2023: A Strange, Tumultuous Year in Sustainability - HBR.org Daily
2023: A Strange, Tumultuous Year in Sustainability
This was a rough year. The world’s biggest challenges generally got worse, or at least more complicated. Our biggest existential threat, climate change, is no longer a scientific model of the future; it’s now a relentless daily challenge. This year, yet again, heat records were shattered, wildfires and dangerous air spread over unprecedented areas, and flooding and storms destroyed thousands of lives. Even the (seemingly) world’s most powerful woman, Taylor Swift, had to postpone a concert in Brazil because of the heat. Scientists tell us that we’ve pushed the planet beyond its ability to support us in critical areas such as availability of water, biodiversity, and, of course, carbon emissions. The year 2023 contained several important sustainability narratives and trends. The author outlines three key ones — the anti-ESG movement, China’s acceleration of a clean economy, and the rise of reporting regulations — and then suggests a series countervailing forces pushing against each. He also outlines several smaller stories that leaders need on their radar as well.
This was a rough year. The world’s biggest challenges generally got worse, or at least more complicated. Our biggest existential threat, climate change, is no longer a scientific model of the future; it’s now a relentless daily challenge. This year, yet again,
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”