Week 20: Possible

Dear all,

Incrementally possible. That’s how it is. Possible. But it takes time. And it has a cost. It’s not win-win. There’s no such thing.

It’s possible to develop solutions for a sustainable, inclusive, and just transition to something better than what we have today. Possible to cooperate and agree on how this could work. Maybe not on a global level, but regionally and locally.

Possible to act for peace and the freedom of people regardless of who they are. Possible to phase out our dependency on fossil fuels and increase renewable solutions.

Possible to develop an economic system that puts a price on externalities. Possible to teach a different kind of economics in universities around the world.

Possible to value companies by more than just financial metrics. Possible to invest more in education and healthcare than in guns and bombs.

Possible to see “different” as potential, not as a threat.

There are so many possibilities that we all know exist and could work. Yet we’re told, over and over again, that because of this, that, and the other, it won’t work.

But the truth is: we don’t really know. Because we’ve never been there. We’ve never lived in the possible world.

And we seem too afraid to even dream about it.

What else do we have to lose?

Let’s take a look at something interesting Europe. Something is shifting in the boardrooms. Quietly, and perhaps a bit surprisingly, many of the continent’s biggest companies are no longer just tolerating climate policy—they’re backing it. Not in slogans or half-hearted sustainability reports, but in the way that really counts: lobbying.

A recent study by InfluenceMap tracked the behavior of 200 of Europe’s largest firms and found a dramatic change in direction. Back in 2019, only a sliver, around 3 percent, had their lobbying efforts fully in line with global climate goals. Fast forward to 2025, and that number has jumped to nearly one in four. At the same time, the proportion of companies actively working against these goals has dropped by more than half.

To put it another way, the old idea that climate action and business success are in conflict is being rewritten. What we’re seeing instead is a growing group of companies choosing to walk the walk, backing policies that support a cleaner, more sustainable future. And they’re not necessarily shouting about it either. As Venetia Roxburgh from InfluenceMap put it, it’s often the critics who dominate the headlines, but behind the scenes, the real momentum is with those quietly pushing for change.