To speed corporate action on net zero, let’s be frank

This article popped up in my news feed the other day.  Being absolutely brutal, I think its premise is completely wrong.  It implies that people in the risk management industry don’t understand the increase in physical climate risk that’s occurring as a result of global warming.  It then recites a series of points that most professionals have read a thousand or more times. 

The premise of pieces like this is that the reader is a knucklehead who is oblivious to climate-related tail risk.  If only they knew what the author knows... Well, articles like this don’t normally follow up and explain the actions that should follow, beyond a broad appeal to accelerate net-zero efforts.

For most people who have lived their entire lives under the shadow of climate change, observed inaction is due more to apathy than ignorance.  For some, climate inaction is wilful, avaricious, and strategic, so it is anything but a situation where they are unaware of the underlying research.  

Here, I want to evaluate the “knucklehead” approach to climate risk communication for its rhetorical strength.  I should say that it will seem as though I’m tearing the linked article harshly, but it’s really just an example of the phenomenon I’m discussing.  My beef is with the entire genre – climate scientists bemoaning a general lack of understanding in the community and setting out to correct it.  There are many, very similar, papers out there – the linked example is no better or worse than all the others.

I assume the authors want to spur the general public, elected officials, and corporate titans to urgent action on climate change, which is my goal too.  My focus today will specifically target the third group, the CEOs of big corporations and banks, hedge fund managers, and major investors who can control the flow of finance into decarbonization efforts.