As a gay person whose career is devoted to slowing/adapting to climate change, this presidential election is disturbing. I’ve had some time to sit with it and remain more focused and committed than ever to this path I’ve been on for some time.
To those Republicans who have said that with a smaller federal government, businesses can regulate themselves for the betterment of the community, now is a great chance to deliver on this promise. Businesses and consumers can make decisions that will speak just as loud as our now likely lost Federal regulations.
Fortunately, there are now international and national standards and technology that anyone can use to see which businesses are delivering on this promise – like CSRHUB and CDP. Just search on the business to look up their ratings, and then decide if you wish to purchase something from this business or if you’d like to call their investor relations or CFO and do some direct advocacy.
Here are some questions you can ask medium and large companies:
- What was your company’s Scope One and Scope Two carbon footprint last year and the previous three years?
- What is the trend for the future?
- Do you have a sustainability department?
- How many people work in that department?
- What are your sustainability goals?
- You can also ask for numbers around diversity and other social metrics.
Asking these questions provides support to the people in these companies who are working to reduce environmental impact and improve social impact. For example, search on your most favorite online retailer in CDP or CSRHUB and you will likely see poor ratings. Figure out a way contact the companies “public affairs” or “customer relations” department to ask these questions.
Give voice to your values of transparency, measurement, and improvement.
Finally, we now have much better means of sharing our values are and talking about the companies we DO support. Please share this information on your own values and research widely. Now is a great time for focused, direct advocacy. I’d love to follow and support your efforts, so connect with me via @DerekEisel
For a related talk I gave at BlinkThink before the election, which is even more relevant now, check out: