Green Swans: The Coming Boom in Regenerative Capitalism

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In the meantime, I urge you to grab yourself a copy of Green Swans and read it from cover to cover at the earliest opportunity. Perhaps a more detailed discussion of the dramatic changes going on now in the market for electric vehicles would have illustrated his arguments better. Vivid examples of Black Swans are the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine: while foreseen by some, both were surprising to many, highly disruptive, and predictable in hindsight.

All four still exist and the last two were respectively the second and first certified British B Corporations in the U. It is a framework of thinking about risks associated with the Biosphere, terming them ‘green swans’ (or environmental black swans) (Bank of International Settlements, 2020a). Thierry Philipponnat of the NGO Finance Watch warned, however, that the data gap should not become an excuse for non-action. In these times if VUCA - volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous - we need steady yet challenging strategies and actions to help us recreate a different world - an economy that is vibrant and enhances rather than depletes, and governance which encourages careful stewarding and radical rethinking towards preservation - and John Elkington's experience and ethos are primed to fulfill these needs.

If Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "Black Swans" are problems that take us exponentially toward breakdown, then "Green Swans" are solutions that take us exponentially toward breakthrough. We invite you to share examples you believe encapsulate forms of regeneration we need to see scaled, from your own part of the world.

Corporations need to establish a responsible purpose and business model, looking at their impact, governance and their stranded assets – those that could be rendered useless by black swan events. But I will say compared to the high standards that John sets for himself based on his previous work, this was quite disappointing. The Observatory, run by Jenny Poulter, collates practical, verified examples of market shifts, businesses, policy innovation, technologies and individuals with demonstrated potential to drive rapid and radical change across issues, themes and geographies. If there was a consistent narrative throughout the book focussed on wicked problems and how they can be overcome, I think the book would have been better.g. increased droughts, water stress, flooding, and heat waves), but their timing and form of occurrence are uncertain. What is exciting about Elkington's Green Swans is, as he describes them, that they are 'dynamic trajectories to seemingly impossible outcomes and solutions'. He is a visiting professor at the Cranfield School of Management, as well as at Imperial College London and University College London (UCL). Finally, as per Elkington’s words, he is a short-term pessimist, but “a qualified long-term optimist”, a characteristic embedded in his writing and that evidently runs like a common thread through the book. Interestingly, humanity has all the techniques at hand to reverse global warming – nothing new needs to be invented.