Climate action is already paying off, and can pay off even more, so how do we juggle our maelstrom of democracy in shifting geopolitics, powerful leaders stepping back from a climate agenda and the golden opportunity of our global net zero transition?

Join Rebecca Mikula-Wright and I from the recent Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) summit, as we discuss what you need to do as a leader in your organisation to make this happen, what you may get caught out on, and how by aligning industry tipping points to maximise the speed of our climate transition, we can create cascading exponential impact.

Many Australians don't realise that the country already generates 40% of its energy from renewables (and it spiked to 75% recently), and they don't know how quickly the nation has been moving and the policies implemented to support it.

One things is clear - getting on with things on voluntarily is not fast enough, the investment industry is calling for regulation to enable them to close the gap between the science and the achievable impact.

Dig into the stories of change and find out more via:

Climate Action Pays Off
Net Zero Asset Managers Alliance
Climate Action 100+

And a big thank you to the IGCC team, David Russell and Tim Buckley, who I featured previously from the summit, as well as those groups supporting these initiatives;

Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC)
Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC)
Ceres, Inc. & Principles for Responsible Investment

If you're a leader in this space, I look forward to connecting with you. 

Please help spread the message by sharing this with your network.

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Given what we know about climate change, how do you pay a pension 40 years from now? And why is focusing on oil and gas companies misguided?

What do you think? And would you agree that Net Zero isn't about divestment, particularly when you own a slice of everything, everywhere?

Join David Russell and I, as we get into the best fiduciary interests of pension funds, and how the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) works to create sector specific, short, medium and long term targets to achieve Net-Zero by 2050.

We go through;

* Genesis of the TPI
* Universal Ownership and proxy voting
* The need for policy on nature and biodiversity
* Assessing Sovereign Climate Opportunity & Risk (ASCOR)

This conversation was had during our time together at the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC), after David finished his session on Corporate Climate Engagement with Alison George at Australian Ethical Investment, Alison Ewings at QIC and Sasha Courville at Aluminium Stewardship Initiative.

TPI is supported by The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change & the Environment.

In the past week David also been speaking at the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) Melbourne Conference, hosted by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI).

Thank you particularly to Rebecca, Duncan and Fergus for the opportunity to bring you this from the IGCC Summit, and finally;

If you're not sure how you're going to strategically lead your organisation internally and externally through this turbulent time, or communicate your vision effectively, reach out and let's discuss it in confidence. I'm here to help!

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Where should we be spending our tax money for the betterment of the nation?

How do we subsidise every unit of fossil fuel production and burning across the world, and what do we do about this 'grey discount' aka 'green premium'?

What's China up to and what does Australia do when competing with them directly is a mugs game?

Join Tim Buckley of the Climate Energy Finance think tank and I, as we we answer these questions together after his panel session 'The Biggest Investment Mega Trend in History' at the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) Summit, which he shared with Alexis Cheang, Persephone Fraser and Alan Hsu.

We also go into the perfect example of exporting embodied decarbonisation thanks to Marghanita Johnson and the Australian Aluminium Council, plus disagreeing with the productivity commission, and reference a number of hard working folk;

Professor Rod Sims, Minister Bowen, Minister Ed Husic MP, Treasure Jim Chalmers, Senator Penny Wong, Guy Debelle, Trinasolar, SunDrive, UNSW, Rio Tinto, Hancock Prospecting, BHP and Fortescue.

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The current economy is not working. You know this. So what does transitioning to a truly functioning society look like? And for those who say 'well that's too costly' - Sandrine Dixson-Declève calls bullshit.

Together we discuss causes for hope, how societies are responding to the pain of a post 1.5 degree warming world, and what is needed from our Government and Citizen leaders.

If that's you, this short discussion includes the two questions to ask yourself in the mirror, that will let you know if you're on the right path!

We cover a lot of ground in this short discussion;

- European renewable price parity
- Pushback from incumbent fossil producers
- 98% of the European economy is driven by small and medium enterprises whilst regulators and legislators predominantly focus on the 2%
- Marco Lambertini and the Nature Positive Initiative
- CEO pay, inflation and earnings
- Dr. Bronner's 5 to 1 salary cap (I misquoted as 10 to 1)
- Norges Bank, BHP and Fortescue
- How Australia can lead the world at COP31
- A just energy transition inclusive of First Nations

Sandrine is Co-President of The Club of Rome, Author and Chair at Earth4All, and we had this discussion during her presentation at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics, facilitated by Rosemary Addis, whilst she was on tour thanks to the Centre for Policy Development, and supported by Diane Bowles and co on the day. 

Tomorrow I head into the Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) Climate Finance and Investment Summit, led by Duncan Paterson and titled 'Mission 1.5 degrees' - which is quite the banner headline to be aiming at considering what we know.   

What did you learn in this brief chat, and how honestly can you answer the two questions posed? 

Thank you for leaving a comment, giving this a like and resharing, it helps!

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".. 2.6 trillion in harmful subsidies is spent from governments globally, plus five to six trillion of direct private investment - this is three times the amount of money that we are spending on armaments and weapons to fight each other in the world. We are spending three times more to fight nature! " - Marco Lambertini, Convener of the Nature Positive Initiative.

Join Marco and I for our conversation from the recent Global Nature Positive Summit 2024, and thank you for liking and leaving a comment.

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Find yourself in a post-truth, post-science world?  Join Blair Please and I as we get into what to do about it, and cover a wide range of topics;

• Dis- and misinformation, poisoning the well of public discussion, fake and bot profiles inserting prepared comments to misdirect voices of change.
• The acquisition of the Wall Street Journal, the potential implications on the information coming through to markets on opportunities such as renewables, energy, batteries and clean tech as an emerging market
• Existential challenges, new pundits, collaboration in the emerging low carbon world and when we're seeing public discussions about nuclear energy policy and infrastructure;
  
  - Is it generational thinking for the benefit of the public, as an outcome of citizen juries and civic responsibility?
  - Or is it a political wedge issue to get out of opposition?

Blair is the Director of Philanthropy at Ethinvest, Managing Editor at Climate & Capital Media and Founder of the Climate Capital Forum.

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Who would have thought that the accounting system developed at the beginning of the industrial revolution that sparked climate change, will be the same solution we use to fight climate change? 

Join me to dive into Activity Based Costing with Lea Patterson, President of the Pilbara Group and Chair of the Consortium for Advanced Management - International (CAM-I), where we go into things such as;

How do you manage a climate infrastructure transition in a financially sustainable and profitable way?  What about for King County, WA with 2.3 million people and $16.2BN USD in budget?

How can you use activity-based costing as a powerful lever for change?  And how was Lea done so with Universities, the Royal Australian Navy, the US Navy and BP?

How do you sell a steam engine to a tin mine in the 1700's? 500 years later, how do you sell a manufacturing robot? Would you believe it's the same.

Thanks for joining me for another episode, and do jump onto LinkedIn and circulate the 4 parts of this interview with folks you think may be interested;

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

I'd love to hear what you enjoyed, and greatly appreciate you giving this a like and a share.

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Join Will Martindale from Canbury Insights and I for a deep dive into Responsible Investment, his latest book and questions that matter, including;

How do we enable investors to spend their time doing things that have more meaning?

How are people are trying to shift the normative interpretation of what we mean by responsible and sustainable, rather than argue in favour of concessionary investing, which brings up the question of 'who decides how much concession, on which issues' ?

Where are there potential for real breakthroughs in responsible investing, and how does resourcing and politics fit into that?

How do we as an industry challenge pay to play and address high level investor optics?

How do we get serious about 'real world impact' and the philosophy of responsible investment, including;

- the greatest good for the greatest number
- the most fortunate helping the least fortunate
- justice (not doing harm to others)
- being a categorical imperative (it's the right thing to do)

***

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For the latest insights on leadership, impact investing, global challenges, business strategy and storytelling, make sure to join me on LinkedIn, and get the newsletter, Smarter Impact - Every Thursday!

Join the Chair of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and I for this deep discussion on our changing world;

".. There are a lot of areas in public policy where government really struggles;  keeping people out of prison, keeping children out of care, homelessness. 

My view is 'Come on we're failing, let's open the door and try to find new, better solutions'

It's not easy, but it's really worth it, if you push through the difficulty and strike that partnership between the elements in society where everyone brings what they're good at."

In the first part 1 of this conversation we look at;

- Moving beyond simply asking "What's Government doing about it?" or "What's the role of business" ?
- Admitting when you don't have all the answers
- Whole of Society approaches to a collaborative future
- Achieving cross-sector Impact Partnerships
- The challenges of accountability and trust

Doing less harm is not good enough

What would it take to have a mindset that got up every morning, asking 'how can I combine sensible, adequate financial return, with measurable, positive, intentional impact?'

In this section, we discuss:

- The spectrum of ambition in the $40BN ESG movement
- The rise and necessity of regulatory taxonomies
- Social and environmental impacts of externalising cost
- Integrating a third lens into investment decision making
- Inertia, human impulses and leadership
- Setting frameworks, culture and expectation
- Establishing spaces for others to thrive and fullfill their potential in
- Creating signals of approval and encouragement that people leap at

The plan to break through systemic inertia

".. We need the money the flow; if we're serious about the SDGs and climate, if we accept that there are big, important emerging economies that have to transition to clean energy, if we accept our responsbility in that, and we are alive to the huge economic opportunity attached to investing in support of these transitions, then why wouldn't we try to put all our brainpower and energy behind thinking 'okay, how do we make this easier? How do we make this flow?' - because it's urgent, right? .."  - The Rt. Hon Nick Hurd

In this section we discuss

- Globalisation and Geopolitics 
- The rise of the Global South
- The African Union and the BRIC networks
- Trillion dollar annual gaps and the challenges of humanity
- Complexities, barriers, problems and risks
- Transforming the landscape of investible supply
- The distortion and magnification of risk
- Demonstrable investment success
- Mindset and system inertia
- Dismantling barriers
- Reducing the cost of capital
- Accelerating copycat culture

It's hard to argue against impact transparency

With over 40 countries having setup their own National Advisory Boards, and a dozen or more countries wanting to join, how does the GSG build ecosystems that enable impact transparency and the flow of investment?  

In the final part of our discussion; 

- Questions the GSG poses to catalyse change
- Transparency as the great disinfectant
- How Board behaviour is changing
- Methodologies to put monetary values on impact
- Changing the standards used to assess company performance
- The popularity of French Solidarity pensions invested for social benefit
- This is real.  It's inevitable

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".. Companies are saying data is the new oil - a lot of companies have really, really cool data that they just need to learn how to put into a story. And that's what Digital PR is, putting that data into a story to then get publications to pick that up and link to you, not mention you, link to you, because that builds your brand." - Harry Sanders, Founder of StudioHawk.

Join me for a quick chat and a pile of insight, with a dominant force in Australian digital, that is expanding the StudioHawk #SEO magic globally.

You'll also get the full transcript of this in my Smarter Impact Newsletter later this week, so make sure to follow my profile and subscribe to the newsletter (https://lnkd.in/grXqMebK).

Harry and I get excited about Digital PR, take a look at 'how things are done these days' with a focus on treadmills and placing in Glamour, news.com.au and Nine, and how this all ties into Google's E-E-A-T score (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness).

Ultimately, I'd suggest you do everything you can not to waste tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in effort and wages, and come out with a mediocre outcome, because you don't have a digital expert in your team.

If you want great outcomes that work, you MUST ensure there is continuity and ownership of the final result, and that you give decision making power to the person leading the process.

I regularly see companies using different providers at each stage, without someone leading the process, and critical things are always missed.

- Business strategy
-- Inc. defining your preeminent strategic driver, critical issue resolution and accountabilities
- Digital content strategy
-- Articulating that strategy into stories, Digital PR & SEO
- Brand / website design / collateral updates
- Website development
- Completion of the Customer Journey Marketing loop
- Team training for best use of new tools

These all tie together, and this IS a hierarchy for a reason. You can work on any part of it as a individual project, though it must happen in context if you want effective results.

Ignore this and you'll simply create greater drift in what you've already got, and expensive rework when you're sad at the mediocre outcomes.

As my dad would ask me; why not DIRFT? Do It Right First Time!

Reach out if you'd like to chat about your plans for 2024, and how to ensure you take effective steps towards them, whilst avoiding what could derail you.

And if you've got all of this nailed, and you're confident to manage the integration of SEO with everything else, StudioHawk are the way!

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For the latest insights on leadership, impact investing, global challenges, business strategy and storytelling, make sure to join me on LinkedIn, and get the newsletter, Smarter Impact - Every Thursday!