2020 was an ‘interesting year’
Well, it’s been an interesting year, in a Chinese proverb sort of way. The biggest global crisis since World War II has changed us all in many way. Some small (wearing a mask), some more fundamental (major life changes that come with emigration from city centers). And for hundreds of thousands around the world, this year has brought terrible tragedy, be it the loss of family, jobs or lifestyles.
What has not changed is the rapidly accelerating climate crisis. Indeed, extreme weather has never been more extreme. But how we all responded to this shared, planetary crisis has changed — and gets more interesting by the day. A few highlights:
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Red states go green. As our profile of former Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen explains, red is the new green in large swaths of the south and midwest. With pragmatic entrepreneurs like Bredesen, one of the nation’s dirtiest power grids is going solar. When Congress passed the latest Covid stimulus package, one of the biggest surprises was a display of climate bi-partisanship with the passage of $35 billion in climate-related spending. Republicans are beginning to understand that climate is not about denial, but an opportunity.
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A sea of acronyms: The fiendishly complex world of climate dialogue is in a stalemate. No one even knows how to call or describe this new era we are in. Is it ESG, sustainability, impact? We choose to see it as the emergence of a new climate economy for a new climate age. As in the world of card-playing, climate trumps everything. If we don’t sort out climate by 2050, we are literally toasting.
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The center is expanding. Gillian Tett, editor of the FT’s Moral Money, calls it the “olive center,” — the convergence of a brown old economy and the bright green sprouts of the new climate economy. We call it “50 shades of green.” The world is looking for bridges to the vast ideological, national and economic divides that separate us all, and climate is no exception.
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Risk/Reward The emerging climate economy is getting riskier and more rewarding. Banks, insurance companies, pension funds and other financial institutions are sitting on tens of trillions of assets that are and will be adversely affected by climate change. Yet staring before us, as far as the eye can see is a new $100 trillion-plus economic transformation that presents an endless opportunity. It is being fueled by the urgency of climate and a digital economy that has gone into hyperdrive. Without great fanfare, we are seeing a mass mobilization of entrepreneurs, students, policymakers and activists who are developing new ideas and solutions to build a more just and environmentally sustainable global economy. Am I being hopelessly optimistic? No. If COVID has taught as anything, it is that besides cockroaches and rats, humans are just about the most adaptable species on the planet.
With that, we sign off for a few days of being with family and hopefully to enjoy the climate we are all working so hard to restore.
Happy New Year.
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