Mark Carney’s “Value(s): Building a better world for all” is not available in print in France yet so I listened his narrating it for 20 hours. It’s surprising by its content and format. First, Carney’s thesis – the market-based economy has been stretched too far – is quite unusual for a former Bank Governor (of Canada and England).  He argues that the “price-of-everything-is-the-value-of-everything” motto led to the three global crises of finance, health and climate. He demonstrates why our system needs rebalanced away from financial optimization. He calls on governments to act according to societal core values, and on business and finance to develop clear plans to net zero while promoting values-based leadership. Second, the book’s format is also surprising. It is basically a textbook which, in addition to the theory, gives historical perspectives, practitioners’ insights, and global institutional contexts. Finally, it is also intriguing to see how Carney is personally acting on the recommendations his puts forward in his book. As the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance, he is now guided by a mission to integrate climate change in every finance decision. For all its qualities, it is also a very dense book and I probably did not absorb half of it. And the historical perspectives are mainly Western/Eurocentric. But it definitely got me thinking…a lot. Tomorrow we bring Mark Carney to INSEAD and I am excited to hear more based on what I heard. You can join for free here.
 
The G7 Environment and Climate Change Communiqué is worth reading because it makes a few important commitments: phase out government support to fossil fuels; end government spending on coal by end 2021; decarbonize power systems by 2030; protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030. Most measures will impact Official Development Assistance (ODA). Be ready for an accelerated greening of ODA as Ministers ask all Multilateral Development Banks to publish comprehensive green action plans by COP26.
 
This Niall McCarthy’s graph shocked me. The US has 120 firearms for every 100 of its residents.

My quote this week is from Mare Sheehan, aka Mare of EastTown [Episode 5: 46’]: “Doing something great is overrated. As then people expect this from you all the time. What they don’t realize is that we are just as screwed up as they are.”