Rick Spence

Nov 11, 2024 | corporateknights.com | Rick Spence

Whoever invented the notion of herding cats never imagined the frustrations of guiding 190 nations along the complex path to net-zero. But that’s the mandate of Simon Stiell, the former environment minister of Grenada who is now the United Nations’ climate chief – the man most responsible for achieving the Paris Agreement goal of limiting climate change to 1.5°C by 2030. With little to no power to enforce compliance, Stiell has responsibility without authority.

Nov 11, 2024 | corporateknights.com | Rick Spence

At the close of every year, the conscience of the world goes on display at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Held last year in the United Arab Emirates, the COP28 meeting came under fire for planning a hydrocarbon-free future in a country where oil and gas account for 30% of total exports. In 2024, COP29 must dig itself out of a bigger hole.

Sep 23, 2024 | corporateknights.com | Rick Spence

Every year, hundreds of thousands of volunteers fan out along beaches and waterways around the world to rid the landscapes of that haunting by-product of consumer culture: disposable plastic. Peeking through the mountain of debris is a ray of hope: new research is drawing a correlation between plastic bag bans in the United States and a drop in plastic bags collected as part of this massive cleanup.

Sep 12, 2024 | corporateknights.com | Rick Spence

It’s hard to remember today, but a few decades ago many conservatives were keen environmentalists. Consider Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, who marshalled the world community to fight acid rain and advocated for a global “law of the atmosphere.” U.S. president George H.W. Bush championed renewable fuels and strengthened the Clean Air Act.

Jul 26, 2024 | corporateknights.com | Rick Spence

As the world’s top athletes gather in Paris, the Olympic motto of “Higher, Faster, Stronger” could use one more superlative: “Cleaner.” If there were a gold medal for the Herculean task of improving the health and livability of a city, it would go to Paris itself – and tenacious mayor Anne Hidalgo – for an audacious decades-long green revolution based on the conviction that cities belong to people, not to cars. Olympic visitors will find Paris physically changed, and all the better for it.