Has business finally ‘unfrozen’ on climate? Freeze // unfreeze // refreeze // slush: where along Professor Gratton’s pandemic disruption curve are we, when it comes to the sustainability revolution?   Happy anniversary. As I write this (from home, naturally), it is three years since the start of the first COVID lockdown in the UK. A […]

Expanding the scope of ESG will be good for people, good for the climate and good for the industry itself – if we can more fully rise to the challenge this time. It’s remarkable, when you think of it, how many humans are dedicating their life’s work to completely reshaping the world around a single […]

Climate change today is a failure of negotiation. The re-frame we need might be less high-stakes – and more every day – than you might think. It was only when Matthew McConaughey, shirtless, battered, and bleeding was wrestling a Malian village strongman in the Dogon Bandiagara that I think I finally understood this recent episode […]

Arguing with deniers doesn’t work; let’s focus on encouraging action amongst our allies instead Climate denial is as old as our understanding of climate change itself. I’m sure that even Theophrastus (fourth century BCE Greece) or Shen Kuo (Song dynasty China) had their scientific observations met with a fair share of shrugs, frowns, and outright […]

What happens to a regenerative start-up ecosystem when it is missing aligned buyers? The latest episode of Conversations on Climate, with Godefroy Harito and Jules Buker, set a personal record that I don’t think we’ll surpass for quite some time: our youngest guests so far. At just 26, these two co-founders of treeapp (along with […]

Raise your hand if you’re ambidextrous. Let me try that again – raise your other hand if you’re ambidextrous! I don’t know many genuinely ambidextrous people. If you’ve ever tried that internet challenge where you brush your teeth with your other hand for a month, you know it’s not easy. At least at first, you’re […]

The way many businesses treat their workers echoes the way we trash the planet. Time to rethink the outdated management approach common to both. Deep in the Amazon rainforest, nearly 200 miles south of the Brazilian city of Santarem, lies abandoned one of the strangest chapters in the history of the American dream. Visitors to […]

Ok, so I’m not an engineer or a chemist but I know plenty of both who are very excited about Hydrogen, however channeling my inner economist I’m not sure the so called ‘H2 Revolution’ will come close to living up to all the hype. Inefficient, expensive to compress and move, H2’s relatively low energy density […]

Environmental, Social, and Governance issues are interconnected – but are still not treated equally. That needs to change. As 2022 comes to a close, we begin to see headlines announcing the ‘word of the year’. I must confess that ‘splooting’ is new to me – clearly, I’ve been lying face-down on the floor wrong all […]

Long-awaited success on loss-and-damage cannot distract us from the reality of a system which is no longer fit for purpose Another year, another COP. As the banners come down, the private jets take off for home, and the final headlines fade from the front pages, what are we to make of COP 27? This year, […]

This long-neglected pillar of environmental justice will top the agenda at COP27. The Global North must get real on Loss and Damage – for our own sake. With COP27 just a month away, the cyclical momentum of climate reporting is back in gear. Sadly, if predictably, the news in 2022 is not good. The UN […]

Wow – our first ten episodes finished already! In the five months since we began this adventure, Conversations on Climate has been, without doubt, a wonderful experience. I have had the pleasure – and honour – to host discussions with some fantastic individuals, all at the top of their respective fields. Every one has been […]

True sustainability pays attention to means, as well as ends. Here’s how Brilliant Planet are demonstrating regenerative design principles in practice. Tell me twelve things about algae. It’s ok – I’ll wait. I’m joking, of course; but also admitting that before I sat down with Riccardo Gubbioli, I don’t think I could have told you […]

Why the secret to green investing is more grounded than you might think? What is a wind farm, really? Don’t worry, I’m not in the midst of an existential crisis. But after meeting Giannis Komitas -renewable energy investor and COO of National Energy Holdings – for an episode of Conversations on Climate, I’m thinking differently […]

Here’s how to future-proof society – and your own firm – for the next crisis. The financial revelations of 2022 were a long time coming – and are here to stay until we change our behaviours. Only properly pricing in the future can save businesses from themselves. What has happened to the UK? Inflation is […]

From investor-generators to political-integrators, oil firms are gambling on different approaches to decarbonisation. What they all have in common is a question of culture. Last week, I set out a framework for classifying Big Oil firms according to their transition strategy, based on my conversation with industry insider Julio Dal Poz. If you haven’t already […]

The transformation we are seeing in global energy markets is anything but quick and easy. Here is my framework for understanding how fossil fuel firms are responding – and why. I worry about oil. You might say that, as someone in the renewables world, I should be happy to leave the past behind. After all, […]

If so, that’s a mistake! From regulation to investment, the clean energy industry needs government on its side. Why leave that to someone else? I love hosting the Conversations on Climate. Every episode has felt like a privilege, as I get to sit down with some of the most thoughtful and impressive people I have […]

From London to Hong Kong, the right technologies and policies matter, but local conditions matter more. The only constant must be a focus on demand. Anyone who has been to Hong Kong has seen firsthand that it is a truly global city. In fact, looking out over the glittering skyscrapers from Victoria Peak at night, […]

Is the issue that others ‘don’t care enough’ – or do we communicate our care in unhelpful ways? I care about the climate. That word – care – expresses more than rational disinterest or professional obligation. I feel it. And, like almost anyone who has been in this space a while, I know that this […]

Good intentions are no longer enough It’s time to get real on the road to net zero – and we can’t change what we don’t measure “Life is a journey, not a destination.” This quotation has come to mind a lot in the last year, as we seem finally to have arrived at the age […]