Is Redemption at the 11th Hour Possible?

The moment of sunrise or sunset is a beautiful nuance. Partially because regardless of whether it’s rising or setting in your hemisphere, it’s doing the opposite someplace else in the wonderful and mysterious cycle of days and life. But this week as the COP 26 gathered in Glasgow, the debate was not whether the sun is setting or rising, or even if climate change was real, but whether we as a species could gather enough political will to actually reform our policies and actions before we’re out of time, and the sun really does set on humanity for good.  

Having been engaged in this effort since early childhood, I was not particularly optimistic. I’ve followed the science, research and work of my cousin, and mentor at Harvard Michael McElroy, increasingly intently (and all the way to Harvard to study with him) as the broader world has industrialized, and seen more and more of the signs and warnings get ignored, because the wealthiest governments and most aggressive polluters (The USA historically being the worst offender) were fiddling about, selfishly debating their re-election prospects and profit-margins. Which in turn, has increased the long-term cost of climate change and slowed global momentum on the only ways to save us all and the existence of the global biodiversity we depend on for our livelihoods and our lives. 

Then in 2007, I thought a glimmer of hope had appeared with the emergence of the “triple bottom-line philosophy of People Profit, Planet, and Benefit (B) Corporations. That was also the year I joined my colleagues at BBH New York in pitching Al Gore’s Climate Alliance and The Climate Reality Project. As the team’s on the ground researcher, and human behaviorist, I traveled around the country speaking to liberals and conservatives alike, trying to identify common ground, common language and common goals that we could frame into a compelling campaign that the US and world could get behind and share in 2009 at the then highly anticipated COP 15, nicknamed Hopenhagen.  But Hopenhagen turned out to a be a global disappointment. And the party politics took hold as the Great Recession put climate on the back of everyone’s agenda until Paris, which then spiraled us down to Trump.

And so, there we were, up to the 11th hour this past Sunday evening (Halloween) fighting in Congress about climate spending and infrastructure. To manage the pain, I resigned myself to what would be another catastrophic climate summit of selfish, spoiled rich countries hording their resources. And really drove it home to myself by watching what I thought would be an appropriately horrifying documentary about climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Ice on Fire. 

But instead of feeling desperately depressed afterwards, I actually felt HOPE for the first time in a long time. The solutions presented were really real! And PRIVATE INDUSTRY (alongside universities) was pioneering and funding them. Not only that, but those solutions were proving to be highly profitable investments for normal people to get behind. Larry Fink had mandated CEOs to heed and invest in climate change as an opportunity for profits and growth, The Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) movement was being taken seriously. Activists could be investors too, not just idealists. And I, as an individual, an investor, an activist, a survivor, and a believer in shared prosperity, could begin to see how selfishness could and would play a key role in saving ourselves and our planet, regardless of what governments committed to or didn’t at COP 26. 

So, at the end of the day, I do believe we might be on the verge of a sunrise, we can be redeemed, and we can set a positive course for the future, if, to be frank, we act in our own best self-interest and invest in climate change as the greatest opportunity for our future prosperity as a planet and a population. Find out more here if you want to be part of the solution and join me as an ESG investor. 

Holly Lynch is a 20+ year communications veteran and life-long social impact advocate and strategist who has helped individuals, educational leaders, and companies tackle the toughest challenges in their worlds.
Having survived countless life setbacks and two rounds with terminal cancer, while seeing the country-wide collapse of the systems and safety nets for the most vulnerable in and outside our communities, she is now shifting her life and career trajectories to focus on coaching those facing down fundamental shifts and transitions as they try to navigate and rebuild their lives, institutions and businesses during these unprecedented times.