Updates

And see how a novelist pushes for climate action One of our favorite pastimes at The Instigator is recommending books that can drive climate progress. One of our recent favorites was The Deluge by Stephen Markley. It is so all-encompassing, I just had to talk to the author about his thinking behind this novel and the climate crisis generally.  Meet […]

Three concrete steps to begin a career transition Many people are pursuing second acts these days. Whether it’s post-retirement, a mid-career switch, or a transition after an initial foray into a profession, fewer and fewer people are pursuing a linear career path, let alone a singular one.   If you’re contemplating a move, you may be

Let’s Do Something About It In the two weeks since The Instigator was last in your inbox, it seems as though the world has plummeted into darkness. Beginning with the Hamas massacre in Israel and followed by the subsequent war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, every day we confront horrific news. This while the Russian war against

When is good good enough? Apple has been making a lot of news with its climate claims lately. But how ambitious is its climate program really?  That question provoked an interesting discussion on LinkedIn last week.  The debate really boiled down to the following question: “Where exactly should we set the bar for voluntary climate

And learn how you – like Frank – can become a not-so-accidental and influential environmentalist Frank Loy is an amazing person. He is also an unconventional environmentalist. He began his career as a corporate lawyer with the oldest and largest law firm in Los Angeles. He left a couple of times to take government positions

How CCOs and CSOs can accelerate climate progress I had a meeting during Climate Week in NYC with an accomplished Chief Climate Officer (CCO) looking for some advice. I was reminded how challenging it can be to serve in this still quite nascent role. I also recalled my personal experience serving as Goldman Sachs’s first

The State of Nature’s Fortune With climate week right around the corner and with more interest from the business community than ever before, people have been asking for my take on efforts to encourage investment in nature. You may recall that way back in 2013, Jonathan Adams and I co-wrote a book on this very

And Find Out How You Can Drive Climate Policy In response to one of our recent issues in which we urged our readers to do more to build bipartisan support for climate policy, many of you asked for specific suggestions on how you can best engage in politics. I immediately thought l should introduce you

Some lessons from Jonathan Eig’s important new book We mostly write essays in this newsletter about our best ideas on how to accelerate environmental progress. But we also sometimes discuss the books we are reading. Our goal is to draw lessons and inspiration for environmentalists from books we admire. Every now and then a book

Environmentalists’ top priority should be finding agreement with diverse players Forgive me for putting a damper on your (too) hot summer, but I’m back with an obvious and urgent reminder. We are facing a climate emergency. Time is not on our side. Yes, there have been some victories. In the US, the most important was