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Monday, February 22, 2021

 Larry Fink 2021 Letter to CEOs Dear CEO,

BlackRock is a fiduciary to our clients, helping them invest for long-term goals. Most of the money we manage is for retirement – for individuals and pension beneficiaries like teachers, firefighters, doctors, businesspeople, and many others. It is their money we manage, not our own. The trust our clients place in us, and our role as the link between our clients and the companies they invest in, gives us a great responsibility to advocate on their behalf.

This is why I write to you each year, seeking to highlight issues that are pivotal to creating durable value – issues such as climate change,  capital managementlong-term strategypurpose .......We have long believed that our clients, as shareholders in your company, will benefit if you can create enduring, sustainable value for all of your stakeholders.

I began writing these letters in the wake of the financial crisis. But over the past year, we experienced something even more far-reaching – a pandemic that has enveloped the entire globe and changed it permanently. It has both exacted a horrific human toll and transformed the way we live – the way we work, learn, access medicine, and much more.

The consequences of the pandemic have been highly uneven. It sparked the most severe global economic contraction since the Great Depression and the sharpest fall off in equity markets since 1987. While some industries, particularly those that depend on people congregating in person, have suffered, others have flourished. And although the stock market recovery bodes well for growth as the pandemic subsides, the current situation remains one of economic devastation, with unemployment severely elevated, small businesses shuttering daily, and families around the world struggling to pay rent and buy food. 

The pandemic has also accelerated deeper trends, from the growing retirement crisis to systemic inequalities. Several months into the year, the pandemic collided with a wave of historic protests for racial justice in the United States and around the world. And more recently, it has exacerbated the political turmoil in the U.S. This month in the U.S., we saw political alienation – fueled by lies and political opportunism – erupt into violence. The events at the U.S. Capitol are a stark reminder of how vulnerable and how precious a democratic system can be.

Despite the darkness of the past 12 months, there have been signs of hope, including companies that have worked to serve their stakeholders with courage and conviction. We saw businesses rapidly innovate to keep food and goods flowing during lockdowns. Companies have stepped up to support non-profits serving those in need. In one of the great triumphs of modern science, multiple vaccines were developed in record time. Many companies also responded to calls for racial equity, although much work remains to deliver on these commitments. And strikingly, amid all of the disruption of 2020, businesses moved forcefully to confront climate risk.

I believe that the pandemic has presented such an existential crisis – such a stark reminder of our fragility – that it has driven us to confront the global threat of climate change more forcefully and to consider how, like the pandemic, it will alter our lives. It has reminded us how the biggest crises, whether medical or environmental, demand a global and ambitious response.

In the past year, people have seen the mounting physical toll of climate change in fires, droughts, flooding and hurricanes. They have begun to see the direct financial impact as energy companies take billions in climate-related write-downs on stranded assets and regulators focus on climate risk in the global financial system. They are also increasingly focused on the significant economic opportunity that the transition will create, as well as how to execute it in a just and fair manner. No issue ranks higher than climate change on our clients’ lists of priorities. They ask us about it nearly every day.

A Tectonic Shift Accelerates

In January of last year, I wrote that climate risk is investment risk. I said then that as markets started to price climate risk into the value of securities, it would spark a fundamental reallocation of capital. Then the pandemic took hold – and in March, the conventional wisdom was the crisis would divert attention from climate. But just the opposite took place, and the reallocation of capital accelerated even faster than I anticipated.

From January through November 2020, investors in mutual funds and ETFs invested $288 billion globally in sustainable assets, a 96% increase over the whole of 2019.1 I believe that this is the beginning of a long but rapidly accelerating transition – one that will unfold over many years and reshape asset prices of every type. We know that climate risk is investment risk. But we also believe the climate transition presents a historic investment opportunity.

Essential to this transition has been the growing availability and affordability of sustainable investment options. Not long ago, building a climate-aware portfolio was a painstaking process, available only to the largest investors. But the creation of sustainable index investments has enabled a massive acceleration of capital towards companies better prepared to address climate risk.

Today we are on the cusp of another transformation. Better technology and data are enabling asset managers to offer customized index portfolios to a much broader group of people – another capability once reserved for the largest investors. As more and more investors choose to tilt their investments towards sustainability-focused companies, the tectonic shift we are seeing will accelerate further. And because this will have such a dramatic impact on how capital is allocated, every management team and board will need to consider how this will impact their company’s stock.

Alongside the shift in investor behavior, we have seen a landmark year in the policy response to climate change. In 2020, the EU, China, Japan, and South Korea all made historic commitments to achieve net zero emissions. With the U.S. commitment last week to rejoin the Paris Agreement, 127 governments – responsible for more than 60% of global emissions – are considering or already implementing commitments to net zero. Momentum continues to build, and in 2021 it will accelerate – with dramatic implications for the global economy.

Larry Fink on our sustainable future

Larry Fink, BlackRock’s Chairman and CEO, joins The Bid podcast to talk about how the energy transition, including the widespread adoption of net zero, will fundamentally reshape the global economy.

The Opportunity of the Net Zero Transition

There is no company whose business model won’t be profoundly affected by the transition to a net zero economy – one that emits no more carbon dioxide than it removes from the atmosphere by 2050, the scientifically-established threshold necessary to keep global warming well below 2ºC. As the transition accelerates, companies with a well-articulated long-term strategy, and a clear plan to address the transition to net zero, will distinguish themselves with their stakeholders – with customers, policymakers, employees and shareholders – by inspiring confidence that they can navigate this global transformation. But companies that are not quickly preparing themselves will see their businesses and valuations suffer, as these same stakeholders lose confidence that those companies can adapt their business models to the dramatic changes that are coming. 

It’s important to recognize that net zero demands a transformation of the entire economy. Scientists agree that in order to meet the Paris Agreement goal of containing global warming to “well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial averages” by 2100, human-produced emissions need to decline by 8-10% annually between 2020 and 2050 and achieve “net zero” by mid-century. The economy today remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, as is reflected in the carbon intensity of large indexes like the S&P 500 or the MSCI World, which are currently on trajectories substantially over 3ºC.2

That means a successful transition – one that is just, equitable, and protects people’s livelihoods – will require both technological innovation and planning over decades. And it can only be accomplished with leadership, coordination, and support at every level of government, working in partnership with the private sector to maximize prosperity. Vulnerable communities and developing nations, many of them already exposed to the worst physical impacts of climate change, can least afford the economic shocks of a poorly implemented transition. We must implement it in a way that delivers the urgent change that is needed without worsening this dual burden. 

While the transition will inevitably be complex and difficult, it is essential to building a more resilient economy that benefits more people. I have great optimism about the future of capitalism and the future health of the economy – not in spite of the energy transition, but because of it.

Of course, investors cannot prepare their portfolios for this transition unless they understand how each and every company is prepared both for the physical threats of climate change and the global economy’s transition to net zero. They are asking managers like BlackRock to accelerate our data and analysis capabilities in this area – and we are committed to meeting their needs.

Why Data and Disclosure Matter

Assessing sustainability risks requires that investors have access to consistent, high-quality, and material public information. This is why last year, we asked all companies to report in alignment with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), which covers a broader set of material sustainability factors. We are greatly encouraged by the progress we have seen over the past year – a 363% increase in SASB disclosures and more than 1,700 organizations expressing support for the TCFD. (BlackRock issued our own inaugural TCFD and SASB reports last year.)

TCFD reports are the global standard for helping investors understand the most material climate-related risks that companies face, and how companies are managing them. Given how central the energy transition will be to every company’s growth prospects, we are asking companies to disclose a plan for how their business model will be compatible with a net zero economy – that is, one where global warming is limited to well below 2ºC, consistent with a global aspiration of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. We are asking you to disclose how this plan is incorporated into your long-term strategy and reviewed by your board of directors.

We appreciate that disclosure can be cumbersome and that the variety of reporting frameworks creates further complexity for companies. We strongly support moving to a single global standard, which will enable investors to make more informed decisions about how to achieve durable long-term returns. Because better sustainability disclosures are in companies’ as well as investors’ own interests, I urge companies to move quickly to issue them rather than waiting for regulators to impose them. (While the world moves towards a single standard, BlackRock continues to endorse TCFD- and SASB-aligned reporting.) In addition, I believe TCFD should not just be adopted by public companies. If we want these disclosures to be truly effective – if we want to see true societal change – they should be embraced by large private companies as well.

Further, it is not just companies that face climate-related risk. For example, we believe that issuers of public debt also should be disclosing how they are addressing climate-related risks. But measurement and disclosure are not the only challenges. Governments around the world, under severe fiscal strain from the pandemic, also need to undertake massive climate infrastructure projects, both to protect against physical risk and to deliver clean energy. These challenges will require creative public-private partnership to finance them, as well as better disclosures to attract capital.

BlackRock’s Net Zero Commitment

The world is moving to net zero, and BlackRock believes that our clients are best served by being at the forefront of that transition. We are carbon neutral today in our own operations and are committed to supporting the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. No company can easily plan over thirty years, but we believe all companies – including BlackRock – must begin to address the transition to net zero today. We are taking a number of steps to help investors prepare their portfolios for a net zero world, including capturing opportunities created by the net zero transition.

We are outlining these actions in greater detail in a letter we sent today to our clients. They include: publishing a temperature alignment metric for our public equity and bond funds, where sufficient data is available; incorporating climate considerations into our capital markets assumptions; implementing a “heightened-scrutiny model” in our active portfolios as a framework for managing holdings that pose significant climate risk (including flagging holdings for potential exit); launching investment products with explicit temperature alignment goals, including products aligned to a net zero pathway; and using stewardship to ensure that the companies our clients are invested in are both mitigating climate risk and considering the opportunities presented by the net zero transition.

Our net zero commitment
The global transition to a net zero economy is accelerating, with dramatic implications for investors. Learn how we’re helping clients navigate this transformation.
Two silhoetted people sit in front of a circular doorway, looking at green trees

Sustainability and Deeper Connections to Stakeholders Drives Better Returns

In 2018, I wrote urging every company to articulate its purpose and how it benefits all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate. Over the course of 2020, we have seen how purposeful companies, with better environmental, social, and governance (ESG) profiles, have outperformed their peers. During 2020, 81% of a globally-representative selection of sustainable indexes outperformed their parent benchmarks.3 This outperformance was even more pronounced during the first quarter downturn, another instance of sustainable funds’ resilience that we have seen in prior downturns.4 And the broader array of sustainable investment options will continue to drive investor interest in these funds, as we have seen in 2020. 

But the story goes deeper. It’s not just that broad-market ESG indexes are outperforming counterparts. It’s that within industries – from automobiles to banks to oil and gas companies – we are seeing another divergence: companies with better ESG profiles are performing better than their peers, enjoying a “sustainability premium.” 5

It is clear that being connected to stakeholders – establishing trust with them and acting with purpose – enables a company to understand and respond to the changes happening in the world. Companies ignore stakeholders at their peril – companies that do not earn this trust will find it harder and harder to attract customers and talent, especially as young people increasingly expect companies to reflect their values. The more your company can show its purpose in delivering value to its customers, its employees, and its communities, the better able you will be to compete and deliver long-term, durable profits for shareholders.

I cannot recall a time where it has been more important for companies to respond to the needs of their stakeholders. We are at a moment of tremendous economic pain. We are also at a historic crossroads on the path to racial justice – one that cannot be solved without leadership from companies. A company that does not seek to benefit from the full spectrum of human talent is weaker for it – less likely to hire the best talent, less likely to reflect the needs of its customers and the communities where it operates, and less likely to outperform.

While issues of race and ethnicity vary greatly across the world, we expect companies in all countries to have a talent strategy that allows them to draw on the fullest set of talent possible. As you issue sustainability reports, we ask that your disclosures on talent strategy fully reflect your long-term plans to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion, as appropriate by region. We hold ourselves to this same standard.

Questions of racial justice, economic inequality, or community engagement are often classed as an “S” issue in ESG conversations. But it is misguided to draw such stark lines between these categories. For example, climate change is already having a disproportionate impact on low-income communities around the world – is that an E or an S issue? What matters is less the category we place these questions in, but the information we have to understand them and how they interact with each other. Improved data and disclosures will help us better understand the deep interdependence between environmental and social issues.

I am an optimist. I have seen how many companies are taking these challenges seriously – how they are embracing the demands of greater transparency, greater accountability to stakeholders, and better preparation for climate change. I am encouraged by what I have seen from businesses. And now, business leaders and boards will need to show great courage and commitment to their stakeholders. We need to move even faster – to create more jobs, more prosperity, and more inclusivity. I have great confidence in the ability of businesses to help move us out of this crisis and build a more inclusive capitalism.

Before 2020, vaccines typically took 10 to 15 years to develop. The fastest ever developed was for the mumps – it took four years. Today, we have multiple companies across the globe delivering vaccines that they developed in under a year. They are demonstrating the power of companies – the power of capitalism – to respond to human needs. As we move forward from the pandemic, facing tremendous economic pain and inequality, we need companies to embrace a form of capitalism that recognizes and serves all their stakeholders. 

The vaccine is a first step. The world is still in crisis and will be for some time. We face a great challenge ahead. The companies that embrace this challenge – that seek to build long-term value for their stakeholders – will help deliver long-term returns to shareholders and build a brighter and more prosperous future for the world.

Sincerely,

Larry Fink Signature

Larry Fink
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Read more

Friday, February 19, 2021

wind

 NOAA’s Northeast Sea Grant Consortium, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Wind Energy Technologies Office and Water Power Technologies Office, and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center, is announcing over $1 million in research funding to improve understanding of offshore renewable energy interactions with fishing and coastal communities in order to optimize ocean co-use. With a focus on advancing community and economic resilience, the funding opportunity aims to catalyze proactive socio-economic and technology research for offshore renewable energy planning in the Northeast, for the benefit of a variety of stakeholders.

Learn more about the announcements and offshore wind:
- Memorandum of Agreement between NOAA and Ørsted Wind Power North America LLC
- Research funding opportunity to improve understanding of Northeast renewable energy interactions
- NOAA’s regulatory and scientific role in offshore wind development

Monday, February 15, 2021

mit 13 company climate consortium

 link 

 inaugural members of the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium are:

  • Accenture is a global professional services company 
     
  • Apple is a global leader in technology innovation, 
     
  • Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company 
     
  • Cargill is a global food manufacturer with the goal of nourishing the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way.
     
  • Dow is a global manufacturer of innovative products that solve the materials science challenges of its customers and contribute to a more sustainable world. 
     
  • IBM is a hybrid cloud platform and artificial intelligence company.
     
  • Inditex is one of the world’s largest fashion retail groups with eight distinct brands focused on fitting its products to meet customer demands in a sustainable way through an integrated platform of physical and online stores.
     
  • LafargeHolcim is the world's global leader in building materials and solutions at the forefront of sustainable construction.
     
  • MathWorks develops mathematical computing software used to accelerate the pace of engineering and science.
     
  • Nexplore (Hochtief) is an innovative company that develops technology solutions to digitize the infrastructure sector, using next-generation technologies including artificial intelligence, blockchain, computer vision, natural language processing, and internet of things. Nexplore was founded in 2018 by HOCHTIEF, one of the largest infrastructure construction groups worldwide.
     
  • Rand-Whitney Containerboard (RWCB), a Kraft Group companyis a manufacturer of lightweight, high-performance recycled linerboard for corrugated containers, using the most environmentally sustainable production processes and methods.
     
  • PepsiCo is a global food and beverage company that aims to use its scale, reach, and expertise to help build a more sustainable food system.
     
  • Verizon is one of the world’s leading providers of technology, communications, information and entertainment products and services.

Jeffrey Grossman will serve as director of the MCSC. A steering committee comprised of faculty spanning all five of MIT’s schools and the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, will help to drive the work of the consortium.

Wednesday, February 3, 2021

lse update stern espinosa

uk online libraries - lse; royal society... 


along the academic road of stern and the un road of espinosa to cop26 glasow from cancun 2010, paris 2015


these are rough notes- we expect to find official transcript soon

srern says patricia espinosa led cancun cop26 2010 and major at paros cop 2015

why is cop26 vital

2015 almost all nations declare paris stand united most collective threat to future- greatest multilaterlal monment of 21st c


but in 5 years since agreement - collective way has been under attack when most needed

pandemic changed things

climate emergency expoennentially worsening

in 2020 temperatures in arctic 3 degrees above normal

weather emergency accompanies loss of life, property, help

likelihood of challenge tripled if your finger lands on a poor place

geo-isolation not solution to natures game-rules-  climate or covid

is espinosa talking out of un?

one of most impacted are the quarter of all nations- small islands


nations likely to recover covid likely leap forward better on climate and on education/youth ;ivelihoodsas sdg generation pyp pop pcp -shelf- units

20201 needs to be transforation year - road to and from cop26 glasow now with italy- greatest test of climate agreements- success factors for planet, sharing it now, inheiriting it


success 1-4

1 prmises made must be kept eg 10 year promises made by cancun- eg rich nations promised mobilise100 bn dollars for poorer nations climate adaption


2 wrap up negotiations from 2015 and implement- clock rn out -artcicle 6 emissions markets crosscutting all ministries not just environment ministries inform all policy making innternational national loca

3 time to raise ambitions- not just mitigation - but widespread resilienc4

4 leave no voice or solution behinnd - intgrated mapping - everyone role to play -units role in forward adapting knowhow, certifications

countries must negotite like never before

great plans announced by china jinping japan suga korea  moon -phillippines no new coal plants -eu pledge 55% greenhouse emissions compared 1990 ; uk new annoucemnent

us rejoin paris

"ndc" by nation - where are they collated side by side

climatevambition - 3 pillarsmitigation adaptation finance - dec 2020rivate sector 450 cities 1400 businees 570 universities race to zero alliance- these actors 25% emissions 50% gdp


international energ agency

green energy

electric cars





climate

 ROUTES KERRY/GORE-- CARNEY/SHARMA -OTHER WEFORUM LINKS


ACADEMICS STERN/LSE WITH BROWN AND UN COMMITTEES- ESPINOSA


japan engineers route


2019 espinosa stage 3 cancer

impossible is not the answer- what people want i: here is how

climate as great human project green clean healths safe prosperous for all generations

exec secreatry unftriple c - 

stern grantham institute and tsinghua co-chairs global alliance of universitirs- university coalition

===========questions from stern

1 how do negotiate virtually- how explain not zero-sum; ambition 1.5 and reality- what are virtual problems? espinosa - 2021 year of transformational diplomacy - virtual blended real contact; epideic has made zoom dialogues normal; muchg more can be done virtually than just traveling; reality has gone ahead of our frameworks of policy making- real negotiations git behind in 2020- artcixle 6 carbon markets issue- transpsreny and adaptation in practice- all postponed at un level- need to catch up bytime we get to glasgow

hoping noveber glasgow will be personal-formal


- take account time zones

support colleagues with weak connectivity

alok sharma working hard to get everyinethere physically

======= climate finance

question 2 from stern - we gotv100 bnin place copenhagen-cancun- promisedby 2020- canwe make this real before cop26- adaptation finance

a finance imporatnt ekemnt to build truatamong partners

100 bn failure caused erosion of trust

== 12 trillion dollars suddenly mobilised so why wasnt 100 bn come together over decdae


cf 300 trillion dollar western pension fund


of course 2010 mobilising 100 billion not just public funs -

oecdreport 2018 suggests 80 billion ay have been mobilised- with covid probably not increased sincethen

- importer developed countries citizens serving own purpose

if eu had best implemtation of green- nehatively effected if dev world has no netzero pathway

of course we need trillins not 100 bm

==========

recent un/grantham report within sight-- looks at institutios interqctions


fimance wint be solved within climate process- indeed finance ministers doht attend cop26;; need to briedge finncial and climate experts


audience questions

jack palmer white lse alumn climate and biodiversity stotry

mexico lse student - sunation impacts eg cities

3 carbon pricing


espinosa answers

very imporatn dual ijnnovation agenda climate-biodiversity; the two are win-wins ; example in ocean acidification provoking loss marine ecosystems- ipcc corals tragedy; corals host endangered species

secretriat biodiversity- work in implementing paris aggrement needs better synsergies the 3 big conventions climate biodiversity, desertification


regarding subnational- citirs aboslyely critical- 75% emissions in cities; 30% agriculture and infra

coalition cities =c40 today larger number of associated cities

also city and region -eg state clubs -platforms

-shes not mentuoning ai earth


==regarding carbon markets

hopeful we can negotiate this - need instrument finance nost vulnerable countries


bot carbon marlets not substitution for emission reduction to netzero

==================================

one more question -philip hoxall

is 2050/60 soon enough?

asof 31 dec 75 countries submittedf plans waiting from 196 countries

will update report in spring ndc's

i hope countries will completethis so we get back to cop26 road

far from 1.5 degrees; far from 2050

started secreatrial position 3 years ago

lets stay optimistic netzero language- netzero by and for all

importance unfccc coordinating ambition

this decade will be decisive

-last wordsespinosa- dont give up it is possible - all aboard - be optimistic




Tuesday, February 2, 2021

 

February 12, 2021 | 9:00 a.m. EDT
Momentum is building for understanding the impacts of climate change on each individual institution. Forward leaning companies are readying themselves for climate change financial disclosures as well as the prospect for regulatory climate change scenario analysis. Translating physical risks into financial risks is key to building meaningful climate change scenarios for decision making and risk management.
Our panelists will examine the current landscape for climate change scenario analysis, implementation challenges and implications for the financial services industry and risk managers.

Speakers:
Cliff Rossi, Professor-of-the-Practice Finance Department, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Leon Clarke, Research Professor School of Public Policy, Research Director, Center for Global Sustainability, University of Maryland

Moderated by:
Russ Wermers, Director, Center for Financial Policy, Chair Finance Department Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
Register for February 12

This event is co-sponsored by:

UPCOMING CFP EVENTS


April 30, 2021
Fourth Annual Conference on Short-Term Funding Markets with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
May 13 & 14, 2021
Eighth Annual Conference on Financial Market Regulation with the DERA Division at the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lehigh Center for Financial Services and CFA Institute

PAST EVENTS

Watch our recent events on Financial Stability Analysis & Data, and Diversity as a fiduciary duty. 

Non-partisan, thoughtful debate is needed now more than ever

Monday, February 1, 2021

GETMAC

 HUMANITY HAS NEVER FACED A CHALLENGE LIKE THE NEXT 40 YEARS

our younger half under 30 in 2020 will know within 40 years whether planet earth is inhabitabele for all or most of 10 billion people (the most likely population if ptojecxted from current behaviors)
lets start with Mapping- of 5 places that innovation parnerships will most determine green transformation 4.5 are unknow to the constitutions of the rich west by which we mean notrth america, parts of european union- we need a united nations 2.0 that represents the unknown future challenges with as much commitmemt as the rich places- please note these are not the only vital maps but they illustrate the diversity of challenges
map 1 arctic circle- this is where the west might know ha;f of the challenge - when you look at the arctoc citcle it has 2 continental roofs - the new worlds alaska and canada- the old world - predominantly russia though nordica represents west european end- there is also an island iceland and a huge almost unpoulated territory greenland administered by denmark- most of the worlds carbon energy is located in arctic circle so may be a lot of greener energy- the arctic circle poses big problems to mediate- the historical superpower crisis us-russia; the actual needs of inhabitants including native people which remain culturally unknown to most of western intellectuals- thefact that warming of this region will flood the rest of the planet but might actually make the far north more inhabitable with new trade routes previously iced up

map 2,3 in terms of population numbers- asia's east coast by which we mean map 2 asia north east of singapore explains the trading survival of a third of the world-and map 3 by which we mean those whose lives depend on asias compex south coast north west of singapore- primarily the subconintemt which to 1948 the brits ruled as india- a quarter of all people; at the west asian end this coast is blocked by the gulf and the panama canal -we'll come back to this as map 4

 map2 in more detail mainly chinese, but with japanese and koreans contributing to innovation and the huge aripalegos of indonesia and phillippines representin top 15 land areas and people populations- make a comparison betwee this hi-tech east coat of old world's east and us west the hi-tech coast of the west where betwwen 2 to 5% of peoples livelihoods are directly impacted depending on which of usa live nearest west coast or the whole of the usa's dependence on west coast tech

map 3 subcontinentof india- a double bay region- the bay of bengal why calcutta was the overall capital of british india for all but 34 years of administration; the routes you can see looking out of mumbai- the whole of west africa to the south; the gulf and uae parrall or slightly noth of mumbai; and the canal if you sail round the middle east lanblock to where the 3 continents of afroca, asia europe merge; entering the med sea mainly europes biggest bay area but one which since 1500 became dominated most by north sea peoples interests
so map 4 is the middle east

and for diversitys sake dont forget that a quarter of all nattions are small developing islands -with very little peole and land resources most depend on huge ocean estates- what happens to plastic and chemicals potential destruction of fishing is outside these islands control as are hurricanews and cuclones which many of the sids are in natures runways; often these islands have historically had below average digital connections too- probably relyinng on tourism- a market itself dependent on global health; ,,,

as we say these are just 5 of the mosturgently different spaces on earth to those washington dc or brussels-berlin likes to rule over financially and legally and with armed forces-
to go green it will take all od us
mediators, educators, parents
professions of metrics , finance
cirporate sector leaders
place leaders from global to map 5 to trading blocks to nations to cities to communities