It was exciting to be in Paris during the COP talks on Climate.  There was an unprecedented united movement of scientists, civil society, progressive business leaders, investors, and activists representing social and ecological interests from around the world, all demanding our political leaders put the common good ahead of national interests and actually lead. Soon we will know the results. 

 

Even the best-case outcome in Paris will be insufficient, that much is clear.  And the hard work of implementing the voluntary pledges on the ground lies ahead.  Canada, under new leadership, deserves praiseworthy attention for its 180-degree turn to the right side of history.  Saudi Arabia deserves global scorn for its continued disingenuous interference with progress.   America did its part, but of course could always do more.  Yet Congress awaits...

 

The course for the next five years has been charted.  Action is rightly now the operative word.  But a second line of inquiry continues to simmer below the headline grabbing pledges and initiatives, like Bill Gates's $1 billion leadership commitment (1.25 percent of his net worth, it must be said) on the Breakthrough Energy Coalition that will invest in clean energy innovation.  Of course innovation is essential.  But genuine solutions that address root causes are far more complex.  For starters, our short-term obsessed financial system needs its own reinvention to effectively serve this unprecedented challenge.  (Con't.)