Dear Friends, I recently took on the role of Commission Director for the Food System Economics Commission—an independent, interdisciplinary academic commission working to deliver a state-of-the-art scientific assessment on the economics of the transition to healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems. Food systems at all levels suffer from flawed design, supply chain vulnerabilities, and compounding…
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The future of energy is being shaped by many converging forces, among them: Fast-moving multifaceted innovation; The geophysical and human health need for clean energy; Sustained and expanding growth-potential for low-carbon investments; Urban planning, energy-efficient building, and utility reform; Financial innovation, including integration of Earth science insights; The COVID-19 pandemic disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic emergency…
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We are entering a new age for the Earth’s climate and for the way we conceive of finance. “Macrocritical resilience” is a wonky way of talking about reducing risk and achieving health in areas of activity that affect everything you live and strive for. It is a common sense idea: the underlying foundations of value…
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REPORT FROM DAVOS The World Economic Forum has identified all 5 of the leading global risks as related to climate and environment: Extreme weather Climate action failure Natural disasters Biodiversity loss Human-made environmental disasters Climate breakdown is accelerating, and global carbon emissions are not declining. The loss of climate stability is not a small or…
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The Resilience Intel initiative is a coalition effort to develop critical analysis, aggregated reporting strategies, financial innovation, and technological platforms to support the expansion of climate-smart finance to encompass all mainstream finance. The Resilience Intel Charter maps out a strategy to: Network science data to finance, Build climate intelligence, Track external returns on investment, and…
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How much do we value human freedom? For thousands of years people of all variety of experience and influence have debated whether free will exists and which universe would be more full of virtue and good fortune—one that is fated or one that is free. Today, technology is flooding our experience with hard-to-trace information and…
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COP25 Closing Statement from the Citizens’ Climate delegation The future of humankind will be shaped and defined by how well we manage our relationship to the climate system. Nations that move too slowly are ensuring they will face higher costs, expanded vulnerability, and reduced benefit from international cooperation. The Citizens’ Climate delegation came into the…
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CCE COP25 Press Conference The Paris Agreement was achieved four years ago today. How far have we come? What can we do to rapidly upgrade the design of national climate action? On Saturday, December 12, 2015, the 196 nations of the UNFCCC process agreed to work together to end the industrial disruption of the climate…
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Over the next year, all nations must upgrade their national climate action strategies (NDCs). The COP25 will lay the foundation for that work. CCE presents a view of Week 1, along with 5 high-value strategies for upgrading (and mobilizing) national plans for a climate-smart future. Civics, signals, finance, and nature to protect ice, watersheds, and…
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COP25 Strategy Brief from Citizens’ Climate Education, the Engage4Climate Network and Resilience Intel The time between the COP25 (opening today in Madrid) and the COP26 (next November in Glasgow) constitutes an unprecedented moment for creative collaboration in the improvement of human experience and outcomes. During that time, 195 nations must upgrade their Nationally Determined Contributions…
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When we talk about land use, most people immediately get a sense we are talking about something other people do. But land use is deeply involved in our everyday experience, our personal choices, the places we live and how we move through them. Increasingly, in countries large and small, rich and poor, people are migrating…
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The following brief is an outcome document from the High-level Climate and Energy Dialogue held on April 20, 2017, at the UN Foundation in Washington, DC, as part of the series Accelerating Progress, Advancing Innovation. The dialogue was moderated by Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO Sustainable Energy for All. The…
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