Rahul Chandran’s Post

#ClimateWeekNYC was busy hosting, speaking, and attending events spanning industry, but with a common purpose of activating business to address climate change for the betterment of people, profit, and planet. Reflecting on the invaluable experiences, some ideas stuck with us: 👥 Rooms are full! People are eager to be back in person to engage in climate action. Despite a loud minority of backlash, there is palpable participation and momentum in this shared vision of a better world through better business. ⏩ People who come to Climate Week are converted. Sharing ideas and innovations with a full room like-minded people is important, but we also have to take these conversations back to the rooms where they are not yet happening. How can we create and prepare evangelists to scale the progress we boast here? 👪 Climate is actually about communities. We can't lose sight of the core idea that protecting our environment is about protecting the people who call it home. Anchoring the transformation not just in terms of carbon emissions or rising temperatures, but in the health, food, and future of humanity is essential to understanding the urgency and collective responsibility. 👩🎓 As business embarks on a paradigm shift with long term goals and impacts, it is critical to give the next generation of leaders a seat at the table. Collaboration, mentorship, and education are key and a place where CSB thrives. What was your biggest takeaway from last week, and how are you bringing it forward into the months ahead?

Last week we virtually joined New York Climate Week, with this year’s theme focusing on the urgency to act now. Through many amazing speeches and sessions, one thing was clear: collaboration will always be at the heart of creating lasting change. It’s one of the reasons that Sledge is constantly working with others and building new relationships, to help us achieve our sustainability goals. 🧑🤝🧑 Our efforts can no longer be piecemeal, and we cannot wait for those who are failing to take bold action. To prevent irreparable damage to the planet we must change course immediately. No single entity or individual can solve this crisis, meaning all industries need to work together, as well as governments across the globe. 🌳 Although the scale of the challenge was made clear, it doesn’t feel impossible to achieve. As one of the speakers, Tim Lenton from the University of Exeter, pointed out: “decisive policy in one area triggers a tipping point elsewhere." As an agency we’re trying to create positive change, while also learning from the success of others, so this felt like a vitally important lesson. ♻️ Learnings from NY Climate Week have really inspired us to think about our own work and the ways we’re already using collaboration successfully. For example, the work of our client, @WeAreFamily (WAFF), on the Youth to the Front programme is driving meaningful change through intergenerational collaboration. Supporting individuals and organisations who are challenging racism, injustice and systemic inequalities, the work of the programme shows just how much difference we can make by working together. It's why we're making a commitment to seek other collaborative projects with social change at their heart. Whether it’s businesses reimagining how supply chains operate, or the shaping of new policy, we’re excited to see cross-sector partnerships happen across the world. By bringing together diverse perspectives, resources, we truly believe we can drive massive change on a global scale. #ItsTime #ClimateAction #Sustainability #BeyondBusinessAsUsual #Partnerships #CollaborationForChange #NYClimateWeek

Highlights and learnings from SF Climate Week! 🤝 more cross expert collaboration is needed. When Dan Chu and I were hosting the shifting trillions talk, it was so clear that amazing thinkers were dealing with problems that other impressive thinkers in slightly different areas had immediate solutions. We need these simple wins to accelerate. This point was reinforced with the MCJ Collective portfolio breakfast with Cody Simms, Leone Baron and Jenn Beening. 😳🤑 Perverse incentives are so prevalent. We are often forced into worse technologies and solutions that cost more/or may perform worse because incentives structures often incentivize what is traditional. This scales from something as niche as financial advisor compensation all the way to our inability to price in the externalities of the pollution we create and the nature we destroy. 💡😎People are so adaptive and brilliant. Whether it’s going to Otherlab to meet Saul Griffith or James McBride or… being hosted to comedy and founder insights with Zoe Samuel at Starshot Capital… or hearing what Drew Wilkinson, Anshuman Bapna Terra.do, Lizzy Kolar Scope Zero, Brad Stevenson/Nick Gardner/Amber Dean at Premiums for the Planet, or Pete Hellwig/RAVI S MIKKELSEN/Arielle Terry are doing at ATMOS Financial or Usman Fahimullah at Green Jobs Board or Matthias Muehlbauer at OnePointFive (opf.degree) or Beneficial State Bank (wow, isn’t this list pretty long?!) or Andrew Behar or Eugene Kirpichov at Work on Climate or Ben Broché at Climate Policy Initiative ARE DOING TO ACCELERATE (… got drunk on inspiration there) 🪩🕺💃🤓How fun, driven, and collaborative this community is… The climate community is America at its best, making things better, working hard, and having fun. Highlights were playing ping pong twice with Drew and the atmos team. 🙋♀️🙋♂️more people want to join! And we have to think about getting more people into climate. Had an amazing time with Alyah K. talking to folks about working in climate! Also had businesses outside climate like JLL and Will Cassriel supporting! There was space for everyone and events everywhere. I definitely didn’t get to see everything and that was proved impossible! …. All in all, yes, we are not going fast enough, but we are accelerating and with the type of people and ideas and inventions, we are going to surprise people with the progress we make!! Let’s gooooooo!!!!!!

The theme of this year’s Climate Week in NYC was “It’s time”, underscoring the urgency for climate investment and action. Our colleagues Charlotte Brunnström, Maria Bystedt and Elin Hallerby have returned from an intense and inspiring week - here are their impressions and 5 key takeaways: 👉 Time to process the data:  With cutting-edge technology and AI, we now have unprecedented opportunities to gather the crucial information needed to drive impactful action. Now there is a critical need for better tools and frameworks to turn the data insights into actionable, transformative change. 👉 Systemic change through collaboration:  There’s an urgent need to adopt systemic solutions that bring in the blind spots around inequality and poverty to ensure that we meet our climate ambition. Too many organisations are still working in silos; it’s time to break down the barriers and embrace shared visions, common agendas, and transparency. Together, we can achieve so much more. 👉 Holistic approach: We need to balance planetary boundaries with social and economic needs. A just transition and thriving communities are crucial for companies survival, so they need to be a positive agent of change. 👉 Policies: When policies are updated to support new goals, they often have ripple effects and can drive significant changes across multiple sectors. 👉 Innovative funding: When traditional funding sources may not be sufficient or willing to take the risks associated with new technologies, innovative funding for decarbonisation is pivotal. By leveraging innovative funding strategies, we can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy, with economic models that take into consideration social and economic needs, and mitigate the impacts of climate change. #nyclimateweek #ClimateAction

#ClimateWeek D-2. Are you ready? And here is another zoom on our second event that we are glad to host with makesense and Horizon Media. A talk focused on "The Climate Action Square: How can we collectively shift narratives and translate them into bold transformation and massive action?" We will explore how the current system struggles with the "inaction triangle" where politicians, businesses, and citizens defer responsibility, and how we can shift from this triangle to a dynamic "action square" by uniting businesses, governments, citizens, and storytellers. Through actionable narratives, we will discuss how to inspire collective action and accelerate the transition toward greater sustainability. At the corporate level, the gap between sustainability strategies and operational realities hinders genuine commitment from employees, consumers, and society. We will work on identifying strategic and operational mechanisms needed to build a compelling, shared vision connected to actionable roadmaps. We aim to empower every employee, partner, and client to rally for the climate transition. Additionally, we will explore how effective narratives can make the climate movement relatable and impactful, by connecting with personal stories and immediate needs. When ? September 25th 2024, 8:30 - 11am EDT Where ? Horizon Media, Inc. 75 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 United States Join our inspiring panel, moderated by our co-founder Guillaume Richard de Vesvrotte with Boaz Paldi, Chief Creative Officer at UNDP, Kristy Drutman, Founder of Brown Girl Green and Co-Founder of Green Jobs Board and Léa Klein, Founder and President of jobs that makesense Asia to get valuable insights. Come discuss with us the critical role of diversity and inclusion in this transition, ensuring all voices are represented in the shift to a sustainable economy. Our talk will also explore how innovations, like generative AI and new consulting models, can empower organizations to drive meaningful change. Register here : https://lnkd.in/e9MiS2RV

Save yourself or save the planet? Where to start? Since we're all made of stardust, here's a better framing: you *and* the planet deserve to flourish, in harmony. Why choose? I walked away from NYC Climate Week invigorated. Not only because of the incredible innovations that people are launching or imagining, but because they are asking the right questions about what it will take. How can we adapt to change by setting our own terms for engagement, instead of constantly reacting? How do we push back against the glorification of busyness? How do we generate collective optimism and connection, in spite of the headlines perpetuating polarization and division? I attended a wide variety of events last week, with folks who are working on climate solutions, civic engagement, policy, workforce development, philanthropy, and more. I was encouraged to hear leaders challenging a status quo that perpetuates superficial action, leaving our minds, bodies, ideas, and planet to suffer. Here are some highlights: 1) Imagine how Mother Earth would manage a Human Crisis. Would the planet launch a marketing campaign? Would the trees, oceans, deserts, and glaciers fight over the truth and solutions? No, the planet is generous and patient. It heals itself as it heals us. 2) Free up capacity for design and responsiveness. We've been on our heels for generations. We should hop off the hamster wheel and carve out time every week for curiosity. When things are truly urgent, that time can be repurposed into response mode (instead of trying to layer it on). 3) Trust everyday people to drive remarkable change. People are hungry to activate their ingenuity, build bridges, and collectively flourish. How can we unleash them, in schools, workplaces, politics, and more? To the amazing folks who inspired me last week, thank you! I can't wait to build forward together. Jane Park Annie Riley Judith Martinez Jailan Adly Priti Bhattarai Blair Glencorse Seth Cochran Lorén (Trull) Cox, PhD Jennifer Erickson Catherine Crystal Foster Laurie Franz Leslie Gross Jim Pitofsky Neil Ruiz Sam Whittemore Daniel Oscar Erica Hamilton Karen Y. Johns Sam Charner Hilary Manzo John Davies M. Randall Strickland The next time you are gazing at the perfection of the stars, or the beauty of the oceans, just remember this: you too are worthy of admiration. If you care for yourself, you care for all of us. 

Just arrived at #NewYorkClimateWeek whose theme this year is “It’s Time” Which is actually a more thought provoking slogan than at first sight: ❓ Was it not “time” the previous 15 years? ❓ And what, a little more precisely than ‘action’, is it time for? It feels like “the urgency to act” isn’t really what’s in question here this week. People are impressively busy with triple-booked agendas bursting at the seams. Everyone appears to recognise the need to not just stand there and do something – however it isn’t clear to all what that something really is. “Transition” sounds like something we should all be doing ‘urgently,’ but that carries with it a myriad of different strategies and dilemmas. With a spectrum of strategies between disruptive innovation and tepid incrementalism, it’s difficult to make sense of what transition means to everyone without spending some time digging into what is really happening. People want the ‘data’ to give them “the answer” but that only makes sense if it’s addressing the same question. And it’s very clear that there are multiple questions circulating, with very different motivations:  🌍 What’s best for the world in the long run?  🌍 What’s the most difference we could make right now?  🌍 What’s the easiest change today which benefits society?  🌍 What would reduce our financial risk based on all we know?  🌍 What metric makes us look like we’re doing something? These questions, and the world of difference between their motivations, frequently get muddled in the din of debate in the same session of a crowded conference. Which makes it harder to figure out what needs to be done next, even when you know “it’s time” to do it. Which means that outside the Climate Week cacophony, there’s need for some slower thinking and genuine capacity building. The capacity to work out what the right question is, before rushing urgently to find an answer. The capability to resolve tensions that might exist between climate and nature strategies with corporate business planning - without these becoming trite trade-offs. A fresh perspective and new perception of the impacts through supply chain - in particular the role of the money system in accelerating or preventing change. The new skillsets required to understand how to catalyse new approaches so that they can scale up to become the new, sustainable system that we are talking about. More on capacity building, nature, catalysing change later this week… Climate Safe Lending Network Volans Topo Finance Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

As a young person, I firmly believe that my generation has a vital role to play in building climate-resilient communities. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and it is imperative that we take action to mitigate its effects and adapt to its impacts.First and foremost, young people bring a unique perspective to the table. We are often more open-minded and willing to challenge the status quo, which is essential for finding innovative solutions to the complex problem of climate change. Our energy, creativity, and passion can drive meaningful change and inspire others to take action.Moreover, youth are often the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and water scarcity. This vulnerability gives us a deep understanding of the urgent need for climate action and motivates us to work towards creating a more resilient future.One key way that young people can contribute to building climate-resilient communities is through education and awareness-raising. By learning about climate change and its impacts, we can share our knowledge with others and encourage them to take action. This can involve organizing workshops, campaigns, and initiatives that promote sustainable practices and climate-resilient behaviors.Another important role for youth is in advocating for climate policies and practices that support resilience. We can engage with local leaders, participate in decision-making processes, and demand that our voices be heard. By doing so, we can ensure that the needs and concerns of young people are taken into account in climate decision-making.Furthermore, young people can play a critical role in implementing climate-resilient projects and initiatives. We can volunteer, intern, or work with organizations focused on sustainability, conservation, and climate action. By gaining hands-on experience and building our skills, we can become effective agents of change.Finally, youth can foster international cooperation and collaboration on climate issues. We can connect with young people from other countries, share our experiences, and learn from each other's successes and challenges. By building a global network of young climate leaders, we can amplify our impact and drive collective action.In conclusion, the role of youth in building climate-resilient communities is multifaceted and essential. We bring a unique perspective, energy, and motivation to the table, and our contributions can make a significant difference. As young people, we must seize this opportunity to shape our future and create a more resilient, sustainable world for all. #Plants_for_the_planet

April is #EarthMonth, with #EarthDay coming up next week on April 22. We're joining in the conversation by sharing Q & A's from Elizabeth Weaver Engel and Shelly Cumbie Alcorn with the Association Climate Action Coalition, to help tackle this issue of #climatechange together. Question 1: Climate change is a massive global problem. Can #associations really have a meaningful impact? Answer: One of the flaws in our current thinking about climate change is that it’s at once too big (“Only the U.N. and other large international organizations can save us!”) and too small (“If I don’t buy an electric car and install solar panels on my house right now, climate change is all my fault!”). The reality is that it’s going to take an “all of the above” approach. Individual action. Family action. Community action. Organizational action. Societal action. National action. International action. None of these is enough on its own – it’s going to take all of them. Associations can absolutely have an impact. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the association industry employs approximately 200,000 people. That’s a lot of commuting and office space, all of which have a carbon footprint associations could reduce or eliminate. Per ASAE’s 2021 Operating Ratio Report, associations generated $13 billion in revenue from meetings and events in the prior 12-month period. That’s a lot of events that have carbon footprints as well associations could reduce. But in a larger sense, the type of focused group action that will be required to address the Anthropocene climate disruption is precisely what associations are best at. People associate in the first place in order to accomplish important goals they’re unable to accomplish alone. Associations are perfect social laboratories to hold conversations and develop change agendas to help the industries and professions we serve take simple steps toward creating a better world for all of us. Associations are accustomed to tailoring our communications to groups with different levels of knowledge and information. Association executives already freely and generously share solutions and good practices with our colleagues in the industry. Associations regularly mobilize our members and the public to encourage group action. Associations have thousands of lobbyists and government relations professionals at our disposal who are skilled at influencing policy and policymakers. All of these things are the association industry’s “secret sauce” that make us ideally suited to being a key player in addressing this “wicked” problem. https://lnkd.in/dJzta2aP

Thanks to Associations North for sharing a series of Q&A posts related to associations and climate change: Climate change is a massive global problem. Can associations really have a meaningful impact? https://lnkd.in/gQWBRapw My board is skeptical. How can I persuade them this [sustainability] is something worth doing? https://lnkd.in/grH8vfXb My members aren’t sure whether climate change will affect them or how. What information should I be providing to them? https://lnkd.in/gZ5HhdzZ I’m looking for ideas. What are other associations doing to address climate change? https://lnkd.in/gkyVYjg8