Sustainability Decoded - September 23, 2022 – CLIMATE WEEK EDITION

Sustainability Decoded - September 23, 2022 – CLIMATE WEEK EDITION

Officially, this week is the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York. But, since 2009, Climate Week NYC has taken place alongside meetings of heads of state at the UN - making the streets of midtown Manhattan nearly impassable.??

There are over 150 registered events and many unofficial gatherings during Climate Week. And if cramming all these events together were not enough, the Global Goals Week is held concurrently – to recognize the importance of achieving the sustainable development goals.??

Leaders from business, government, and civil society swarm into the city to showcase global climate action. Run by the Climate Group , Climate Week NYC is the largest of several Climate Week events that take place around the world. Celebrities and policy makers make appearances, pledges are made, and we are admonished to take immediate action.??

At the main event - the UN General Assembly - US President Biden started his speech by saying the past year has been full of unprecedented struggles, referencing the impacts of climate change, coronavirus, economic struggles, and of course, the Russian war on Ukraine.?

Biden said, "Record heat, floods, and droughts. COVID-19. Inflation. And a brutal, needless war—a war chosen by one man, to be blunt." Biden asserted that Russia has violated the UN charter before pivoting to the issues of climate change and global food security. Referencing the Inflation Reduction Act as the “most important climate commitment we have ever made in the history of our country—$369 billion toward climate change.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres was even more blunt on climate change - comparing the fossil fuel sector to the tobacco industry.? He said "Let's tell it like it is. Our world is addicted to fossil fuels. It's time for an intervention.” "Just as they did for the tobacco industry decades before, lobbyists and spin doctors have spewed harmful misinformation,"?

"Fossil fuel interests need to spend less time averting a PR disaster—and more time averting a planetary one. Polluters must pay."

Does Climate Week Help the Climate?

As a veteran of a few Climate Weeks, I have mixed feelings about them. It’s easy, almost reductive, to poke at the climate impacts to pull off this huge week. After days of running from event to event, you begin to question your sanity and the effectiveness of the frenetic pace. But, the important question is whether the concentration of leadership, wealth, power, and attention provides net benefits to address the crisis that bears its name???

While I attended only briefly this year, there was a powerful energy in the city indicating that the benefits outweighed the costs. Maybe it was the good weather, maybe people are still giddy to mingle after the pandemic, but I sensed it was more. With the string of recent US policy victories such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the Federal ‘buy clean’ initiative , a renewed optimism resonated through the events.??

GFANZ Wobbles

Along with optimism, there was some accountability for the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). More than 450 finance companies accounting for $130tn of assets joined the initiative, which was announced at last year's COP summit and is spearheaded by former Bank of England governor Mark Carney.

Responding to reports that financial giants including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are considering leaving GFANZ because the organization’s strict requirements for decarbonization makes them legally vulnerable, Carney said some of the climate group’s guidance for banks went too far.

This news followed recent reports that some financial institutions could be kicked out of GFANZ for failing to hit targets set by a new independent panel.

Climate Civil War

As if abortion rights and immigration were not enough to divide Americans, the culture wars between the conservative and liberal US states escalated over climate change. Conservative states have introduced at least 44 bills or new laws this year aimed at penalizing companies and financial firms for “woke” policies that avoid fossil fuel investment.?

Late last week, treasurers in 14 US liberal leaning states signed a letter saying that forcing investors to ignore the reality of climate change and the economic transition will harm everyone – financial institutions and taxpayers alike.??

Even the cartoon characters in Dilbert weighed in last week when author Scott Adams criticized ESG, comparing it to a “colicky” baby with “firehouse diarrhea.”

Doubling Down on Stupid

Politics took center stage as California Governor Gavin Newsom talked up his state’s investment in green technologies while criticizing Republican politicians for not taking similar stances.

An extreme heat wave earlier this month pushed California’s power grid to the brink of failure, but Newsom said the state was able to avoid widespread power outages because it has invested heavily in battery storage. In contrast, he said, Texas has clung to fossil-fuel generation after a winter storm last year left much of the state in the dark for days.?

“Look what happened in Texas last year. They doubled down on stupid, why the hell are they doubling down on the policies that created those conditions?” Newsom said.

The Earthshot Prize

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Bill Gates were a few of the A-listers announcing HRH Prince William’s Earthshot Prize winners (the Prince sent recorded remarks due to the passing of his grandmother HRH Queen Elizabeth). Winners in each of five categories were recognized – for example Takachar – an MIT spinoff that reduces smoke emissions from agricultural waste by up to 98% - won the “Clean Our Air” prize. The 2022 winners will be announced this December in Boston.?

Do as I Do?

Year after year, Climate Week brings pledges and admonishments to act on climate change.? But, as we know, few of these ambitious announcements are backed up by real action.? The widely publicized move by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard last week stands out in clear contrast by his actions not his words.?

Rather than selling the company or taking it public, Mr. Chouinard, his wife and two adult children transferred their ownership of Patagonia , valued at about $3 billion, to a specially designed trust and a nonprofit organization created to preserve the company’s independence and ensure that all of its profits — $100 million a year — are used to combat climate change and protect undeveloped land around the globe.??

Thank you Mr Chouinard: Your stunning example of living your values will inspire generations to come.??

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Notable News

• Time to Put the Fossil-Fuel Industry Into Hospice - this is the provocative title of a new article from my friend - Professor Andrew Hoffman of the University of Michigan.? He states that “If humanity is to survive the climate crisis, we must manage a just and orderly transition away from fossil fuels. The correct models for this resolution are triage, euthanasia, and hospice.”
• The world's fourth largest iron ore miner, Fortescue Metals Group, announced this week that it will spend $6.2 billion through 2030 to eliminate fossil fuels and carbon emissions from its operations. Andrew Forrest, executive director of the Australian company said that Fortescue is already saving money under its decarbonization plan that started two year ago.
• More than 80 companies and NGOs including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and Walmart outlined what they'll advocate for, as world leaders begin negotiating a global treaty to end plastic waste this fall in Uruguay.?
• Former US Vice President Al Gore called World Bank President David Malpass a "climate denier" and criticized the institution for not doing enough to unlock private investment in renewable energy in poorer nations. Gore sounded a positive tone when he said "We are going to win this and we are going to prevail. The major question is, will we win in time before we cross some of these dangerous negative tipping points? I'm optimistic."
• Across Europe, once-submerged villages, ships and bridges — some dating back thousands of years — have re-emerged this year as rivers and reservoirs have dried up. The steady stream of gripping photos has circulated while much of the continent faced a string of extreme heat waves and a devastating drought , two phenomena that scientists say are made more likely and more severe by human-caused climate change.

Notable Podcasts

• Terry Gross always does a wonderful job on her popular show Fresh Air. In the September 22 episode, Terry talks to Brady Dennis, a national environmental reporter for The Washington Post who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2020 for "a groundbreaking series that showed with scientific clarity the dire effects of extreme temperatures on the planet."
• TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi always inspires us to learn more about the world by interviewing outstanding speakers from the TED stage. In the September 16 episode , she explores a topic we all need to study - how to listen, rethink and change our minds. Her guest former GOP congressman Bob Inglis tells the story of how he switched views on climate change.