Developing countries are facing a deadly perfect storm – rich economies can and must avert this disaster. Decision making bias can undermine confidence in ESG investing – we can and must go beyond flawed mental models. How ’nature-positive’ solutions can and must be used to tackle the climate crisis. When it comes to productivity, looking at the science might be more productive than listening to the tips. A daily sense of appreciation can be as powerful in our lives as purpose.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If you think we’ve got hell on earth now, you just get ready. If we neglect northern Africa, northern Africa’s coming to Europe. If we neglect the Middle East, [the] Middle East is coming to Europe.” David Beasley, Executive director of the UN World Food Programme warning about the global food crisis in the article of the week
ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
Ngaire Woods, A Perfect Storm for Developing Countries
(Project Syndicate, 19 April 2022)
As a consequence of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, a disaster with wide-ranging economic, geopolitical and humanitarian consequences is brewing in developing countries. Many face a perfect storm of famine, political upheaval, and debt crises. These are placing millions of lives at risk, but mitigation is possible. Leading economies must refrain from beggar-thy-neighbor policies and use their combined resources in the IMF and the World Bank to act quickly and unconditionally to avert a catastrophe and its snowball effect (metered paywall – reads in in 6-8 min).
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Paul Polman and Andrew Winston, Yes, Investing in ESG Pays Off
(Harvard Business Review, 13 April 2022)
An increasing number of investors are questioning the pertinence of ESG investing. In their reasoned response, two strong ESG proponents identify the key reasons that explain this reluctance. They boil down to five problems related to decision making: (1) the numbers hide the truth about the real cost, (2) our biases trick us, (3) we focus on short-term benefits, (4) we think about costs in silos, and (5) we miss the bigger existential costs. They also propose a solution for getting past these flawed mental models (metered paywall – reads in 6-7 min).
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Daniel Zarin, Why tackling climate change needs true ‘nature-positive’ solutions
(World Economic Forum, 19 April 2022)
To address the climate emergency in a meaningful manner, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions rapidly and drastically from every sector of the economy (including energy, industry, transportation, buildings and agriculture) and protect natural ecosystems. And we need to especially protect forests and peatlands, the ecosystems that remove the most CO2 from the atmosphere, store the most carbon in biomass and have the most potential for reducing CO2 emissions from biomass to the atmosphere (free access – reads in 5-6 min).
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Dean Burnett, A neuroscientist debunks the most annoyingly common productivity myths
(Science Focus, 19 April 2022)
We take for granted productivity tips that are just wrong and can be debunked by science. Five stand out: (1) Waking up at 4am will make you more productive – doubtful and context-dependent; (2) We all have the same 24 hours – no: we don’t; (3) Keeping busy means being more productive – counterproductive false idea: (4) You should be happy in your work – wrong: happiness doesn’t equate productivity; (5) Hard work always pays off – wishful thinking, luck matters most (metered paywall – reads in 5-6 min).
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Joshua Hicks and Frank Martela, A New Dimension to a Meaningful Life
(Scientific American, 15 April 2022)
Most psychologists attribute a subjectively meaningful existence to three things: (1) coherence – the feeling that one’s life “makes sense,” (2) purpose – clear and satisfying long-term goals and (3) existential mattering – the belief that one’s life matters in the grand scheme of things. New research points to a fourth element: experiential appreciation – the detection of and admiration for life’s inherent beauty. It suggests that appreciating beauty in the everyday may be just as powerful as a sense of overarching purpose (metered paywall – reads in 5 min).
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