The recent election cycle has brought with it a wave of uncertainty regarding the future of climate action. As political tides shift and priorities are re-evaluated, there is a palpable sense of apprehension within the environmental and investment communities. History, unfortunately, provides a sobering precedent. The exuberance surrounding climate action and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing witnessed during previous administrations (especially Bush Jr and Trump 1) has often been met with apathy, and even hostility, under new leadership. This time, the threat appears even more pronounced, with overt legal and institutional challenges to ESG initiatives and a potential chilling effect on corporate engagement. However, amidst this uncertainty lies an opportunity. While institutional action may falter, the resolve of individual investors, family offices, and foundations offers a beacon of hope and a powerful engine for change.
The Looming Backlash and Historical Precedents
The incoming administration has signaled a potential rollback of environmental regulations and a skeptical stance towards climate change. This skepticism has already manifested in threats of “anti-woke” litigation against ESG funds and corporations, accusing them of neglecting their fiduciary duty of protecting and enhancing shareholder value. Such an adversarial approach is not unprecedented. Previous administrations have also overseen periods of decreased enthusiasm for climate action, resulting in:

• Reduced Investment: Venture capital firms and institutional investors often retreat from climate-related investments when faced with unfavorable political climates. This reluctance stems from a fear of being associated with "unpopular" causes and a desire to avoid potential regulatory scrutiny.
• Muted Corporate Engagement: Corporations tend to scale back their ESG initiatives and marketing efforts to avoid becoming targets of political or legal action. This self-censorship can significantly hinder progress on sustainability and social responsibility goals.
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The current situation, however, appears even more precarious. The explicit targeting of ESG initiatives and the aggressive rhetoric employed by the new administration and its allies suggest a more profound and sustained backlash against climate action. This anticipated hostility necessitates a strategic shift in focus and a renewed emphasis on grassroots mobilization.
Empowering the Individual Investor
While institutional and corporate action may face significant headwinds, the individual investor community represents a potent force for change. Family offices, foundations, and individual investors have demonstrated a growing commitment to ESG principles and impact investing. This commitment is driven by a variety of factors, including:

• Values Alignment: Many investors seek to align their financial decisions with their personal values, prioritizing investments that generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.
• Intergenerational Concerns: Family offices and foundations are particularly attuned to the long-term consequences of climate change and are increasingly seeking to safeguard the planet for future generations.
• Financial Opportunities: The growing market for sustainable and impact-driven investments presents compelling financial opportunities for investors seeking both returns and positive impact.

This burgeoning community of engaged investors needs to be empowered and amplified. Organizations like my own Forum for Impact play a crucial role in providing a platform for these investors to connect, collaborate, and advocate for change. By facilitating dialogue, sharing best practices, and providing access to impactful investment opportunities, such platforms can catalyze a movement of individual investors committed to driving positive change.
Expanding the Scope of ESG in Public Discourse
It is crucial to recognize that ESG encompasses a broad spectrum of issues, extending far beyond environmental sustainability. While climate action remains a central concern, ESG encompasses a range of issues in the forefront of public discourse, including

• Human Rights: Protecting fundamental human rights and promoting social justice are integral components of responsible investing.
• Women's Rights and Health: Ensuring gender equality and access to healthcare are critical for building a just and equitable society.
• Education and Equality: Investing in education and promoting equal opportunities are essential for fostering social mobility and creating a more inclusive society.

By embracing this holistic view of ESG and sustainability, investors can leverage their financial power to address a wide range of social and environmental challenges. This broader perspective also helps to build a more robust and resilient movement for change, capable of withstanding political and economic volatility.
A Call to Action: Leadership in Times of Uncertainty
The challenges ahead are undeniable. However, this is not the time for despair or resignation. It is a time for leadership, for courage, and for collective action. We must:

• Embrace Activism: Investors must become vocal advocates for climate action and ESG principles. By engaging with policymakers, corporations, and the public, they can help shape a more sustainable and equitable future - but the time is now to find your own voice.
• Support Organizations: Organizations like Forum for Impact provide critical infrastructure for the growing community of impact investors. Supporting these organizations through participation, financial contributions, and advocacy is essential for building a robust ecosystem for change.
• Expand the Narrative: The conversation around ESG must move beyond narrow definitions of sustainability and encompass the full spectrum of social and environmental concerns. By highlighting the interconnectedness of these issues, we can build a broader and more resilient movement for change.
  
  

The challenges posed by the new political landscape are significant, but they are not insurmountable. By empowering individual investors, expanding the scope of ESG, and embracing a proactive approach to advocacy, we can navigate these uncertain times and continue to drive progress towards a more sustainable and equitable future. The time for action is now. Let us rise to the occasion and become the change we wish to see in the world.

About a year ago I returned to the world of climate finance and was shocked to find two glaring inconsistencies. There was a significant amount of capital going into the market (with more to come) and, more critically, that the old approaches to financing critical climate projects hadn’t changed in decades. These two trends are incompatible, and without a new approach to climate finance, I worry we will not be able to realize the potential, and the necessity, of funding our climate transition. Especially concerning is the lack of institutional investment in the market, the lack of which creates significant volatility in carbon prices, reduced trust in climate solutions, and significant risk throughout the value chain.

This is the start of a multi-part narrative on how our approach to finance needs to change. In it, we will explore a range of issues, such as the lack of trust in the carbon market, the market’s approach to risk, the quantity-vs-quality problem in funding carbon offsets, new asset management approaches, the industry’s myopic focus on co-benefits, why thematic approaches to climate finance create more problems than they solve, why we may not want to be so enthusiastic to regulation and standards in carbon, integrated approaches to financing the offset market, the role of technology and AI, why net-zero isn’t the panacea we think it is, and ultimately how we can make changes today to bring more institutional investment to climate finance.

The goal of these narratives is to start a global conversation on these issues and explore new ways to approach climate finance, ultimately bringing more institutional capital to bear on our most pressing global climate problems. Creating a “village” around this issue is essential - it’s one of the reasons I joined with a small group of investors to create Canoe Carbon, a firm that promotes large-scale investment in the carbon offset market by introducing innovative financing models that help isolate investors from the regulatory and project risks inherent in traditional carbon offset investment - using technology, artificial intelligence, and research as a foundation.

I hope to explore these areas with you over the coming months and will be engaging with colleagues from around the market though various mediums to explore solutions to these problems. I’m genuinely excited to be focused on climate finance again – matched only by my concern and, at times, panic that we are not moving quickly enough to solve the climate crisis that is already at our doorstep. I hope you will join me in this dialogue, and I welcome your engagement.

I continue to believe that investors, in all forms, are the fulcrum upon which we will succeed or fail to meet the climate challenge. There are significant opportunities for investors out there, and there has never been a better time to finance climate projects – the key is finding the right ones and avoiding the bulk of the projects out there that carry unnecessary risk. Through this dialogue we’ll explore how we got here, what’s missing from the market, and explore some ideas on what to do next.
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Next, we’ll explore how the lack of trust in the carbon offset market came about, and its impact on the industry at large. Look for that in my next instalment of this blog, and I’m looking forward to embarking on this journey with you. 

​Building Back Better been a theme in the sustainable finance field for some time in various forms, but in the age of COVID-19 it has taken on a whole new energy. So today on the Green 4th Podcast we are opening a dialogue on BBB, especially before the idea gets subsumed by other, more powerful trending issues in our collective experience. Now that a prominent US presidential campaign is using it as a slogan, it may be inevitable that the hyper-partisan politicization of this concept will start to distort the meaning of what this movement means to us – both inside the sustainable investment community and beyond. Today's talk is about how we can build impact into our personal and professional lives as we approach a new normal, and perhaps leverage a few approaches I’ve found useful in the sustainable investment world.

Welcome! This is the blog companion to my podcast and upcoming publications on the Green 4th. 

In the entertainment industry, there is a concept called the “fourth wall” – an imaginary wall that exists between the actors and the audience, where the audience can see through the wall but the actors cannot. From time to time, that wall is broken through so the actor can speak directly with the audience, usually to help them get a better understanding of what’s going on. Think of a movie where the actor breaks with the story to speak to the camera, or a stage actor addressing the audience directly. Breaking the fourth wall has become more popular over time and helps the audience engage and understand what’s going on.

This got me thinking about how we have a similar concept in the sustainability world. We also have an imaginary wall – this time between the worlds of sustainability and business/investment that should not exist. This wall represents a barrier that has been created over decades by those within the sustainability industry that makes it more difficult – not easier - for businesspeople and investors to engage on sustainability issues. While life-changing sustainability issues like climate change and biodiversity loss continue to mount, people look on, expecting those behind the wall to deal with the issues, and sustainability experts continue to work diligently as if the public isn’t involved.

It’s time that this “fourth wall of sustainability” is broken through to engage the unengaged on the critical sustainability issues that affect – and will affect - us all. The Green 4th will examine how the industry created (often with the best of intentions) a “black box” specialist discipline that can only be addressed by sustainability specialists and ensuring that fewer people can engage on the critical issues that affect us all. This book will outline how this wall came to be, why it persists, and how we can erase it – taking back control of sustainability issues so we can all do take action.