Elevating Organization-Wide Capacity and Culture on Climate Change is Paramount

Written by Daniel Kreeger
Executive Director, Association of Climate Change Officers

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So your CEO, Mayor, President, Council or Governor has made an ambitious climate change commitment.  Maybe you’ve gotten a science-based target announced, an aspiration for 100% renewables, and/or a scope 3 emissions goal.  Congratulations!  You’re feeling pretty good … ready to lead your organization to achieving these goals and then some … and you should, because it took a LOT to get you this far.

For 13 years, I’ve written and spoken publicly about the army of qualified, competent and motivated professionals it will take to tackle this challenge.  I’ve had the most senior officials at the White House tell me that civil servants were excited to tackle the executive order mandates on sustainability, and corporate C-suite executives preach their climate and sustainability accomplishments to date.

And here we are, in 2021, and I’m hearing that globally, we are nowhere near achieving the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement ideals of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.  Note, this is the threshold that the credible science community has said we need to meet to maintain a sustainable climate and viable ecosystems upon which our businesses, communities, infrastructure, and security are dependent.

In looking at the commitments made by nations around the world and their implementation strategies/activities, I personally believe we are likely on a 2.5 or 3 degree Celsius pathway by 2100 unless there is a radical transformation in our response trajectory.  If I’m right about this, that scenario would result in $45-50 trillion dollar impact to global GDP according to numerous projections by economists, financial services industry experts and the IPCC. Every nation, business and community will experience their own share of this impact.  Some will be far worse than others, but in an economy that is truly global in nature, nobody escapes the impacts. 

So what should we do?  How do we accelerate and magnify our greenhouse gas reduction efforts to minimize the warming effect?  And given that the number of extreme climate events has already, and is continuing to, increase in frequency and magnitude, how do we scale up our capacity to adapt to the change and enhance our resilience to the extreme events that are increasing in frequency and magnitude?

It’s actually fairly straightforward, isn’t it?

We need to build motivation and capacity in our organizations at all levels of governance and implementation. We need to think about scaling a response with exponential results to reducing emissions, building adaptive capacity in communities, businesses and infrastructure, and resilience to these acute events.  You want better policy and technology?  The only way we get there is by building an army of professionals working competently and with determination to address climate mitigation and adaptation.  Yes, we need hope and excitement.  But we also need skills, knowledge, innovation, and perseverance, whether climate change is in the headlines or not.  That doesn’t just mean having a climate change or sustainability professional … that means weaving climate change into the DNA of decision-making and practice across the board.

The Six Americas studies from Yale University (and other research around the world) show the fast-growing trend of people becoming alarmed and concerned about climate change.  But that awareness is simply not enough to change behavior or spark collective action.

ACCO has done more research on governance, human capital and climate change than any organization in North America (and likely worldwide).  Our research has included extensive assessments of climate change governance in higher education institutions, publicly traded companies, and government agencies.  From 2016-2019, we conducted an extensive research project for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on workforce capacity in critical infrastructure sectors to develop and implement effective climate preparedness plans, and over the years, have worked extensively with peer professional societies to examine barriers and opportunities related to advancing our field of practice. 

What We’ve Learned through Organization-wide Readiness Assessments

In the past 18 months, ACCO built upon our past research by conducting organization-wide readiness assessments that involved evaluating attitudes, behaviors, perspectives and knowledge of the workforce in large organizations with the support of their chief executives and human resources leadership.  ACCO staff surveyed thousands of professionals in each organization, and supplemented that data with interviews of several dozen departmental/unit leaders in each organization.  Here are some very compelling and interesting trends we have identified and sought to better understand.

Despite a majority of respondents indicating that climate change was impacting their community today, only a small minority agreed strongly that climate change was disproportionately impacting communities of color, or even their own health.  When we filtered the data for perspectives of individuals who identified as any race or ethnicity other than white or Caucasian, the trends reflecting the level of understanding of the impacts upon communities of color or their own health didn’t change very much.

This should alarm you, but not surprise you.  Awareness does not mean understanding of the implications.   But as it turns out, awareness also does not mean that you will get the desired response.

We asked these respondents how they planned to respond to climate change individually.  Across all surveys, approximately 60% of respondents indicated they would take steps to reduce their own footprint (e.g. turn off the lights, buy energy efficient products, use public transportation).  This was only a small dropoff from those who recognized that humanity was causing climate change, so we were pleased to see that strong number.

BUT … when we asked about specific things they could do professionally and their communities, the challenge became clear to us.

There are some crucially important takeaways in these findings:

• There is a steep drop off from the strong conviction of reducing an individual’s footprint to taking steps professionally to incorporate climate change into their work and in discussing with others.

• The plummeting figure of willingness to help neighbors and neighborhood take action is alarming, but not surprising given the political polarization of this topic.

Among senior personnel, we also noted the same trends reflected in the general workforce’s indications toward individual actions, but also a deficiency of actions that we believe leadership should be taking in organizations.

We also asked the survey respondents if they were properly supported and equipped to work on climate change in the workplace.  These responses highlight some of the most staggering and important perspectives we have seen.  No organization we assessed had more than 10% of their senior leadership, mid-management and staff with climate-related technical responsibilities strongly agree with any of the following statements:

• “My employer provides sufficient tools and resources to incorporate climate change into my work”

• “I have authority to focus intently on climate change”

• “My employer provides opportunities for me to engage the community on climate change”

• “My work contributes positively to the [organization’s] climate change efforts”

The takeaway is simple … despite substantial climate change commitments and initiatives, these organizations are simply not arming employees sufficiently with the skills, knowledge, tools, support and opportunities to participate at the level that we need to successfully meet the challenges posed by climate change.

Understanding the Individual’s Attitudes and Conviction

After we had concluded a few of these assessments, we consulted a group of sociologists and psychologists to help explain why someone was willing to reduce their footprint recognizing we need to take serious action, but wasn’t willing to take any of the other actions we had inquired about in the tables above. 

Here are some of the example rationales and mentalities they theorized would likely explain the results:

• “It’s not my job”

• “I don’t have the skills, support or mandate to do this at work”

• “The politics around this are exhausting and uncomfortable”

• “Someone else will take care of it”

• “It will resolve itself”

These sentiments certainly validated our initial thoughts.  But tackling these behaviors shouldn’t be rocket science. We know how to drive organizational change and address culture, attitudes and behavior – we’ve studied this and found practices and methodologies that support transformation.  We need to apply these skills and practices toward climate action. And we have to establish sound governance and organizational cultures while finding the right leverage points for action and change.

Building a Culture for Climate Action

It’s time to mature beyond the legacy of past environmental efforts and beyond a relatively small group of people trying to solve a problem that requires an army.  We simply won’t succeed with modest measures … as the IPCC reported, we need to embark upon unprecedented transformation of our business operations, infrastructure and policy. 

Regardless of the sector you’re in, here are some areas we’d encourage you emphatically to consider if you want to build a culture for sustained, strategic and effective climate action in your organization.

1. Governance: We know that large institutions across the public and private sectors have not sufficiently built the internal capacity to tackle climate change.  The designated leadership for climate change, whether by committee or individual, is not senior enough.  Every study we have conducted has reflected that reality and the sentiment of thousands of practitioners in the field who insist it is vital that this leadership function reside in the highest levels of the organization.  Get the right person(s), with the right skills, and the right authority into position, and that’s an important step in the right direction.

ACCO will be conducting a series of calls to action to CEOs, boards of publicly traded companies, elected officials, policymakers and human resources executives – a track at the CC-P Summit taking place in December is devoted to this topic.

2. Human Resources & Job Requirements: We have also learned that executives and human resources units have yet to understand the complexity and necessity of integrating climate change into job descriptions, performance evaluations and hiring qualifications.  We need to focus intently on conducting an evaluation of what positions and roles need to have climate-related competencies … and we need to institutionalize those skills.  Don’t necessarily expect professional societies of fields like engineers, architects, financial professionals and energy management to lead the way … while many of them are evaluating their codes of ethics and standards of professional conduct in the context of climate change … and even more of them have membership committees and working groups focused on climate change and sustainability, the requirement for those fields to be competent in climate change in the context of their work is simply not there.  Why not?  Because the market (i.e. employers) is not demanding it, and they tend to be reflecting the status quo rather than setting the standard.

Climate change and sustainability professionals should be focusing intently on conversations with their human resources (HR) departments.  ACCO is developing toolkits for HR professionals that include templates for performance review, important climate-related qualifications and responsibilities for key functions, practices for building employee morale and creating a culture of climate action. 

3. Education & Training: It turns out that even a series of 5-7 minute microlearning videos and half-day/full-day primers for leaders can make a huge difference.  Our survey of a group of 57 professionals who took a primer that was an abridged version of the Certified Climate Change Professional (CC-P) curriculum showed a jump in 10-25 percentage points in each of the individual action areas, thus substantially closing the gap from willingness to reduce one’s individual footprint to the other action areas we had inquired about.  We had seen similar jumps in those data points in other training event polls we had conducted during this and a variety of other programs.  While we fully intend to examine this in greater depth, we believe this approach is an effective tool to help.

Understanding and impacting the participants’ motivation for attending the training is important as well.  Our data showed that if the individual genuinely felt a professional or personal motivation to participate, that the training was more likely to yield a strong motivation to take actions beyond reducing their own footprint (and it even increased the likelihood they would focus on their own footprint).

Creating a Culture for Successful Climate Action: Create a culture of dialogue and collaboration without judgment or politicization.  Make working on climate change safe, fun and rewarding.  Inform your personnel about what you’re doing, get them involved, and get them excited.  Newsletters, internal awards, town hall discussions and other similar approaches will make a huge difference.

Over the next year, ACCO will produce a series of reports evaluating in substantially greater depth the tactics and practices that yield the greatest results in building organizations that have the breadth, depth and culture to tackle climate change.  We will also produce webinars and case studies sharing the insights of leading practitioners focusing specifically on these topics.

Overcoming the Coronavirus Pandemic by Coming Together as a Community

Written by Daniel Kreeger
Executive Director, Association of Climate Change Officers

So you’ve undoubtedly received and seen hundreds of posts from colleagues and organization leaders responding to the Coronavirus.  I’ve received 466 such e-mails to date and can’t count the number of social media posts.  I don’t want to add more of the same, and yet, I do want to call out some of the important sentiments I’ve seen, share a call to action, express solidarity, and provide insights on how ACCO will adapt to this challenge.

1.     Since I cannot say this any better, I will quote Abe Eshkenazi (Association of Supply Chain Management): “It is critical that we remain calm, fulfill our social responsibility to prevent further spread, and take care of each other during this challenging time.”

There are so many lessons that can be drawn upon in preparing for climate change, extreme events and pandemics.  But first, we absolutely must lead by example.  If we panic, others will.  If we are not responsible, how can we expect others to be?  If we don’t take care of each other, how can we expect to get through this ordeal, much less climate change?

Make sure your house is in order.  Take steps to check that your families, friends and neighbors are prepared.   Begin planning for a long-term change in lifestyle and work life, and be ready to adapt to ongoing changes in how we all are coping (or asked to cope) with this challenge.

Here are 3 valuable things you can do to be a contributing member of a community:

• Establish a cluster of peer practitioners communicating on a regular basis and checking in with and upon one another.  Be open, have conversations related to work and home, share professional and personal insights, but most importantly, but human and show empathy.

• Conduct at least one action every day that helps one of your peer practitioners.

• Become a mentor to a younger professional or student, who will undoubtedly be concerned about job stability or future opportunities.

2.     It was already urgent that we come together to act on climate change – now, more than ever, it is crucial that professionals across sectors come together as a community of practice.  Our field will be distracted, disaggregated and struggle for traction in the face of the most substantial public health challenge we have seen in generations, and yet, the climate is changing and that long-term challenge must be addressed.

• Participate in online community activities sharing updates, experiences and bonding opportunities.

• Take a step back and reconsider your career plans and key workplace activities.  As Ray Mabus, former secretary of the U.S. Department of the Navy one said at an ACCO event, “we must have a foot in today and a foot in tomorrow” – now is a great time to adapt and make course adjustments.

• Get involved in efforts to advance your field of practice.  ACCO will host a series of discussions over the next few months following up on outcomes of the Global Congress for Climate Change & Sustainability Professionals, which will be published shortly.  Additionally, we are forming working groups to inform the development of the CC-P® Study Guide, shape the new CC-O® credential, advise creation of new curriculum and align efforts with peer professional societies.

3.     Whether our concern is rooted in the health or economic impacts of this virus, this is a scary time.  While we will all share this experience, we will need to do so in a more isolated state than we are accustomed.

ACCO will be virtually convening our most innovative and experienced members this week to shape a series of almost daily discussions in which you can participate (even if you’re not an ACCO member).  The programs will be learning and action oriented, and/or may just create a forum for you to bond with each other.  We will announce these shortly.  At a minimum, here’s what you can expect:

• Opportunities to build your climate change competencies and become a Certified Climate Change Professional® (CC-P®) through new live online training programs starting in April (scholarships will be available for individuals struck hardest by this pandemic).

• Virtual town halls and podcast programs.

Those of you who have been to an ACCO event likely have seen that my nature is to be playful and humorous, even when conveying some of the most daunting challenges we have faced as a species and civilization.  I’m frequently asked how I can maintain an upbeat nature in the face of the information we see on a daily basis, and my response to that question (aside from my obvious stubbornness), seems as relevant to this pandemic as tackling climate change.

“We only have x days on this planet.  While we don’t know the value of x, I submit that we should make those days have meaning, joy and impact.”

I think that if we can come together with that mindset, we can do amazing things together and have one hell of a time in the process.

A Practical Approach to Getting to Scale ... Because We Need To, Now!

Another IPCC report is in -- this one calls for “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.”  Here’s what we know:

Source: CNN — https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/07/world/climate-change-new-ipcc-report-wxc/index.html

• Despite the Paris Agreement, we are not on track to limit emissions to anything that leaves our climate systems resembling those that support thriving economies, healthy populations and security.

• At most, we have until 2030 to get our acts in gear – that’s 12 years!

• We need to mobilize an army of climate smart professionals, decision-makers, technology developers and voters that can drive the transformation needed to assure healthy, secure and prosperous populations.

It’s time to think about whether your work is scalable AND can be implemented on a sufficient timescale.  Let’s be honest with ourselves, we’re not going to accomplish these goals with a few people working on the fringes. 

This isn’t just a matter of making bold GHG reduction and renewable energy proclamations, but actually having a workplan and a will to make it happen and to sustain the effort.  What does that mean?

• Establishing clear performance expectations

• Making a set of climate change and clean energy competencies required

• Deploying training that builds literacy and awareness among the masses and proficiency and leadership amongst executive and management roles

• Engaging external stakeholders and aligning efforts

7 Steps Every Organizational Leader & Manager Should Take Right Now

Get Smart: Do some basic learning yourself Leadership: Build structure and commit to transformation Engage: Identify a group of stakeholders who can be early participants in building awareness and dialogue within your organization Connect the Dots: Break down silos between departments and disciplines Team Building: Invest in staff capacity and scenario planning activities Convene: Value chain and stakeholders, build awareness and conduct scenario planning Reconsider: Review/revise existing practices and policies

We need to make the whole far greater than the sum of the parts.  Organizational boundaries and jurisdictions simply cannot limit our work.  What does that look like?

• Sharing staff resources and technical experts with peers and competitors

• Aggregating interests to bring soft costs down, achieve efficiencies and build to scale

• Thinking BIG long-term picture with MEANINGFUL short-term incremental steps to get there

• Joining your peers and forming powerful voices to advocate as one harmonized voice when you can

The time is now to lay it all on the line and go big!

ACCO is doing just that.  In the past 2 years, here’s what we’ve accomplished:

• Maryland Climate leadership Academy – Launched the first state-administered climate academy with the State of Maryland (read more at http://www.MDClimateAcademy.org)

• Compact of Colorado Communities – Established the first regional compact of local governments to pass resolutions requiring that elected officials, city/county managers and senior staff go through annual climate change training and we’re developing a statewide shared staffing program through this initiative as well. (read more at http://www.CompactofColoradoCommunities.org)

• Certified Climate Change Professionals® - Announced the First Wave of Professionals Earning the CC-P® - these Certified Climate Change Professionals® have developed a competency in the fundamentals of climate change preparedness and strategic planning (read more at https://accoonline.org/certification-professional)

Here’s what’s next for ACCO:

• Online & In-Person Training to Build Organization-Wide Capacity: ACCO is working with numerous Federal and subnational governments to deploy literacy modules, capacity building training and decision-support resources.  We will deploy a new learning management system (LMS) before the holidays and will announce a series of related initiatives and new training resources.

• New Credentialing & Certificate Programs: In conjunction with our new LMS, ACCO will announce a suite of new credentialing and certificate programs before year’s end that include:

  • 2 stepping stone certificates to the CC-P®

  • A certificate and credential aimed at recognizing professionals who have developed competencies in developing and implementing clean energy programs

  • New leadership and entrepreneurship programs for elected officials and community/business leaders

Isn’t it time for you to join these efforts and benefit from their outcomes?  It’s time to be part of a team that’s working toward scalable solutions.  If you’ve read this far, I hope you’ll consider our approach and getting involved.

Scaling Up Renewables in the Chicago Area: Insights from Interviews with Large & Mid-Size Energy Users

Written by: Erin Cummings & Daniel Kreeger
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Organizations in the public and private sector are increasingly interested in exploring the feasibility of procuring and/or developing clean energy.  Drivers articulated by participants included organizational mandates such as greenhouse gas reduction goals, desire to address energy continuity and resilience, and reducing energy costs.

After interviewing several local governments and private sector entities in the greater Chicago region, we found some common themes that account for drivers and the barriers to implementing renewable energy portfolios.

Steep Learning Curve

There is still a steep learning curve within many organizations to properly assess renewable energy as part of the supply portfolio – but also within the utility and policy maker organizations.  The risk and energy price components need to be properly explained and understood to create an environment where decisions can be made.  This learning can be facilitated by third parties, spearheaded by a central authority (like a corporate center or a university central unit), and/or be done by internal champions.  But regardless of the provider, the learning needs to be standardized and not heavily dependent upon perceptions and anecdotes.

Making the Financial Case

Low commodity pricing as well as low demand charges make the financial case for renewable energy in Illinois more challenging, but certainly not impossible. Municipalities and universities are looking at aggregating energy demands/ interests with other nearby users. Policies in the state are focusing on developing a stronger solar market including a highly anticipated community solar program. Providing regional financial models could go a long way to helping organizations make the case to C-Suite for a switch to renewable energy.

Moving Beyond Low Hanging Fruit

Overwhelmingly, initial actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions focus on energy efficiency measures where it is relatively easy to make a business case. Once these efforts are completed, the road to GHG reduction becomes rockier. Many institutions use RECs as a mechanism to procure renewable energy; however, there is a strong desire to invest in onsite generation and other solutions that go beyond the REC market. This again, leads back to a need for standardized learning that provides operational professionals with the knowledge needed to inform decision makers on energy options.

Relationships between Users, Utilities & Government

The relationship between government, energy suppliers and utility providers with the institutional users is maturing, but needs to evolve dynamically.  The change in need, behavior and procurement will require all parties to work together to develop new programs, policies and systems enabling the scaling up of renewables.

Current market policies are often seen as obstacles by institutional users, though an increasing number of policy makers, regulators and utilities are working to develop new opportunities that will enable more clean energy offerings.  There is a need to sort out the financing options and the approval process by government entities.  Energy suppliers and government entities will need to develop new strategies for making retail renewable energy options more attractive and develop a suite of wholesale offsite opportunities that suit the needs of all parties.

Renewable energy can be a relatively simple, cost-effective solution that helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to disruptive weather events, ongoing climate change, cyber intrusions and weaponized attacks.  The trifecta of institutional energy users, government agencies, and utilities working together to tackle these considerations should create an environment where solutions to these challenges can be developed. 

Next Steps

Based upon the discussions leading up to and during the January 23 roundtable that ACCO hosted in Chicago, we are contemplating the following next steps:

• Developing tailored training modules for procurement, legal, financial and other decision-makers whose participation in the energy behaviors of large institutional energy users is critical to deploying clean energy;
• Standardizing job descriptions and best practices for the above-referenced professionals; and
• Facilitating peer-to-peer collaboration through regular roundtables, workshops and online discussions.

Part 7: Taking Matters into Your Own Hands

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President Trump has just announced his intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement.  Do not let this moment paralyze you -- the time to double down on climate leadership is now. 

Remember, meaningful change results from populist movements and institutional leadership (companies and subnational governments). 

So here are some steps you can and should be considering:

For Individuals and Practitioners

• Call for leaders across sectors to drive sensible climate change mandates and policy.
• Join advocacy and activist efforts calling for climate action.  Many voices together are more powerful than one voice or disconnected voices .
• Develop and hone your skills in advancing climate initiatives in your company, organization or community leveraging the broadest range of strategies possible.
• Donate to mission driven organizations that are effectively advancing climate change solutions.
• Write your elected representative(s) at all levels of government -- but, in particular, focus intently on local and state government officials.

For Organizational Executives

• Take and announce bold actions committing to more aggressive initiatives and goals, thus helping to shape a marketplace that demands greenhouse gas reduction, adaptive capacity and resilience.
• Mandate climate change and renewable energy related training for your workforce.  If you can do this for cybersecurity and workplace harassment, imagine what you can do to activate and develop a climate smart workforce.
• Write your elected representatives at all levels of government informing them of the importance of sound policy to enable your organization to manage risks, seize opportunity and ensure that it flourishes.  Think bottom line.
• Re-assess your membership, sponsorship and philanthropic efforts to ensure that you are getting the most value out of those vital resources, and that they are the most effective solutions.  Get more engaged with the entities to ensure success on all sides.

For Non-Profit & Mission Driven Organization Leaders

• We are more effective supporting and aligning our efforts.  It's time we come together to strengthen each other and ensure success.  ACCO's doors are open and we look forward to working with you.

Part 6: Institutionalizing Climate Change into Decision-Making

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Climate change already impacts how the world around us functions, and it will increasingly continue to do so well into the future.  We design programs and products, build cities and infrastructure, and run businesses and institutions under a set of assumptions that the planet’s climate systems will behave in a predictable, dependable way.  When those models are wrong, our designs fail, resulting in economic harm and public health catastrophes.

To date, most large organizations have taken the approach of assigning an environmental, sustainability or resilience executive with the task of leading the institution’s efforts to address the effects of climate change on operations. However, this approach alone fails to adequately address:

• The pervasive intersections of climate change across a broad spectrum of organizational considerations, including finance, strategic planning, risk management and business continuity, mission assurance, supply chain and procurement, design, energy and facilities management, along with a host of others;

• That in institutions with have thousands or tens of thousands of employees, the notion that a handful of people could effectively address these challenges is tantamount to a mouse moving a battleship;

• The complexities involved with these initiatives frequently require active participation, approval and oversight from individuals who lack formal training of understanding of the issues and technical aspects of these activities; and

• A complete review and potential overhaul of critical systems and infrastructure.

To illustrate the complexity and diversity of participants needed in addressing climate change impacts throughout an organization, take the following scenarios:

• Renewable Energy Procurement: ACME Widgets is pursuing a 20-year solar power purchase agreement in order to help meet its publicly declared greenhouse gas reduction goal. In order to execute the agreement, the organization’s director of sustainability more than likely must work with decision-makers in the procurement, legal, energy, facilities and finance groups. Constraints that are commonly experienced in this scenario include:

  • The procurement team has no experience with this type of power purchase agreement. Additionally, their policy guidelines lean toward a maximum of 10-year cycles.

  • The legal team must work with the procurement team to address the policy constraints, as well as any other relevant legal risks, authorities and considerations.

  • The energy and facilities team(s) is (are) not accustomed to working with these instruments and will need to incorporate this into their broader energy management plans.

  • The finance group is managing theorganization’s cash flow and budget over a 3-year cycle.

• Road Elevation Project: The City of Beachside has traditionally been vulnerable to rain-induced flood and storm surges. Over the past 10 years, the number of “sunny day nuisance floods” has increased dramatically, and climate models suggest that they will continue to do so. Beachside is a city that enjoys significant tourism, has seen a surge in development (expected to continue for the foreseeable future) and resides in a state whose legislature and governor refuse to support constructive action on climate change. As a result, city management is contemplating a $300 million dollar pilot project (funded in part by a raise in stormwater tax that will address project costs after 10 years) to raise roads in a 3% portion of its city limits by 3 feet and improve stormwater drainage. It is anticipated that this project will address flood risk other than from catastrophic storm system for the next 30 years, though sea level rise will require building further upon the project or other steps for the following decades. Prior to breaking ground on this project, the city should be absolutely certain that it has conducted:

• An assessment as to the impacts of this project on real estate value in this neighborhood.

• An evaluation as to the projected tax revenue scenarios with a particular focus on property and sales tax. That evaluation should compare and contrast of current property and sales tax revenues, to projections of those revenues if the project is not undertaken but sea level continues to rise, to projections of impacts on revenues based on various build and design scenarios being contemplated.

• The city’s broader master planning should account for what this project will mean for the rest of the jurisdiction, which will mean ensuring that civil engineers and planners have mapped out the ripple effects of this project.

• Public engagement on the project will be important to ensure that public support is continued and grows to support subsequent and needed projects.

• Evaluate the business/tourist disruption impacts of the project and compare it to the current disruptions being experienced.

• Engage with the insurance and real estate lender industry to ensure that businesses and homeowner s are not negatively affected by the project.

These two examples reflect the significant volume and diversity of stakeholders involved in these highly likely scenarios.  Simply put, if we don’t have the right people, with the right skills, in the rights parts of our organizations, we won’t be successful in transforming and modernizing to meet the challenges (and opportunities) presented by climate change.

Activating Entire Fields of Practice

The solution, however, does not need to be that complicated.  We define profession as “a paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal qualification.”  It is time we reconsider what it means to be a member of certain professions.  Numerous professional societies are already updating their codes of ethics and competencies to address climate change and sustainability considerations (or are aspiring to do so).  Some examples include:

• American Institute of Architects: "Scientific consensus shows that increasing atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide contribute significantly to rising sea levels, extreme weather events and degradation of natural resources. These trends threaten national security, human health, food supply, natural ecosystems and global economies. Climate change clearly is one of the biggest global crises of the 21st century.

• American Society of Civil Engineers: “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and shall strive to comply with the principles of sustainable development in the performance of their professional duties” and “Sustainable Development is the process of applying natural, human, and economic resources to enhance the safety, welfare, and quality of life for all of the society while maintaining the availability of the remaining natural resources.”

However, unless these bodies change the requirements to their credentials or are willing to enforce a stricter ethics code, they are simply acting as suppliers to a voluntary marketplace.  Until there is enough demand from employers, the requirements of the trade cannot change.  Accounting for climate change related risks and opportunities can't be an aspiration or a "nice to have" capability -- it is fundamental to the capacity of our businesses, institutions and communities to thrive.

If the job description issued by enough employers, and corresponding performance evaluations and expectations, of a specific profession changes, the ripple effect is that the standard of practice for the entirety of that profession will change.  We need a series of market signals that indicate that climate related competencies in key professions are critical and mandated.

Innovators and early adopters in the workforce, credentialing bodies and higher education programs have gotten us as far as we can go without a significant signal that will leap us across the chasm to majority adoption of the critical practices of emissions reduction, adaptation and resilience.

We have been down this road.  Some recent examples of societal transformation that have resulted in new professions and competencies becoming mainstream include:

• The green building profession today (along with building rating systems) has been substantially advanced by legislative mandates, building codes and zoning requirements oriented toward energy efficiency in the built environment. With nearly 200,000 credentialed professionals, the U.S. Green Building Council is an embodiment of this transition, particularly as its members consist of architects, facilities managers, energy management professionals, developers, and numerous other professionals.

• The anti-money laundering profession was essentially mandated by an emphasis on chasing the Bin Laden money trail after 9/11. In 2001, a small group of experts came together to form the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists in order to build a workforce across numerous occupations capable of addressing an emergent issue. Today, the organization boasts more than 10,000 members across 160 countries. These members include compliance officers, regulators, intelligence and law enforcement agents, auditors, risk management professionals, accounts, investment advisors and real estate specialists.

Two Solutions

• Executive Mandates: A group of recognizable and well-regarded institutions in the public and private sectors will move the needle. A mayor or chief executive mandating that key professions and decision-makers in his/her institution must acquire an appropriate set of climate-related competencies within a certain timeframe could activate the institution’s human resources and professional development capabilities. Establishing a reasonable deadline for existing employees to obtain appropriate training, as well as a requirement for these capabilities to be required for job applicants and prospective vendors would raise the bar appropriately while providing sufficient runway and resources to allow for this transformation.

  • City of Mountaintop Example: Effective January 1, 2020, all City of Mountaintop employees with the following responsibilities must demonstrate climate-related competencies, or demonstrate satisfaction of accredited training, for their profession: planners, civil engineers, infrastructure, natural resources, emergency management, economic development, land use, codes and public policy. All new positions or openings starting on that date must include and require an appropriate set of climate-related competencies as determined by the City of Mountaintop’s Chief Resilience Officer.

  • Xyz Corporation Example: All employees must take a climate change awareness primer made available through the company’s human resources portal. Additionally, all management above level x will be required to participate in management and/or leadership training provided by the company or through accredited institutions. The Chief Human Resources Officer will work with Xyz’s Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President of Risk and Continuity to identify critical climate change related competencies that should be accounted for by key professional roles.

• Legislative Mandates/Incentives: State legislatures have the capacity to significantly transform and modernize marketplaces through mandates on state-level licensing, portfolio requirements and/or incentive programs. These measures can establish an important professional threshold for key occupations that, in particular, have a significant impact upon the public’s interests. For example, a state can exert its influence on requirements for architects, civil engineers and local government administrators.

These steps could activate hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of critical experts and decision-makers across disciplines:

Part 5: Understanding and Engaging People on Climate Change

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If the recent elections here in the United States and Brexit have taught you anything, I hope that you’ve taken away a keen understanding that there are numerous and sometimes polarized perspectives on any issue.  In an ideal world, the science of climate change would not be seen as a political consideration – rather, the policy solutions and public response(s) would be the subject of political debate.  Unfortunately, that is not the world in which we live today.

"Six Americas" November 2016 Report Summary

The Six Americas study spearheaded by Yale and George Mason University have identified the categories of alarmed, concerned, cautious, disengaged, doubtful and dismissive.

As a practitioner working on the impacts of climate change upon your organization, you are going to encounter professionals on a frequent or regular basis whose understanding, beliefs or related motivations will your ability to drive initiatives forward.  We all need to get better at moving the needle as we need to dramatically scale up our progress on climate action – it’s easy to gravitate toward those who might fall under the alarmed or concerned category, but we need to make substantial progress in engaging the cautious, disengaged, doubtful and dismissive.

One of the first lessons I learned as a young public relations professional was that perception is reality.  Simply put, the laws of physics are on your side, but if you can’t shift their perception in some way, shape or form, you won’t move the needle.  So, in order to inform how you engage with these individuals, here are a few thoughts toward helping you understand their motivations and understandings, and how to engage with them accordingly.

1. Fact Finding: Where Does He/She Stand on Climate Change?

A mistake we often make when engaging with people is to turn our sensors off and project our own thoughts on to others.  But if you don’t understand who the person is and where they’re coming from, how can you determine the best engagement strategy?  Ask clear questions that are conversational in nature and stop to listen the answer. Understanding the foundation of the person’s perceptions and beliefs is critical.

• Don’t rush or jump to conclusions. Ask well thought ought questions to determine the person’s perception on climate change.  For example, there are substantial differences between someone who thinks climate science isn’t definitive versus a person who simply doesn’t relate to the implications of climate change and thus is unmoved.
• Ascertain what sources of information have led to the person’s perception on climate change.  You’re putting a puzzle together in whatever time you have to engage this person.  It doesn’t take long to get a handle on the person with whom you are interacting.  Some areas to inquire about might include:
  • What media does this person rely upon for information?
  • If you don’t already know this, what is his/her academic, professional background and current occupation?
  • Where did he/she grow up or has he/she lived for an extended period of time?
  • Is the person generally skeptical about science (e.g. consider other similar issues such as nutrition, space, vaccinations)?
  • Does he/she have any specific conclusions or strong convictions?
  • Are they overwhelmed or defeatist? 
• Look or listen for clues.  Climate change has become a polarizing issue, and to be frank, it should be as the future of our civilization is on the line. But that polarization is not always your ally in relating to people. Watch body language and listen to tone of voice. See if you can sense anger, frustration, hesitation, uncertainty or a general lack of interest. This sign will be a crucial key in informing your approach.

2. Exacerbating Factors: What are the Motivations in Play?

When you get the sense that you have a solid understanding of what leads to the person’s perceptions, it is time to learn about what things motivate them. You may not find the person has strong motivations about climate change, so regardless, you need to learn about the person’s other motivations. 

• Identify the person's personal motivations: What are the drivers and guiding principles that move this person throughout life? Recognizing this may not seem like the easiest issue to address, you can usually figure out pretty quickly if a person's convictions are driven by factors such as faith, political ideology, family values, economic security or wealth.
• Determining priority political issues: Knowing the issues that this person prioritizes is worth its weight in gold. There are very few issues that do not directly intersect with or are not significantly exacerbated by climate change. If you determine the person's top 3 or 4 issues, you'll likely have at least one or two that can be leveraged.

3. Moving the Needle: It’s Time to Engage

You now have enough information to begin to formulate a strategy for engaging with the person toward your objective.  It’s easy to think that one elevator pitch is all you need, but in reality, you need an arsenal of approaches and knowledge, and you’ll need to know what to summon and when.

• (Re)Consider your objective: You may have had a particular objective in mind when you first began communicating with the person, but you should revisit that objective. What you learned from the person? Does your original objective still make sense or should you amend it?  For example, motivating a skeptic to consult more accurate sources of information can be a win, as can be ‘disarming’ someone who has in outright denial or an obstructionist.
• Tailoring your approach: Align your objective with what you’ve learned about the person with whom you are speaking.  Be flexible, build a rapport and find common ground.  While your intent may be climate action, your content may be economic development, mission assurance, risk management or opportunity.
• Summon relevant examples: You need to make this real. One of the greatest challenges with relating climate change to people is that it’s incredibly hard to see it or touch it. Think about the implications of climate change, not just the hazards. Here are some practical examples, though you may want to leverage ACCO's online training and our curated member resources:
  • National security: An overwhelming number of active duty and retired multi-star generals and admirals have cited climate change as a threat multiplier and de-stabilizing force.
  • Agriculture production: Crops that are sensitive to microclimates or are water intensive (e.g. avocados, wine).
  • Real estate value and insurance coverage: Sea level rise and related flood risk will impact coastal real estate as it becomes more difficult to insure or finance. Some lenders and insurance providers are already restricting activity in vulnerable areas. 
• Mind your demeanor: Your tone and approach is critical to your success in moving the needle.  Make sure you mind the following basic principles in engaging with others, regardless of their beliefs and perceptions:
• Never get into an argument with the person and never let the emotions of the conversation escalate. This is of course a challenge given your likely passion for the subject, so try to put your energy into being genuinely inquisitive and understanding.
• Show respect for the other person’s opinions and never say they are wrong or come across as judgmental.  As Galileo said, “You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”
• Nobody’s perfect, so when you’ve made an error, admit it – and don’t expect that this person is any different.
• Be friendly and engaging so that your conversation is genuine and to ensure that the person wants to hear you out, consider your words and establish a rapport with you.
• Appeal to their more noble motives based upon the motivations and drivers you learned earlier.

So you have a simple process for engaging with other individuals who may not see climate change the same way you do.  This approach should help you across most categories, though inevitably, you will run across someone who’s denial of climate change is so strong that these approaches may not be enough.  Here are a few relevant categories of those exceptions I’ve encountered:

• Religious deniers
• Corrupted influence
• Political ideologists

Each of these categories of individuals requires a very different approach.  In the next chapter of this article series, I’ll cover strategies and perspectives on engaging with these individuals.

Part 4: Advancing the Occupation and Growing the Supply of Climate Leaders

Excitement doesn’t mean capacity. A growing field of practitioners are already working on greenhouse gas management, related energy considerations, and business continuity. Thousands of professionals in the public and private sectors are amongst the early members of the evolving climate change profession.

Much like the early years of other recently emerging professions (e.g. ethics and compliance officers, privacy professionals, anti-money laundering specialists), many climate change practitioners don’t yet self-identify as an occupation.  There are a variety of factors that contribute to this outlook.  Some include current broader job descriptions and political drivers.

• We need to train and mobilize an army of capable practitioners and decision makers. This is our moonshot, or a workforce escalation comparable to that seen in the United States during World War II.

• We need to dramatically enhance the credibility and stature of climate leaders who have paved the way for the tremendous advances we’ve already made.

• We need to rapidly deploy solutions, establish best practices, develop better and more informative tools and resources, forge new partnerships and build public will to support aggressive climate action.

A dynamically changing and uncertain climate policy landscape on its own makes it difficult enough to satisfy these needs. However, this condition is exponentially exacerbated by the lack of harmony of practice, consistent voice and practitioner community.

This is a clear call for our community of practice to come together to advance climate solutions and leadership.

The time is now! ACCO was conceived and designed to drive collaboration, credentialing, mentoring and advocacy. To take this next step, we need you to lead this effort with us. 

This vision includes:

• COMMUNITY: ACCO already has convened one of the largest and most diverse climate change communities of practice in North America. We’ll build upon that to bring thousands of practitioners from the public and private sectors together to advance their craft and careers. Members can participate in mentoring programs, access career resources, engage in standards and best practices development, exchange ideas and experiences with peers, join local chapters and other affinity groups, and shape advocacy on behalf of the practitioner community.

• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Our members and partners have enabled us to build more than 20 training modules to date. We’ll work with members and external partners to develop more, establish partnerships with peer credentialing bodies and establish a robust accredited provider network consisting of higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, private sector training services and professional associations.

• RESOURCES: Our vast library of content includes online training, webinar recordings, presentations, white papers, case studies and research findings. We’ll expand upon these resources and work in collaboration with other organizations.

• CREDENTIALING: You want to advance your career, earnings and stature. Employers need to know that they are hiring the right person to lead or work on climate related initiatives in their organization. We have already established a core competencies framework and have nearly 1,000 practitioners who have taken courses for credit under our certification program. The first wave of credentialed professionals will hit the streets in March 2017. Testing for the CCP® Designation will be launched in a few weeks.

• ADVOCACY: Join forces with peer practitioners to establish a strong voice representing the climate change community of practice. ACCO members will enjoy opportunities to collectively address best practices, standards and certain public policy issues. Without a strong professional association, critical issues such as disclosure, metrics for benchmarking success, and raising practitioner compensation are insufficiently addressed.

There is strength in unity. If you have read this far, you are likely passionate about your work and this issue.

We are passionate about this vision. We started this effort in 2008. Our work has led to requirements in executive orders on climate preparedness training and the establishment of an occupational series in Federal agencies. Our community was instrumental in developing the EPA’s Climate Leadership Awards program. We have produced scores of industry leading events and facilitated relationships resulting in substantial

But the time is now. We need to raise the bar and exponentially increase the number of skill assets deployed to tackle climate change. You need more support and resources. We can do this if we come together as one.

Join ACCO today. We will build. We will discover. We will be the change we want to see. And we will make a substantial impact together.

Part 3: Be the Change You Want to See

We’re all aiming to put things into perspective given the shakeup of the climate change policy landscape.  It’s time for bold leadership, and to be the change we want to see.  Do we really think that other people are going to clean this mess up?  We all need to pick up the shovel, and when we do, real change will take place.  Actions drive change.

Imagine what would happen if scores of companies, government officials and university leaders dramatically raised the bar on their own climate leadership. It’s really not that difficult to create a marketplace and a policy landscape that changes the landscape considerably. 

Here are some ideas, that if you added up across numerous organizations, would become game changers:

Little Steps Along the Way

• Big wins can also come from little projects.  Don’t lose the forest from the trees.  Identify tangible smaller projects that can demonstrate success and build confidence in climate preparedness efforts and the value they can play for your organizations.
• Find champions.  You’ll be surprised to learn what forces might get behind your initiatives.  Step outside your comfort zone and examine whose interests intersect with your own.  Seek guidance.  Find common ground.  Propose ideas.  Activate champions who can reinforce your efforts and/or introduce them to new stakeholders.
• Activate a culture of invested stakeholders.  Identify activities and issues that will galvanize a portion of your workforce.  Whether establishing green initiatives teams looking inward at your organization, or conceiving and driving volunteer efforts to support your surrounding community, the more engaged your colleagues and stakeholders are in these efforts, the more confident, supportive and adventurous they will be in your efforts going forward.
• Build stakeholder, public and political will for solutions.  More than half of Americans and the overwhelming majority of the world support taking action to meaningfully address climate change.  But there is a small minority that vehemently opposes climate action.  The devil is in the details. If we figure out how to help those whom would be harmed by climate smart policies and activate those whom are indifferent, perhaps we can turn them into allies in this effort.
• There’s No Good vs. Evil.  Making people or organizations out to be bad guys either turns them into enemies or makes them indifferent.  Neither is productive.  Let’s sit down and listen to each other’s concerns and find common ground to move forward.
• Establish and align goals to leverage co-benefits and stakeholder priorities by developing sound metrics and achieving benchmarks for economic development, public health and other priority quality of life considerations.

Big Steps Shake Things Up

• Establish bolder reduction goals with long-term and escalating trajectories.  There are numerous bottom-line beneficial opportunities awaiting organizations that drive sensible greenhouse gas, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water and materials management strategies.  The business case needs to extend beyond short-term gains.  Make bolder goals with transparent and aggressive glide paths so that stakeholders with long-term perspectives and decision-making process can get behind your efforts and adapt accordingly.
• Mandate and provide climate preparedness training for key decision makers (not just environmental professionals) in your organization.  Civil engineers, facilities managers, architects, supply chain and procurement professionals, city managers, and infrastructure design and protection professionals are just a few of the key professions that can play a significant role in advancing GHG reduction, adaptation and resilience measures, thus ensuring that public and private sector organizations are well positioned to meaningfully contribute to efforts to slow down the impacts of climate change prepare for its implications.
• Break down internal silos and establish collaborative leadership structures.  A vast range of professionals and decision-makers intersect with aspects of climate change.  This is particularly the case in large organizations.  Convene the key professionals, functions and departments and establish an ongoing collaborative leadership structure to assess vulnerabilities and opportunities and chart a collective strategic approach to responding to those considerations.
• Consider your organization’s stance on policies and public affairs that intersect with climate change.  How is your organization positioning itself in the context of climate change?  How high is climate policy on your organization’s list of issues it addresses in the context of policy and public engagement?  Be bold, make it a top tier priority and keep it there consistently.  Sustained advocacy and public engagement is a critical tool toward affecting public and political will.
• Think and act beyond your organization’s boundaries by forming collaborations with stakeholders and peer organizations.  The implications of climate change have no regard for organizational boundaries or jurisdictions.  Substantial opportunities to realize and achieve solutions await those who aggregate their interests and share resources.  Additionally, climate change and extreme events don’t respect organizational boundaries and jurisdictions. 

Remember, a chorus of these activities completely changes the landscape within your organization and outside its “fences.”  Rome wasn’t built in a day and it wasn’t built by one person.

These are just a few of the tangible action items we should all be thinking about.  The next few chapters of this blog series will hone in on opportunities for specific sectors and types of organizations.

Part 2: Perspective & Bold Leadership

Last week, we endured a substantial shock to the system.  Many of us have devoted enormous energy and emotion into climate action.  Now that we’ve taken a deep breath, let’s put some perspective to the opportunities that sit before us:

• State and municipal leaders, whether elected officials or senior administrative personnel, have the opportunity to establish and implement bold initiatives that will shape practice, standards and markets here in the United States.  Those initiatives will create a groundswell and a marketplace that, in aggregate, would move the needle forward considerably.
• Private sector leaders can echo these efforts by strongly advocating for sound climate and energy policy, establishing bold reduction goals, and partnering with public sector entities to develop solutions.
• Higher education leaders can contemplate their institutions’ roles in driving a climate smart workforce and becoming laboratories for how communities and businesses can develop climate change solutions to issues such as financing and tax structures, building codes and zoning, new technologies and materials, economic development synergies and habitat protection.

Bold action by enough of these leaders would serve as a catalyst for a policy environment and marketplace dynamics that would shape consumption, adaptive management and preparedness efforts considerably.

The history of policy action in the United States does not reflect proactive leadership by the Federal government.  Don’t expect it. The evolution of nearly every single environmental regulatory policy stems from one of a few factors:

1. local and state government acting first, with enough of them acting with different approaches that Congress is forced to step in and establish a common denominator enabling industry to function more smoothly across the country;
2. industry giants descending upon Congress and advocating (with conviction) for policy enactment;
3. catastrophe striking and action being taken in response;
4. the Supreme Court is compelled to hear a matter and rule upon it (e.g. Massachusetts vs. EPA); and/or
5. a populist movement so profound that elected officials are forced to act in response (e.g. Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Suffrage).

Years of activism from state governments and environmental groups resulted in the Supreme Court ruling in 2007 that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.  More recently, local and state governments took action on marriage equality.  Legal battles ensued.  The Supreme Court was compelled to hear the case and a ruling was issued.

By 2009, nearly half of American states had signed on to regional climate change pacts.  There’s no coincidence that the Waxman-Markey bill (American Clean Energy and Security Act) passed the House that year.  Unfortunately, most state leaders chose to wait on Congress to act rather than enact GHG regulation themselves, which would have forced Congress to develop a national policy solution.  Shortly thereafter, change in political leadership further undermined the political will to act at the state level, one of the regional pacts folded and Congressional action was deemed an impossibility.

Mother nature does not care about political parties or your beliefs.  But I promise you the planet, national government and the marketplace will respond to bold and sensible action – and as it turns out, your communities and businesses will be infinitely better positioned to thrive if we pay closer attention to the dynamically changing world around us and inform our decision making accordingly.

The next few entries in this blog series will discuss specific initiatives and opportunities that public and private sector leaders can and should pursue.