Getting the dialogue going
Following our last issue, where I proposed we all weigh in on how the environmental movement can make more progress, I reached out to a few colleagues for their take. I’m pleased to share their responses here. I hope you’ll read all of them and even respond.
We need more of this. Let’s get the conversation going.
NIGEL PURVIS
Tufts University
I mostly but not fully agree with you, Mark. In the political business cycle, we are experiencing a recession — perhaps even a depression — on the environment, as you note. Policies are moving in the wrong direction and in many countries these are dark times, particularly for climate action. And yet I share your optimism that better times lie ahead–the business cycle moves forward; a bull market for the environment is around the corner and we can speed up the process through hard work and sensible, clear-eyed strategies of the type you write about in The Instigator. Your insight that we need to make the business case for green policies, including ambitious climate policies, by showing companies and the public that these policies make sense for non-environmental reasons is spot on. I also support your call for working collaboratively and constructively with CEOs and companies whenever possible. That said, we must also set high expectations for U.S. businesses and financial institutions, establishing what political scientists call better “norms” of behavior. We know from past periods when climate policies were moving backward that encouraging companies to abide by new, ambitious standards made a difference. When President George W. Bush rejected the Kyoto Protocol, many U.S. companies joined multinationals in setting ambitious voluntary goals to reduce corporate emissions. When President Trump rejected the Paris Agreement, companies were pressed to set net-zero emission goals for mid century and many did. They also pledged to remove deforestation from their supply chains and invest in nature-based climate solutions through carbon markets. Not all of these pledges were implemented but many were and the process of raising the bar — strengthening global norms for business — helped redefine climate and environmental leadership in ways that demanded more of companies. We need the same kind of engagement with companies now. We should join together in pressing leading companies to lobby for sensible climate policies, oppose new coal power plants, decarbonize corporate supply chains, switch to renewable energy, and more. Advocacy campaigns from the left wing of the environmental community are necessary to hold companies accountable and moderate environmental organizations should direct their praise and engagement toward companies that are really working hard to raise the bar.