Time for Good Faith on Climate Change Commitments
With Earth Day coming up this week, perhaps it’s a good time to talk a bit about the ancient (and still very relevant) term good faith. Specifically, how companies, organizations, and individuals can act in good faith to learn, connect with others, and address the climate change issues we face across the world. Because that’s what’s going to be needed to confront this monumental threat to our future existence.
Wikipedia defines good faith as “(Latin: bona fides)…a sincere intention to be fair, open, and honest, regardless of the outcome of the interaction.” Merriam Webster’s definition is a bit vague: “Honesty or lawfulness of purpose.” I bet we all have a pretty good idea of what it means to us.
Good faith — on all sides of the climate change challenge — is what we really need now.
The Carbon Almanac, which my colleagues and I from around the globe volunteered to produce with our inspirational adviser and leader Seth Godin, is, at its very core, not about using scary sound bites, angry accusations, or unsupported opinions just for shock value to back up its articles. Instead, it is about sharing the facts simply and in good faith with our readers.
Research citations (exhaustively fact-checked at multiple stages) are openly provided for every article, every page printed.
Resource options for readers are shared in the book and in more depth at our website to explore topics further.
Educational tools for teachers and kids, photo collections, and podcasts in several categories await multimedia fans, young and old, who want to learn more about the diverse perspectives and possibilities surrounding the climate change movement.
Management and employees of large and small companies are also acting in good faith — stepping up, leading, and embracing technology and creative thinking to do their part. They’re offering solutions rather than half-measures or outright denials to restore the planet’s present and future health.
Many other enterprises are being urged to follow suit by gauging and reporting transparently and consistently on their climate change impacts; finding ways to reduce their carbon emissions; and educating and engaging their management, employees, suppliers, customers, and investors on how they are progressing on their climate targets.
Tackling the tough stuff affecting our climate — the real, transformational leaps forward in how we make and transport things — starts with good faith and an expectation of sincere intent to do better on everyone’s part. It doesn’t have to be about angry accusations or who should be doing more (or less) to reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts.
Because once the facts on these topics are known, responsible parties will do the right thing. They’ll be encouraged to not just perform or greenwash in their own self-interest or company’s behalf, but to authentically aim toward a better world for all of us through their decisive actions. If that sounds naïve, what’s the alternative?
We can attack any company whose current environmental, social, governance reporting isn’t sufficient.
We can deride large firms for not including Scope 3 emissions in their climate-impact reporting to their investors, and soon, to their regulators.
We can create enemies, rather than allies.
Instead, why not give companies just a bit of space to prove their climate commitments? Because understanding and complying with the rules for carbon emissions reporting, getting a firm handle on a company’s own carbon impacts, and wrangling all of its supply chain partners to understand and commit to reducing their own climate impacts are all challenging tasks. But these tasks are also doable. And they must be done soon.
Once corporations become aware of what their emissions and practices really mean for our environment and for the world’s citizens — including their employees and customers — we can certainly and honorably expect them to step up and do the right thing.
That’s acting in good faith. That’s why the extraordinary Carbon Almanac was created by its cast of ordinary, volunteer professionals from all over the world.
Is this bona fides allowance a free pass for scofflaws? For firms to focus only on the bottom line or shareholder value, climate consequences be damned? No. All parties must be on the same page, perhaps starting from a page in The Carbon Almanac, to save the environment for our future citizens.
We’ll be watching for our good faith in corporate carbon commitments to be rewarded, to everyone’s benefit. But we can’t wait much longer for the results.
Scott Hamilton is a global financial services professional and writer, and a member of The Carbon Almanac Network. Learn more at thecarbonalmanac.org.
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