ClimateVoice

Urge 3M, Amazon, Apple, Cisco, The Coca-Cola Company, Ford Motor Company, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Meta, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Qualcomm, Salesforce, and Visa to step up their climate leadership. It’s time to call on these companies to use their influence to catalyze meaningful climate policy action and live up to their green reputations. Why are these 15 companies undermining their sustainability commitments by lobbying against climate policy? Leadership means no longer lobbying against climate policies via your trade associations. These companies must close the gap between their public support of climate policy while simultaneously funding efforts that oppose it. It’s time they stop letting their trade associations such as the Business Roundtable and U.S. Chamber of Commerce speak for them on climate. #GuiltByTradeAssociation #LeadOnClimatePolicy

I first met Maren Costa in September 2019 on the streets of Seattle during the Global Climate Strike. She was with a contingent of Amazon employees who were walking out in protest of the company's lack of transparency and accountability over its environmental impact (this was pre Climate Pledge). In fact, it was the actions of Amazon employees, especially those in Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) that got the company to make the Climate Pledge a short time later. My colleagues and I had been doing similar work organizing employees around sustainability at Microsoft - we were also in the streets as a group, having finished marching through its corporate campus with signs and a megaphone protesting the company's work with fossil fuel companies. I'll never forgot the moment the two groups of tech workers met and coalesced into a large group in front of Seattle City Hall. It was a light bulb moment to see our colleagues across companies organizing to put pressure on tech companies to take the climate crisis seriously, and as the largest, wealthiest, most powerful organizations on the planet - do something meaningful about it. The result? 5 years later, Big Tech companies are widely considered corporate sustainability leaders - a low bar tbh, but that's a different story. I've come to know Maren as a fellow community organizer, climate activist, and friend in the years since. She is fierce, tireless, and understands what kind of change will be required to confront the climate polycrisis, and most importantly, what each of us can do about it (hint: get organized at work!) Check out this recent interview she did with another legend, the one and only shit stirrer himself Bill Weihl from ClimateVoice. And be sure to check out Maren ON NETFLIX (bc she is climate famous 💅)

In this issue of #ClimateVoices, I'm excited to be interviewing Sophia Powless, an Indigenous climate educator, artist, and activist committed to fostering a deep understanding of climate issues and amplifying the voices of Indigenous communities. As a graduate of the inaugural class of the Columbia Climate School, Sophia holds a Master of Arts in Climate & Society and earned her BA in environmental studies from Adelphi University. Sophia is a facilitator with The Climate Reality Project which educates and empowers leaders to connect climate change with their community. She currently serves as a Program Coordinator at The Aspen Institute's "This Is Planet Ed" initiative, working to mobilize the education sector for climate action.

It was an honor to collaborate on this Connect the Dots article with the good people at Climate Voice, and especially Bill Weihl. Bill is one of the most ethical, inspiring and courageous sustainability leaders I know! We asked what would it take for ‘sustainability professionals’ to raise their practice and standing to deliver on the transformational change we need? What does ‘professional’ look like in the context of responding to the magnitude and urgency of the challenge with decisive systemic, cross-cutting and scaled up transformations? To inform our thinking about 'professionalism', we found insights from some more established and trusted professions, like doctors, lawyers and engineers. Serious professionals demonstrate certain qualities that distinguish themselves from laypeople, including a higher professional ‘duty of care’ to society. So what could, and arguably should, that look like for sustainability professionals? We think that by combining essential certain professional qualities with what we know about sustainability (and unsustainability) we find some useful ideas: both principled and practical (see attached article). Of course, we don’t have all the answers. Who does? So, what do you think is needed for sustainability professionals to raise their collective effectiveness?  Some initial responses to our article have been:  - “Great food for thought for sustainability leaders in all sectors”, Georges Dyer, E.D., Intentional Endowment Networks. - “All excellent points…,” from the leader of an Ivy League research center - “Thank you, …for sharing this insight into what defines a sustainability professional.” Michelle Benavides, E.D., International Institute for Sustainability Professionals (ISSP). - “…sets a high bar for sustainability professionals, and that's a good thing” (Bob Willard, sustainable business expert, author, and ISSP Hall of Fame member). However, another internationally recognized sustainability leader sounded a more cautionary note: i.e. “sustainability professionals are by and large sanitizing the destruction.” E.g. helping to promote massive growth in their company’s/client’s (and humanity’s) ecological footprint, by promoting much smaller, performative 'impact' initiatives. The reality, of course, is that we all have a long way to go, yet with wonderful potential for transformation! Our article proposes a ‘higher-bar future’ for the sustainability profession: more robust, ethical, credible and hopeful. One that better serves society and this greater purpose. Please, take a few minutes to read, reflect and comment on the article. We’d love to hear from you, either by comment here, DM me and/or ClimateVoice. And stay tuned for deeper dive posts in the coming months. Ken Pucker Joel Makower John Elkington Anthony Leiserowitz Auden Schendler Richard Barker Mads Oscar Haumann Joana Barata Correia Holly Alpine (née Beale) Kim Hallwood ClimateVoice Deborah McNamara Second Nature

Despite our best efforts, global emissions are still rising. It’s clear: voluntary action alone won’t cut it. As #sustainability pros, one of the most powerful tools we have to drive systemic change is advocating for strong climate policies at every level of government. Every company has the ability to influence public #policy. Join ClimateVoice to learn how employees in any role can step up to promote strong corporate leadership and policy #advocacy. Free webinar: https://bit.ly/4ii7nz4

📢 Yesterday, I had the opportunity to present our shareholder resolution to Microsoft’s board and shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, urging the company to assess the risks associated with applying advanced technology to enable fossil fuel expansion. For those that missed it, I'm sharing a video of my presentation. This marks a significant milestone in our multi-year accountability effort, and we are proud to have reached ~10% in the shareholder vote. This is huge: it means that ~$220 Billion in shareholder value shares our concern, and we doubled the threshold for resubmission. Regardless of the final outcome, we remain steadfast in our commitment to advancing shareholder transparency, corporate accountability, and promoting environmentally responsible AI practices. I’m deeply grateful for the support along the way, particularly from our partners at As You Sow for filing this resolution on our behalf. Press release here: https://lnkd.in/e4QkxhB5 Resolution: https://lnkd.in/gcTzNjns Results: https://lnkd.in/gk7g6PNC #ResponsibleAI #Shareholder #Vote #accountability #NoTech4Oil #NoAI4Oil #advancedtechnology #AI #openAI #chatGPT #ShareholderActivism #CorporateAccountability #SustainabilityMatters #FossilFuelTransparency #EnvironmentalLeadership #EthicalTech #ClimateAction #SustainableFuture #TechForGood

Today's issue of ClimateVoice's #ConnectTheDots newsletter is a must read, especially for current or aspiring #sustainabilityprofessionals. Thanks to Bill Weihl and David Waldron for co-authoring this important piece and for the insights around how sustainability professionals are ideally working in the best interest of society, prioritizing a 'duty of care' over potentially conflicting (corporate) interests. "It is now widely expected (and often legally mandated) that well-established professions demonstrate a higher duty of care to society than non-professionals. When a structural engineer certifies a bridge as safe, it means more than a layperson saying: ‘the bridge is safe.’ When a medical doctor prescribes treatment, it means more than a layperson’s health tips. And, while all of us ought to be concerned with health, this doesn’t qualify us as health professionals. For credible and trusted professions, the public expects a higher, professional ‘duty of care,’ since, in many ways, their lives depend on it... Given the increasing complexity and risks to humanity and planet from the systemic degradation of biophysical and social systems, there is an increasing need for highly qualified sustainability professionals. However, achieving the credibility and trust of the more established professions won’t be easy... Unfortunately, employers and/or powerful corporate lobbies and government actors can unreasonably restrict or punish individual sustainability professionals for speaking and acting ethically. As with other more established professions, professional associations are needed to ‘speak with the voice of their members’ to protect individual professionals."

💬 Our December issue of #ConnectTheDots is hot off the presses and co-authored by David Waldron and Bill Weihl. This issue digs into the evolving expectations of sustainability professionals and explores questions like: • What does it mean to be ‘professional’? What can be learned from more established professions, like doctors, engineers, and lawyers? • What is the current state of the sustainability profession? How can the practice and standing of ‘sustainability professionals’ be raised to meet today’s challenges? • How can sustainability professionals be more effective in combating the climate crisis? 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gukttTAC

Thank you Maren Costa for joining us this week for a ClimateVoices interview. This one is a must read, especially at this time of year when consumerism ramps up. (If you haven't yet seen the new Netflix documentary that features Maren's story - Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy - now is the time). "Ultimately, Amazon’s goal is to eliminate every barrier—any trace of friction—between you and buying something, all under the guise of “convenience,” all to maximize profit—and all the while hiding the massive cost—the exploitation of workers, the massive carbon emissions, and the destruction of our planet. A price we will all have to pay... Because the climate crisis isn’t, and never has been, just about emissions. It’s about root causes—like unchecked capitalism, wealth inequality, imperialism, and the immense concentration of power in the hands of a few—that drive environmental destruction. When tech employees recognize their power and wield it collectively, they’re not just advocating for better corporate practices—they’re building a countervailing force capable of reshaping the system itself. That’s how we turn the tide on the climate crisis."

I’m honored to receive the inaugural Bill Weihl Climate Policy Hero Award! This Award is given to an individual who demonstrates ongoing leadership in the recruitment, education, and implementation of a peer employee group working to advocate for climate policy and accountability within their employer. Amazing to be honored with an award named after Bill Weihl who has put his heart and soul into this work. I'm glad to be part of Microsoft sustainability community and thankful for those that built it Drew Wilkinson and Holly Alpine (née Beale) along with my partner in crime and catalyst Yulia Broyhill on the Escape the Chamber campaign. I am proud to currently work on the SCC with Marybeth Bucklen, MBA Matt Hellman Katie Krupin Vicky Chan and hope to continue to learn and hopefully inspire others to take positive climate action. I’m thrilled to attend #GreenBiz25 hosted by @TrellisGroup, where I’ll have the opportunity to connect with other corporate sustainability professionals and leaders. I’m truly grateful to the @ClimateVoice team for honoring me with this award, and to those who continue to provide #Strength&Inspiration around climate work every day. We all have a responsibility to step up and use our voices to address the climate crisis and accelerate change. See you in Phoenix! https://lnkd.in/gcWFuJwb