Tim Mohin: Pessimism or Positivity?
On the doomer side, the pessimists view incremental progress as a smoke screen obscuring the actions needed to reverse out-of-control global warming. They argue that optimists inject complacency into the climate movement.
On the optimist side, the prevailing belief is that we can incentivize innovation and cooperation to beat climate change. They argue that pessimism leads to giving up.
Stories emerged this week on both sides of this divide:
For the Doomers:
- Unprecedented climate change-linked floods in Brazil caused one of the world’s largest climate migrations.
- Scientists admit we’ve surpassed 1.5°C and will likely reach at least 2.5C.
- Record high atmospheric CO2 levels were reached recently, and we saw the largest yearly increase.
- Last summer was the warmest in 2000 years.
Tony Leiserowitz, a Yale professor on climate change communication, said, “The notion of a ‘doomer camp’ is overstated… In fact, the far larger and more important problem is that most Americans are not worried enough.”
Illustration: Fiona Katauskas/The Guardian
For the Optimists:
- Renewables recently reached 30% of global power generation.
- Battery storage is becoming integral in stabilizing renewable-powered grids.
- New tech like carbon capture is coming online.
Christiana Figueres, one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, wrote in an op-ed this week explaining why stubborn optimism is critical, saying, “A sense of despair is understandable, but it robs us of our agency, makes us vulnerable to mis- and disinformation, and prevents the radical collaboration we need.” In a similar article released this week, climate scientists Michael Mann and Katharine Hayhoe said, “The facts dictate urgency and agency. Our future is still in our hands.”
Tim Mohin is weekly smart read contributor to ESG News. Tim is globally recognized sustainable business executive. He is a partner and director for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in climate and sustainability.
Prior to BCG, Tim was the EVP and Chief Sustainability Officer with leading carbon accounting software company – Persefoni . He is the former Chief Executive of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the world’s largest sustainability reporting standard.
He brings more than 20 years’ experience leading sustainability functions at three Fortune 500 companies – Intel, Apple and AMD – Tim has deep experience developing strategies to embed sustainability into business. Tim also led the development of environmental policy in the Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Senate, including the Clean Air Act. He is a sustainability advisor to the Financial Conduct Authority of the United Kingdom, the Board of BASF, Workiva and others. Previously, Tim was a founder and Chairman of the Board for the Responsible Business Alliance.
He is the author of Changing Business from the Inside Out and a frequent speaker and writer on sustainability and corporate responsibility. Tim writes a weekly ESG Newsletter, and is one of LinkedIn’s 2022 Top Voices in the Green Economy. He is consistently recognized in the top 20 of Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders.
