{"id":21730,"date":"2023-09-24T08:23:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T08:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/investing\/opinion-the-new-obstacle-to-climate-innovation-activists\/"},"modified":"2023-09-24T08:23:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T08:23:54","slug":"opinion-the-new-obstacle-to-climate-innovation-activists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microloannexus.com\/?p=21730","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: The new obstacle to climate innovation: activists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Climate change used to be a space in which businesses were excited to get involved. But nowadays, many executives tell me they\u2019re afraid of being branded \u201cgreenwashers.\u201d It\u2019s a risk to company reputation they might not feel is worth the trouble.<\/p>\n

Activists are the pulse of the climate-change movement. But their increasingly aggressive and\u00a0public\u00a0criticisms\u00a0of climate-conscious businesses are having the opposite effect to the one intended, which is making the collective fight against global warming more difficult.<\/p>\n

\n

Read:<\/strong> Tens of thousands of climate activists around the world to demand end to fossil fuels as weather events grow<\/p>\n

This combative dynamic serves no one \u2014 not activists, not businesses and certainly not the planet.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there\u2019s a better way. <\/p>\n

As the founder and managing partner of a climate-focused growth-equity fund, I\u2019ve seen the most progress when companies and activists put blame on the back burner and devote their energy to forming trusting relationships with one another. Meaningful progress on global warming will be built upon these personal partnerships.<\/p>\n

I know that might sound unlikely, given the concerning amount of enmity that\u2019s accumulated between these two worlds. But it\u2019s not.<\/p>\n

Consider the U.S.-based company BlocPower, which modernizes buildings with clean-energy infrastructure. It recruits customers from communities most affected by climate change \u2014 the people, often from communities of color, whose voices activists amplify. The strong bonds between company leadership and the people they serve has fueled BlocPower\u2019s success. It has\u00a0raised $250 million in capital\u00a0and was named one of Time\u2019s 100 most influential companies of 2022. (Note: My fund has invested in BlocPower.)<\/p>\n

Sadly, partnerships like these are not the norm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business leaders consider themselves pragmatists, ready to apply their technical know-how to innovative solutions. Some have discreetly shared with me that aggressive rhetoric and vilification from environmental-justice groups impedes them from reaching their goals. They say that it can create a culture of fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the activist side, frustration and urgency dominate. This is understandable, given how long they\u2019ve been working to hold businesses and individuals accountable for their roles in creating the climate catastrophe. Without the heroic efforts of climate activists over the decades, we\u2019d never have come this far in confronting the problem.<\/p>\n

Many activists feel that since businesses created this problem, they can\u2019t be trusted to help solve it \u2014 and even if they could, their methodical approach is too slow. Among activists, anger has sometimes risen to such a pitch that groups like Just Stop Oil have taken drastic actions such as\u00a0tying themselves to soccer goalposts and throwing soup onto famous paintings.<\/p>\n

Businesses and activists who want to mitigate global warming approach that goal from vastly different perspectives. But the problem isn\u2019t that they have different views; it\u2019s that they\u2019re missing opportunities to work together.<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s easy to suggest that business and activist communities sideline their differences for the common good. It\u2019s much harder to see a world where that\u2019s a reality. It will have to start with a return to basics.<\/p>\n

In the climate world, we desperately need human connections that transcend each side\u2019s overarching biases about the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When we create silos, no one wins. Executives would benefit from a deeper understanding of what activists are doing on the ground. The simplest way to do that is with proximity \u2014 getting involved in community-based efforts to mitigate climate change by joining groups, attending events and activities and lending their voices from a private-sector perspective.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> Climate change: Newsom will sign California\u2019s first-in-nation law requiring big companies to report all emissions<\/p>\n

Companies should also strive to incorporate activists as advisers on climate-related projects. But this shouldn\u2019t be just asking for input. Activists should be appointed as board advisers so their perspectives can be meaningfully heard and implemented.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For activists, it\u2019s important to emphasize that no one is expecting them to not be angry. They should be \u2014 we all are. But they need to consider more constructive ways of channeling our collective anger. Calling out companies doesn\u2019t reduce fossil-fuel-generated
\n CL00,
\n +0.33%<\/bg-quote>
\n carbon dioxide levels; advances and investments in clean energy
\n ICLN
\n do. Even if they maintain a healthy skepticism of business and finance, activists must realize that the private sector offers the most direct path to climate-change mitigation.<\/p>\n

If environmental activists are approached by businesses to work together, they should seriously consider it. Getting inside the belly of the beast isn\u2019t selling out; it\u2019s applying energy to a cause to make a major impact.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If activists and businesses can come together, they\u2019ll produce a joint energy greater than the sum of its parts. Environmental groups need efficiency and cash from companies, and companies need the enthusiasm and moral compass of activists.<\/p>\n

Read:<\/strong> UAE oil exec and leader of COP28 climate summit tells U.N., energy industry to \u2018get after gigatons\u2019 of emissions<\/p>\n

With more stakeholders working together on major sustainability solutions, a more diverse set of voices will naturally be involved in decision making. This will ensure their actions are closely tied to community needs.<\/p>\n

Climate-aligned businesses and activists can draw on their substantial networks to direct widespread attention to certain pressing issues, such as adaptation for human migration prompted by climate change. This will create a strong center of gravity to attract private and public attention to these causes.<\/p>\n

No matter where they\u2019re coming from, businesses and activist groups in the climate space are made up of individuals who care deeply about preventing a climate catastrophe. To succeed, they\u2019ll need to set aside their identification with their own clan and focus on working together to protect our future.<\/p>\n

Tenzin\u00a0Seldon is founder and managing partner of\u00a0Pulse Fund, a growth-equity climate fund.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Climate change used to be a space in which businesses were excited to get involved. But nowadays, many executives tell me they\u2019re afraid of being branded \u201cgreenwashers.\u201d It\u2019s a risk to company reputation they might not feel is worth the trouble. Activists are the pulse of the climate-change movement. But their increasingly aggressive and\u00a0public\u00a0criticisms\u00a0of climate-conscious<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-21730","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-investing"},"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: The new obstacle to climate innovation: activists | Micro Loan Nexus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Climate change used to be a space in which businesses were excited to get involved. 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