Our Last Shot: Failed

Early in the Covid-19 pandemic when everything stopped we had a moment to reflect.

Sensitive to our vulnerabilities, there was a new openness to create a better, different world. We discovered how productive we could be working from home. We huddled with those that matter most. And there was a renewed resolve to make the world a better place. (This was before the conspiracy theories.)

Corporations vowed to do better, and among promises of a more just society were commitments to drastically cut carbon emissions.

It turns out we were - once again - manipulated. Remember the emotional TV ads?

Put aside feasibility and impact - for a moment in time, it felt like we had a chance to change. As it turns out, companies and governments created comforting messaging to exploit society's fear and desperation.

Why was I so stupid to think anything would change? Perhaps because the growth of ESG products jumped, new roles and teams were created within companies to serve social and environmental causes, and governments committed to ambitious environmental targets. Right or wrong, things were happening.

Throughout my life, any time I've put my cynicism on pause I've been disappointed. I was not alone. Many believed the pandemic humbled civilization into submission, and we would finally get our act together.

Over time, the pandemic faded from view

Stores reopened, revenues recovered and business as usual resumed. Eventually, workers were called back into the office as executives failed to reimagine a better way of working and governments bent over for commercial real estate companies.

The surge in corporate environmentalism dissolved as attention turned back to what really mattered to executives - money and power. Not that executives are solely to blame. We all looked the other way as life resumed. Turns out we're all addicted to the same things.

Roles originally dedicated to ESG were diluted into risk management positions, with any possible positive impact taking a back seat. ESG roles were never about change - they existed to protect companies.

While some had good intentions, the rising tide of environmentalism during the pandemic was nothing but a publicity stunt.

Today, most of the progress and commitments made during the pandemic have been abandoned. This is true for governments, corporations, institutional investors and even individuals.

Many of my friends who developed an interest in ESG issues during the pandemic are once again full-frontal capitalist boot lockers, although they'd try to convince you otherwise. They're back to their normal ways. Rabid consumerism and overseas vacations.

Corporations and governments have walked back their pledges. Institutional investors have cozied up with the enemy instead of forcing them to change.

Still, some are still trying to hold institutions to account. The following was a full page ad taken out in the Globe and Mail:

If we were to ever have a shot at changing the world, that was it. Come and gone in a flash, suppressed by addictions that we never overcame.

You already know this.

Maybe it was naïve of me to have an ounce of hope that the pandemic would be a catalyst for change. I'm a cynic and realist, but this time I thought "just maybe".

Once again, the world disappoints. People disappoint.