Climate and inflation: are we facing unknown unknowns? Or just pretending these risks don’t exist? Being explicit about what we don’t know can help us better understand how climate and ecological risk might play out…. What NASA and psychologists can teach us about risk assessment, and why researchers think we need a comprehensive assessment of the risks for our economy posed by climate change.
Millions of us are dreaming of a brighter, fairer, healthier world. And yet, we are held back, by those who want us to keep believing the false promises of consumerism. It’s time to break free, to choose a better way: a Giant Leap towards sustainable, prosperous and equitable wellbeing for all.
Increase your success with new ideas | The Secret Life of Stuff | Circular business ‘sprint’ beta | BlackRock’s Circular Economy Fund | Seth Godin on recycling | Podcast 68 with Kresse Wesling
Circular business ‘sprint’ beta |Circular rebound – good or bad? | Less is More | Financing Net Zero | Circular and Future Fit| Podcasts 66 and 67
Unpacking the tricky topic of ‘circular economy rebound’: when circular solutions end up causing MORE production and consumption, not less. But is it always a problem? I suggest that some forms of circular economy rebound could be a good outcome for people and planet. I bring in research on rebound, and highlight examples of rebound for clothing, mobility, and smartphones.
Circular – but false – solutions | Rental – misguided research? | Zero waste – a misguided aim? | COP26 events | CXO Magazine sustainability issue | Podcast
Does the circular economy support sustainability? This two-part series begins by unpacking the root causes of the ‘wicked problems’ causing our sustainability crises, and then calls out some of the false solutions emerging from businesses around the world.
Every 10th episode, Catherine Weetman looks back at recent conversations and round up some of the insights we’ve heard:
The theme for this episode is turning off the tap. What do I mean by that? One of my favourite metaphors for the linear economy – our system of taking materials, making stuff, using it and then throwing it away. We’re pushing lots of resources in at one end of the pipe – but it gushes out at the end, and there are leaks all the way along the pipe with pollution going into the atmosphere, air, water and soil.
And all of that, of course, is undermining our ability to thrive on this planet.
So what can we do? We’ve got to radically rethink business as usual, to turn off that flow of resources and waste. We need to be regenerative instead of destructive and wasteful.
We need a different approach, so we have products with a life of their own, not just serving a single user. We need objects designed for reuse and resale once someone no longer needs them, or objects available in multi user systems with customers sharing or renting when needed.
In this episode, we unpack this to understand how it works, and why it helps to separate the benefits of products and services from their cost to the global commons.
Do ‘headline-grabbing’ initiatives that are just a tiny bit ‘less bad’ risk undermining the circular economy? Instead, should we focus on new systems, products and materials that help regenerate resources, living systems and communities? Regenerative solutions could provide a clearer path forward and encourage people (and business and policymakers) to ‘do more good’.
These recent examples of plastic circular economy initiatives illustrate what we could describe as the good, the (less) bad and the ugly. They show why it’s important to consider the ‘big picture’ for circular and sustainability ideas, so you can think about how to maximise positive impact and avoid unforeseen consequences (and reputational risk!).
Save our Soil conference| English Pastoral | Podcast: Joanna Bingham of Footprints Africa | Podcast index | Drawdown guide