Current climate options do not include the important cooling dimension of high-quality green structures. While this is perhaps the purest and most valuable global ‘commons’ we depend on as a civilization.
Hope or Tragedy
‘The tragedy of the commons’ teaches us that we can only avoid tragedy when the maintenance and financing of common property (our ‘cooling commons’) is a concerted, purposeful effort with mutually accepted rules of the game. In this case, the ‘common’ is worldwide and with it the effort.
Rules of the game
Rapid recovery of the system is in the interest of all players and requires joint, purpose-driven actions that are fairly and equitably distributed. Companies – supported by knowledge institutions – need to be able to identify as best as possible societal needs and need clear rules within they can use their creativity and implementation power. We citizens as voters need to be able to make clear priorities and preferences, as consumers we need to know the impact of our consumption.
The system change requires a rapid, effective and efficient implementation of new inherently good economic rules. Legal, fiscal and spatial planning adjustments will be necessary worldwide. That is the domain of governments and it requires them working together.
Not only governments have to work closely together, but society has to bridge paths to all stakeholders; knowledge institutions, companies, capital providers and we in person as citizens or represented by non-governmental organizations (NGO’s).
We will explore new unknown territories and inherent this will mean making mistakes. It is important to learn fast from our mistakes, make use of the skills and wisdom of all players. It will help when we as society can rely on practical learning cycles of what works and what doesn’t.
Future coefficient
To support these learning cycles, we have developed the ‘Future Coefficient’ together with Innorbis. The future coefficient indicates to what extent the activities in society are aligned with the desired social goals. We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) that have been tweaked with the cooling insights.
Common metrics
For the general basis for calibration of the underlying data we rely on the knowledge of Innorbis in the field of metrology and their framework for common metrics that enable all players to talk the same transition language.
Metrology is the knowledge of measurements, measurement processes and measurement errors. This knowledge enables us to measure progress and make comparisons of activities possible. To enhance the power this measurement process is combined with self-learning algorithms, enabling predictive power of effects.
Crucial input from investors
We envision a crucial role for the financial world to these learning cycles. In this process we ask investors to carefully weigh the return and risk of investment objects when realizing their pure financial goals, supplemented where desirable with ethical preconditions. In addition, investors provide their system vision on what is needed to achieve our societal goals. They then score the investments on a scale from zero to one hundred to what extent the investments are aligned with the goals, a so-called ‘future score’.
The closer an investment with a high future score is to the efficient frontier and the further away investments with a low future score, the better society is aligned and the higher the ‘Future Coefficient’. In theory the efficient frontier represents the most efficient investment portfolios. Which means that are no investments possible with a lower risk given a certain return or investments with higher return given a certain risk on the efficient frontier.
Role of supervisors and governments
We also envision that financial supervisors test how visions and scores have been established and collect the future coefficients, scores and visions. The scores and visions provide the governments with insight into the extent activities are aligned with the societal goals. This provides governments with tools to find pressure points in the system for acceleration. We expect that when the interplay between players improves, players will anticipate rule changes and future scores will improve faster.
Pilot
We are now in the process of setting up a pilot. Interested socially engaged investors, companies, governments are welcome to participate.
‘Purpose driven investing’
In this new social role, investors can focus on their primary task and at the same time make a meaningful contribution to the necessary system change and the restoration of ‘our commons’. It is important that we will let the commons return and that the commons can give a robust financial and high social return.
‘The return of the commons’ is a vital condition for a future proof society.
