How we use moments matters. This summer's heatwaves and adverse weather around the world is having a material impact. Fortunately the stories, stats and solutions exist. Here are 5 you can use in you your conversations and a bonus 6th for you to explore.
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Europe's 2026 heatwave is costing the EU an estimated 1% of GDP this year, around €180 billion, roughly the entire growth forecast wiped out. Labour productivity is the biggest driver. Triodos also cites higher food prices; constrained power generation; rising electricity costs; and disruption to roads, railways and inland waterways as spillover effects of extreme heat. Adaptation will cut losses by around 40%; mitigation is the primary lever as well as reducing upstream emissions and carbon pricing. [Read more] →Question: How do we have a sensible conversation about growth? What brakes can be applied? What are your thoughts? - please let me know by reply.
The solutions exist in theory and in silos, now we need to be intentional about how we collaborate to implement at scale. Nature-based water strategies combat drought by restoring ecosystems to absorb, store, and slowly release water. Core tactics include reviving wetlands, adopting regenerative farming to improve soil organic matter, planting native trees, and implementing urban sponge concepts like permeable pavements and rain catchments to recharge groundwater. [UK Parliment]
Scottish Association for Marine Science director Nick Owens writes that even at a 140-year-old institution, concern was limited to the impact on the Ocean rather than the interests of the Ocean. The fix was not a target but a vote, one that can be cast against the organisation and is being written into its Articles of Association so it cannot quietly lapse. Read more to discover how they arrived at the decision, how the seat is being made to work in practice, and where they hope it leads next. [Read more]
Water UK, the trade body that represents water companies in Britain and Northern Ireland, said in a publicly available written briefing to MPs that the government’s water forecasts were “fatally flawed” and “explicitly exclude” datacentres. It wrote that the government “makes not a single mention of water” in its policy for delivering AI growth zones, its AI for science strategy or its AI opportunities action plan. The government has designated datacentres as critical national infrastructure, meaning water companies may be powerless to restrict their water use as a result. →Question: How can you make sure your organisations AI strategy is aligned with the climate, nature, and water strategy? [Read more]
Climate risk is now reaching businesses through the legal function, not only sustainability. The Law Society has published guidance turning solicitors' existing professional duties into practice for in-house counsel, with a checklist teams of any size can use to embed climate into legal advice, contracts, policies and reporting, across regulatory compliance, disclosure, governance, greenwashing and litigation exposure. →Action: Send the checklist to your in-house legal team and ask which of it they are already covering. [Read more]
6! Test which climate levers actually move the dial
En-ROADS is a simulator from Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan that lets you set policy and technology levers and see what they do to temperature, extreme weather, energy use, health and GDP out to 2100. For target setting, it shows what really moves the dial. It builds your understanding of the broader problem, the challenge and the levers, and informs your thinking as you develop targets and climate strategy. It also produces graphs worth taking to your board and management. [Discover here]
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