Week 11: Silencing Dissent, War on Climate Activitists

Dear all,

Impossible. Unwilling. Deceptive. False. Some will say realistic, logical, savvy, even sobering. There are many ways to seek a description of developments around the world right now. The dominating narrative, however, is that the transition towards a more sustainable future is receiving a proper beating wherever you turn. Fear supersedes values on streets, bars, restaurants, business meetings, factory floors, and offices. It is a peculiar view, symbolic as much as it is painful. We are, after all, part of a system not truly built to address issues beyond its own, or shall we say our own, self-interest. There is no need to present historic evidence on this matter or dwell into mechanisms that work in the shadows of our own subconsciousness. We know. As much as we know that we choose to ignore what we know.

Last week, I participated in yet another panel on Capitalism and its ability to address its own apocalypse. As it happens, the panel in Sweden is a tranquil happening where participants compete in consensus and pleasantries. The topic, as it happens, having an explosive undertone, went from real to blurred, and phrases like “we have to work together” and “we have to look for positive developments” exchanged with each other on the stage while minutes were passing by. The audience looked puzzled and bored. Two moderators tried to steer the debate as much as they could towards something concrete and tangible. Meanwhile, on stage, in Sweden, in Stockholm, Greta was arrested yet again. Now, outside the very same Swedish Parliament where her historic protests started many years ago. She was arrested by police officers during a protest with "Reclaim The Future" outside of the Swedish parliament where activists from "Reclaim The Future" have blocked the entrance of the Swedish parliament for the past five days.

Gone are the days of selfies with Greta. Gone are the business leaders and politicians around the world willing to engage with her and young people around the world. This was, of course, not even mentioned in the cozy business conference room where people gathered to “work with sustainability, transition, ESG ratings, ESG data, reporting, and a myriad of other acronyms”. I guess it was not tasteful to bring in such an awful topic as activism into this serious, realistic, and logical setting where people truly work with “sustainability”. Greta’s only crime: she and thousands of other young people around the world ask businesses and politicians to listen to science. And that is a very radical request, as it seems.

Greta and her generation know that financial markets don’t care, and I will explain later in this newsletter why. As the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, said a couple of years ago: “Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.” In principle, we jail people telling us that smoking kills and trying to get us to stop smoking.