A few weeks ago, I posted a Wall Street Journal article on LinkedIn about the availability of zero-carbon steel but at significantly higher prices. I asked the question: “Who will pay these higher costs?” The consensus reaction from my environmentally-concerned LinkedIn friends was: “We all should.” I agree. We all share the responsibility to address the climate challenge. But now …
Climate Influence Starts at Home Over the summer break, some friends who subscribe to The Instigator challenged me with the following question: “What about China? Even if business leaders in the US follow your advice and pursue the ambitious corporate strategies to address climate change that you recommend, will it even matter? China keeps building coal plants. Unless …
It’s the Win-Win Outcome We Urgently Need Climate change is now front of mind like never before. Every day we read more horrific news about fires, floods, heatwaves, storms, and other natural disasters with calamitous impacts. Further, this week the UN published an updated climate report, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. The scientists’ conclusions …
In much of America right now, it’s devastatingly hot. If this doesn’t terrify you, you’re not paying close enough attention. This is why we in the environmental community are doing the work we do, no matter how challenging. The situation is urgent. But it is also the fourth of July, which, for our non-American readers, …
Beef has made a lot of headlines over the past year. First slaughterhouses really struggled during the early days of COVID—they had shutdowns, slaughtered massive numbers of animals, and saw terrible health outcomes for their workers. More recently, supply chain and rising cost concerns, ransomware attacks, being removed from recipes and increased competition from meat alternatives have been in the news. It might …
It’s Time for Environmentalists to Care More About Animals! Read More »
Build More Capacity to Guide the Private Sector Free Advice I remember back when I ran a big NGO. We got so much unsolicited advice. Much more than we wanted, needed or asked for. I don’t want to be snarky about this. Most of our self-appointed advisors were well-intentioned and very good people. Many were …
A Timely Suggestion for NGOs Trying to Save the Planet Read More »
The Investment Worth Making There’s remarkable momentum when it comes to business getting involved in tackling environmental issues. It, therefore, feels like an opportune moment to step back and assess where we are and how we got here. Environmentalists are good at many things, but taking a victory lap usually isn’t one of them. We’re …
One Key Move to Improve Private Sector-Led Environmental Problem Solving Read More »
Here’s what’s missing from the picture. Remember when President Trump and team talked regularly about “Infrastructure Week?” Alas, it never came to pass. Instead, the notion became a running gag. Too bad. It was one of Trump’s better ideas. Fast forward to today, and it looks like infrastructure’s moment has finally arrived. Spurred by President Biden’s …
Leaders Should Seize Leadership Opportunities Last month’s changes to Georgia’s voting laws—making it tougher for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote—caused a (well deserved) outcry, including from corporate leaders. But what seemed to amplify and even protract the attention was Senator Mitch McConnell’s ensuant admonition of CEOS to “stay out of politics.” The backlash …
The Instigator is co-authored again this week by my friend Peter Ebsen. In our last post, Peter and I offered recommendations on how to improve corporate net-zero climate pledges, based on our recent submission to the Science Based Targets initiative. We asked for feedback and got it. Thank you. This week, we develop the “why” behind our recommendations and …