The climate situation is not getting better as the world comes out of the shadow of Covid 19 and deals with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
What is clear is that Europe must reduce its dependence on Russian gas but should do this by doubling down on the European Green Deal and investing in energy efficiency, Solar, Wind, and maybe even nuclear energy as opposed to simply burning coal instead of gas. This path will cost more money in the short term but pay off over the medium and long term.
Despite these challenges, there is a change occurring in the business world and I am increasingly being asked to talk about sustainability to different companies and groups of people around the world. There are also a number of outstanding books on the market these days which all point to a more sustainable future.
One of them was written by Lorenzo Massa, an IESE PhD. and two co-authors and is titled “Sustainable Business Model Design” which explains in a clear and compelling way how to build companies that are sustainable from the get-go!
You can read more about the book and order it here .
Another was written by Corey Glickman and Jeff Kavanaugh who both work at Infosys. Their book is titled Practical Sustainability: Circular Commerce, Smarter Spaces and Happier Humans. I will actually have the pleasure of interviewing both Corey and Jeff in New York City on June 28th. You can find more details about the session at the IESE Alumni portal here.
Infosys actually has an amazing sustainability story to tell and Corey leads the company’s efforts in this area. If you are interested in digging into the details of how to avoid the worst impact of climate change, I suggest you play an interactive game developed by them and published in the Financial Times. In the game you have to make policy choices during three time periods and depending on what you choose, the world will transition to a low carbon economy faster, slower, or not at all. To play the game, click here (https://ig.ft.com/climate-game/)
A third book that you might want to look at is “Net Positive” which was written by Andrew Winston and Paul Polemans, the former Chairman of Unilever who has also been on IESE’s International Advisory Board for many years. Paul will be interviewed by our former Dean, Jordi Canals in Madrid on June 27th and in Barcelona on June 28th.