Assuming business as usual is often the easy option. But often change happens faster than we expect. And this can expose the company to material risks.
Companies make strategies, investors just critique them. And to do this well, we need companies to have a clearly set out vision for how their industry will look in the future, and how they will fit in it.
Business 101 - first understand how the people you want to influence actually think. This also applies to those who want to influence companies and asset managers. Start with how they think and tailor your message to focus on what they see as important.
Yes, we need to prepare for the future, but in a resilient way. One that doesn't lock us into 'the future will look like the past'. And that includes mining for critical minerals.
Doing nothing in the face of upcoming risks can be massively value destroying for companies, leading to both shareholders and lenders losing out.
Rising sea levels are not just a threat to people. They also could create material financial risks, from what we call asset impairment. And given the long asset lives of most infrastructure, the risk is getting closer than you might think.
Could gene editing could solve the cow methane problem? Although innovation sometimes over promises and under delivers, there are times when it's necessary. When the alternatives are unlikely to get delivered at the scale we need. And cow based methane looks like just such a case.
We need to change our business ecosystems if we are going to deliver the new, more sustainable ways of working. Assuming that we can do the same things as before, just greener, will not work.
Politicians are not brave people, they want to do something that a large minority, if not the majority, will support. Which is why what the public believes about Electric Vehicles' really matters. And why 40% saying that they don't think EV's are better for the environment is a worry.
We know that 'solving' the artisanal mining challenges is something we need to do. We also know that it's complicated. But people have done it, or at least started it - a Mozambique case study
We all know that stock markets (in fact all financial markets) are partly driven by sentiment. But this only tells part of the story. Accounting fundamentals also matter.
Is there a better way to heat water for our buildings. One that also 'soaks' up the surplus (and now wasted) cheap solar electricity. It turns out there is.