3 Simple Laws For Business - "In-Bounds" vs. "Out-of-Bounds" Choices.

We need better "business guardrails" - not suffocating regulations.

Business is the engine that drives change but sometimes it needs a nudge to do better. One way to do this - which all too often stifles creativity - is with suffocating regulations. A better option is to incentivise business in ways that coax inventive and transformative thinking. But sometimes, even these incentives aren’t enough. Sometimes there needs to be more clarity in terms of what actions and choices are unacceptable and what needs to be scaled back or discontinued. What’s needed are “business guardrails” that dissuade certain behaviors while still maintaining maximum innovation, wellness and ecological stability. 

A New ‘Business As Usual’ (BAU)

Business needs a new operating system that prevents rather than hastens (through current BAU practices) climate-induced disasters, known as “tail risks”. Our out-of-date operating system is putting both our financial and planetary solvency at risk. BAU must evolve to incorporate resilience and sustainability into every business decision and thus reduce the likelihood of catastrophic events that will lead to mass disruption and then…mass insolvency. In short, we need a new approach that’s guided by Climobilize’s 3 laws for business.

3 Laws for Business

The 3 Laws bring to light the distinction between superficial actions on one hand, and systemic change on the other. It forces us to take stock of how our current risk management tools are woefully inadequate to handle the magnitude and frequency of  extreme “tail risks” from climate change. We must accept that small actions, while positive, are insufficient, and that our best chance to prevent mass insolvency is with a fundamental shift in how business operates.

The big picture view is that the 3 Laws will “force” the necessary changes by seamlessly guiding business towards greater sustainability at the core of their activities, and thus transform business to ensure that the drive for sustainable profits becomes the norm, not the exception. This will have an effect on every part of the system simultaneously rather than on different parts of the system, at different times, in a disjointed fashion. The laws are not intended to be guidelines for occasional initiatives but rather, they are principles that must be integrated into the daily operations of every business and in this way, everyone will be playing by the same rules. 

The 3 Laws mandate that businesses must:

#1 Avoid degrading ecosystems and human sustainability.

This law aims to prevent business from externalizing environmental or social costs, a practice that has historically contributed to both ecological destruction and social inequality. 

#2 Pursue profits without violating the first law.

This law provides business with the flexibility to remain economically viable while prioritizing sustainability. It encourages the development of new business models and technologies that are both profitable and aligned with paradigms like Doughnut Economics, that aim for system-level change towards a more sustainable future.

#3 Justify any deviation from the first law by demonstrating how any harm done is outweighed by the benefit to humanity and the environment.

This law guides business to avoid the pitfalls of short-term thinking by carefully weighing the consequences of their actions, ensuring that any trade-offs are in the best interest of both people and the planet.

The 3 Laws aim to change the repetitive and routine actions of business, ensuring that all operations are conducted in a manner that promotes long-term planetary health and sustainability.

Economic Progress and Stability

The era of 1-off "action-focused" campaigns, while often positive in their own regard, have been unable to transform, at-scale, how the existing BAU system operates. Our daily actions need to change so that ALL actions at the individual level become inline with the goal of continued economic progress and stability - thus achieving total system change. This is what makes the 3 Laws different - they go beyond reports, discussions and targets that are often more aspirational than realistic about what it means to be sustainable.  

The 3 Laws for Business will simplify decision making while keeping the economic playing field open for a wide variety of options to be considered. Some choices will be “in-bounds”, leading to sustainable profits that are built on economic growth and ecological stability, and some choices will be “out-of-bounds”, and that if implemented, they will hasten “tail risks” and put economic growth and ecological stability in harm's way. Using these “business guardrails” will allow business to identify low-cost, low-insurance and low-red-tape options in the pursuit of growth and sustainable profits - with minimal disruption. Over time, a new model for BAU will be created.

Summary

Climobilize’s Scorpion’s Tail Club, through the 3 Laws of Business, aims to redefine BAU. By embedding sustainable practices into the daily operations of businesses, the limitations of targeted interventions that do not adequately address the root causes of systemic issues can be overcome. This approach ensures that every choice can be a direct path to a more sustainable and resilient system, ultimately achieving the total system change necessary to mitigate tail risks and promote planetary solvency. Following the 3 laws will transform BAU from a contributor to climate risks to an easy-to-follow framework that safeguards against it.

To learn more about how the 3 Laws for Business can transform BAU and how you can have a seat at the table as we re-shape the future of business, contact us for a discreet 1:1 discussion here.  

Thanks for reading!

Brad Zarnett and Ian Kaplan
Co-Founders, Climobilize Scorpion’s Tail Club

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