Mighty Earth reposted this
Campaigns to transform the private sector can deliver Nature and climate action even as the Supreme Court obstructs the government's ability to do so. Put another way, the government may not be able to do its job, but the job still must be done. Despite their stranglehold over the courts, even the worst polluters and destroyers of Nature need customers, financing, and a social license to operate. We have found that these needs provide levers to transform industry. When the people who pay the bills raise questions about how a company can do a better job, executives listen. And the good news is that at least in some cases, investors, customers, and the media are knocking on a door that if not flung wide open to greet them, is at least ajar: a growing number of companies are staffed by people who want their enterprise to do good. Mighty Earth had some big successes in protecting forests and decarbonizing major industries through these approaches. As readers of this series know, campaigns on big agribusiness have reduced deforestation for palm oil, paper, and rubber 90%; won science-based decarbonization commitments from the biggest steel companies; and most recently sparked even some of the worst actors in the meat industry, a source of climate pollution bigger than even all transportation, to act to protect ecosystems in the supply chain, begin to tackle methane pollution, and boost sales of plant-based protein. Of course, these strategies did not begin with us. Indeed, markets campaigns have their origins as far back as the Boston Tea Party. More recently, when scientists tied the alarming hole in the ozone layer to chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were produced mostly by Dupont, campaigners persuaded the company to pledge that it would cease making them if the link were proven. When it was, Dupont agreed to phase them out – and urged the Reagan administration, skeptical as it was of environmental regulation, to support a global ban. That chain of events led to the Montreal Protocol and the restoration of the ozone layer. Even in this era, there is still a role for politics and government. Notwithstanding the Court’s efforts to hobble it, the Inflation Reduction Act is still driving trillions in investment in climate action. It is possible to imagine a vigorous political party one day delivering majorities that could upend the Court’s meddling. But we cannot wait for that happy day. Despite their long history of success, campaigns to reshape industry are underfunded. In our current reality, we need strategies that can deliver transformative change and soon, and scaling private sector action is an approach whose moment has very much arrived. I hope you will read and comment on the full essay...
Salient observations on how the right incentives drive real change
Good point!
Founder, Replant World | Indigenous led, native forest & biodiversity restoration. Ground-based monitoring and dMRV, (SAAS).
1wFantastically accounted for logic, and success - those levers are key, in an economy where moral imperative is sadly lacking. Great work, and as you say, dating back to the Montreal Protocol, but surely inspired by the ongoing stewardship of indigenous peoples worldwide.