記錄咗發展中國家嘅適應融資需求,而家係國際公共資金流嘅十到十八倍。氣候政策倡議組織嘅總數 — 到 2030 年每年需要 €4.1T 氣候投資先至達到巴黎協定目標 — 約係數碼廣告開支嘅六倍。呢個不對稱唔係舍入誤差。佢係一個結構性錯配:全球經濟擅長變現嘅(注意力)同全球生物圈需要嘅(用於復育嘅資本)之間嘅結構性錯配。

注意力機器已經建好。問題係佢會搵邊個埋單。

係重新導向,唔係犧牲

你每日交出自己嘅數據幾十次。畀社交平台、應用程式、各種服務、商業系統 — 佢哋全部將你嘅注意力轉化為收入,然後全部留低。無論你有冇諗過,呢件事都一直發生緊。我哋唔係叫你做一樣新嘅事。我哋係叫你做一樣你已經喺度做嘅事 — 一樣商業世界花咗二十年工程設計去令你做嘅事 — 只係多少少自覺、多少少開放,為咗我哋所知最值得嘅目標。

呢個就係交易。唔係犧牲。唔係內疚攻勢。係重新導向。

Enzensberger 難題

1962 年,Hans Magnus Enzensberger 發表咗 Bewusstseins-Industrie — 意識工業 — 論證大眾媒體嘅主要產品唔係內容,而係意識本身,由委託製作嘅產業塑造同販賣。佢嘅診斷冷峻:注意力嘅機器會自我複製,不受個人抵抗影響。退出一個平台只不過令你轉去另一個。拒絕同意只會令你歸入由預設追蹤服務嘅少數市場份額。系統吸收異議,因為異議本身仍然係注意力。

六十年之後,呢個診斷經得住時間考驗。數碼廣告比 Enzensberger 所能預見嘅更精準、更無處不在、對日常行為嘅構成作用更深。佢冇預見到嘅係重新導向嘅可能性,而非拒絕 — 一種安排,令同一套將意識變現嘅商業機制指向經濟一直難以定價嘅事物。氣候復育正正係市場供應不足嘅那種公共財,因為佢嘅效益分散、延遲,而且不成比例地惠及未來世代同較貧窮嘅地區。喺正常拍賣中佢出唔過耳機廣告商嘅價。但一旦有一部分競價流被設計導向嗰度,算術就唔同咗。

呢個係透過結構性反轉而非道德呼籲解決 Enzensberger 難題。你唔需要退出注意力經濟。你只需要一個槓桿,將佢嘅產出指向有用嘅地方。GreenSweep 就係嗰個槓桿。

點解傳統資助撞到樽頸

傳統環境資助撞到樽頸,背後原因值得理解。捐款疲勞係真嘅 — 人們被不斷要求捐錢,來自四面八方,情感上嘅細膩程度同汽車防盜器差唔多。NGO 行政成本嘅爭議永遠冇完。政府撥款跟隨政治週期,即係話環境項目會被選舉搞到搖擺不定。根據 UNEP(2023),氣候融資流量約為每年 $1.3 trillion — 不到 2030 年前每年所需 $4.3 trillion 嘅三分之一。成個系統靠內疚運作:你應該夠在乎去花自己嘅錢,如果你唔肯,你身上某處就有道德虧欠。內疚唔係可持續嘅燃料。愉悅先係。參與先係。擁有感先係。

當人們選擇資金流向邊度,參與就會深化 — 唔係感性上,而係行為上。參與創造擁有感。擁有感創造問責。個系統變得 透明 唔係因為監管機構要求,而係因為導向資本嘅人堅持要求。呢個唔係理想主義。呢個係誘因設計。

網絡效應會複合增長。一個海外僑民社群資助佢哋原籍地區嘅項目,同時係資助者同持份者。佢哋問嘅問題更到位。佢哋發現問題更快。佢哋了解當地政治脈絡,係任何外部捐助者永遠做唔到嘅。根據 World Bank(2023),全球匯入中低收入國家嘅匯款達到 $656 billion,超過外國直接投資同官方發展援助嘅總和。當一個項目見效,僑民社群會透過已經圍繞匯款、家庭同義務建立起嚟嘅網絡傳播開去 — 呢啲係異常堅韌嘅網絡,以正式發展基建難以匹敵嘅可靠程度搬運資本、信息同變革。關於點解呢啲網絡比撥款機制更能傳遞資金信號,請參閱 匯款知道嘅事

機制已經存在。商業基建已經建好,而且極其精密。驗證標準已經成熟 — 被影響力投資者、發展銀行、世界上最嚴格嘅資助方使用。會計係防彈嘅。唯一一直缺少嘅組件係連接管道。

缺失嘅架構

缺少嘅係將佢哋連接起嚟嘅架構。一種方法,將注意力經濟已經產生嘅價值 — 存在嘅、此刻正被提取嘅價值 — 導向需要佢嘅地方。唔係透過內疚。而係透過參與、選擇,以及同其他地方搬運資金一模一樣嘅商業機制。

GreenSweep 就係嗰個架構。管道已經存在。資本正在流動。請參閱 當你投票時會發生咩事 了解實際運作,或者瀏覽你嘅參與所資助嘅 項目。關於我哋點解選擇 Purpose Foundation 模式而非傳統慈善機構,請閱讀 點解我哋唔係慈善機構。關於每一票背後嘅算術,透明度 頁面公佈每一筆分配。

參考資料

  1. WARC (2024). Global Advertising Expenditure Forecast.

    warc.com/newsandopinion/news/global-ad-spend-to-top-1-trillion-in-2026

  2. UNEP (2024). Adaptation Gap Report 2024.

    unep.org/resources/adaptation-gap-report-2024

  3. Climate Policy Initiative (2024). Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2024.

    climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/global-landscape-of-climate-finance-2024

  4. Enzensberger, H. M. (1962). Bewusstseins-Industrie.(意識工業 — 首次發表於 Einzelheiten I,Suhrkamp Verlag。)

  5. World Bank / KNOMAD (2023). Migration and Development Brief,匯款流量數據表。

Frequently asked questions

What is the attention economy?

The attention economy is the set of commercial systems that turn human attention into revenue — social networks, search engines, streaming platforms, ad exchanges. It generates roughly €700 billion a year globally, with a thousand-billion-euro ceiling forecast by WARC for the broader advertising market. Nothing about it is new; the scale and granularity are.

What is the €4.1 trillion climate funding gap?

The Climate Policy Initiative estimates that closing the gap between current investment and Paris Agreement targets requires around €4.1 trillion of climate-related finance every year by 2030. Current flows are around a quarter of that, concentrated in wealthy countries. The gap is structural, not rhetorical.

How does GreenSweep connect ad spend to climate funding?

Your consented data and engagement generate commercial value through partnerships with advertisers, CPA networks, and data buyers. Instead of that value being retained by a platform, GreenSweep routes 70% of it to verified environmental projects your community votes for. The same revenue model, pointed in a different direction.

Is redirecting attention-economy revenue really enough to move the needle?

Not on its own. The climate gap is too large for any single mechanism to close. What a redirection achieves is the addition of a new capital source that does not cannibalise existing philanthropy or public finance, and that grows with engagement rather than with donor cycles. It is one pipe of many, but a pipe that currently goes nowhere.

Isn’t this just more advertising?

The advertising mechanism is the same; the extraction is not. Ads still run, data still changes hands, commercial partners still pay. But the terminal use of the revenue is restoration rather than shareholder return. You can refuse to participate — the pipe only carries what you choose to vote into it.

Sources

  1. 1.IndustryClimate Policy Initiative — Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2024
  2. 2.GovernmentUNFCCC — Paris Agreement
  3. 3.IndustryGold Standard — Voluntary Carbon Market
  4. 4.IndustryVerra — Verified Carbon Standard
Byron Fuller
Byron FullerCo-Founder

Byron leads GreenSweep’s go-to-market strategy and technology. His Harvard study of cooperation and game theory shaped the platform’s voting model. Most recently he built a 100+ person APAC team deploying IoT technologies for clients including the Hong Kong MTR.

Dartmouth, UPenn, Harvard, Saïd Business School (Oxford)

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Sources

  1. 1.IndustryClimate Policy Initiative — Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2024
  2. 2.GovernmentUNFCCC — Paris Agreement
  3. 3.IndustryGold Standard — Voluntary Carbon Market
  4. 4.IndustryVerra — Verified Carbon Standard