Introduction to Part V

Abstract

Our lives and livelihoods face profound threats from unmanaged or badly managed climate change; for many they are existential. The science is clear that the potential magnitude of the risks we face is immense and that we must act with great urgency and across the whole economy. The next two decades will be decisive for climate change. If we delay, the consequences could be devastating and many of the changes will be irreversible. Our current paths of growth and development are unsustainable. Yet we also have in our hands an immense opportunity: we can now see how to embark on a path of strong, sustainable, resilient and inclusive growth that could both drive and be driven by the transition to the zero-carbon economy. There is real momentum as countries, sectors and technologies change, but we are not moving anywhere near fast enough. Essential to the acceleration we need is the power of ideas and the forces of entrepreneurship. Private individuals and enterprises are a crucial source of initiative and creativity. They generate new ideas, show what is possible and can inspire. The policies and institutions within which they work are vital to their incentives and their ability to achieve. This part of the book brings these dynamics to life. Their coming together also provides us with an opportunity to identify the common threads, both in terms of the underpinnings of success and the barriers hindering progress, that can help us understand how their potential contributions can be fostered. Their differences too help us understand how creativity can bloom or be discouraged. The examples cover an extraordinary range and all are in areas of activity of particular relevance to the major challenges of managing climate change and other fundamental environmental issues. They range from rural electricity to urban transport, from drip irrigation to mangroves, from managing migration to managing a transition from mining, and from changing an oil and natural gas company to a wind company, to changing a company from chemicals to biodegradable plastics. They demonstrate in an inspiring way what can be achieved. In this short introduction, we highlight just a few of the cases to illustrate their range and creativity. Responding to the climate and biodiversity crises in a manner commensurate to the challenges will entail many large-scale changes: our future must be very