69. Climate Action is a Team Sport with Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi

<p>It all started one cold night in Paris in December 2008. Two American friends visiting the city couldn’t get a taxi and this frustration inspired them to ask ‘what if’? What if it were possible to order a car ride with a simple tap on your mobile? Since both came from successful San Francisco tech backgrounds, it wasn’t surprising that this personal experience led to the creation of the company that is today the global tech on-demand transportation platform, Uber.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Now Uber is all grown up. It’s a publicly listed company, known for fuelling the gig economy – and has become embedded in our language and culture. The company operates in over 10,000 cities in 69 countries with a variety of services beyond personal rides including UberEats, cycle share schemes and more. Uber however has not stopped asking ‘what if’ and has chosen this crucial decade to set itself the challenge of integrating global climate targets with a seamless user experience. <span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></p> <p>Outrage + Optimism hosts, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson talked to Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi about the company’s announcement this week of its commitment to meet the goal of net zero by 2040, a bold and necessary step to tackle the climate crisis. We are fascinated by the potential this has for changing the culture of the 5 million active drivers and for millions of Uber riders taking 18 million trips between them every day. To fuel the greener electrified system, app users will have the option to favour drivers of hybrid and electric cars through Uber Green, and in future, can select from different forms of mobility based on their priorities at any given moment – cost, time, or carbon. Uber says they will literally put the power on our fingertips to contribute to the greening of our cities. You can listen to the whole episode here.</p> <p><strong>Why does Uber’s announcement this week really matter to people who live in cities around the wo