Ten reasons to hang around here

How the Matereal World helps you create a life-serving economy

I created this substack to offer digestible insights on what it will look like for industry to shift in service of life.

My job here in the Matereal World is to help former clients, collaborators, and passionate sustainability professionals I’ve worked with over the last two decades—or people like them whom I haven’t been lucky enough to meet yet.

AKA, you!

You don’t have time to go chasing every rabbit down every hole of problematic environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and dogma. And yet you realize something is amiss with the narrative on climate change, and on the sustainable development agenda more broadly.

But you can’t quite articulate… what?

You and I also know that there is work to be done, that giving up to pursue permaculture in a pretty town within EV-battery-range of the city doesn’t solve the systemic issues we’ve been profiting from.

We need to get real and serious about “being the change.”

I hope this helps

I’ve been pulsing things out into this Matereal World throughout the past year. Today I’ll offer a recap of posts so far, including why you might want to click through.

I will highlight where there are datasets, video tutorials, podcasts and Portuguese language too!

As always, I welcome your commentary and requests. If you see ways to make this more insightful so we can live into the vision of a life-serving economy, please say so!

Why hang around in the Matereal World?

Here are 10 reasons to hang around here.

1. To see how lobbying data is *actually* being spent

2. To understand what has(n’t) changed in 10 years of plastic commitments

3. To know how to ask (or answer) materiality survey questions

4. To get real about “Net Zero”

5. To align investor communications with an economy in service of life

6. To get waaay better on purpose

7. To get real with ESG reporting

8. To follow the money

9. To build bridges with Brazil

10. To help a gal live her dream

I break each one of these down, with relevant links, below. And I note where things are behind a paywall* and where they’re free to read.

I always recommend…

By the way in all of the posts mentioned below, while there is variety in the content and the data, one thing doesn’t vary: I always provide clear and specific recommendations.

I offer guidance about what I believe is needed to shift towards an economy in service of life.

My recommendations may not be easy to implement (my aim is nothing short of rewiring the global industrial complex, after all) but I nonetheless offer what I recommend to make the necessary changes.

Sometimes the recommendations are so obvious that anyone can do them if they decide to. It’s not all complicated.

Okay, here come those 10 reasons

1. To see how lobbying data is *actually* being spent

People talk about following the money, but sometimes it’s tough to follow—this is especially true with lobbying. Companies don’t make it easy. So I made it easy for you to see how lobbying money is being spent.

I parsed key findings about how lobbying is being used to smooth over corruption, pave the way for more mining in sensitive wildlife habitat, and generally allow mineral extraction to continue apace.

I created a dataset that you can access, cataloguing lobbying spending by global energy and mining companies Glencore and Barrick Gold, from 2018 - 2022.

And I provided a video tutorial to help guide anyone wanting to use the public lobbying database on their own, to gather data on any other companies.

There is a written version of the post, Lies at the nexus of business and policy and a podcast version. (Paywalled*.)

2. To understand what has(n’t) changed in 10 years of global commitments

Global companies have been making loud noises about reducing plastic waste for a long time. But the problem is getting worse, not better, globally.

I conducted a benchmark of five of the world’s largest consumer goods companies (Coca-Cola, Danone, L’Oréal, Nestlé, and P&G) comparing their plastic waste goals from 10 years ago to the present.

I illustrate using companies’ own data how we are paying companies to pollute more, not less.

In “‘Our purpose is to dump garbage on your lawn’ – said no CPG company ever” (free to read) I include the full dataset and benchmarking document as a free download.

And in “Recycling plastic data into reality” (paywalled*) I provide a video tutorial that goes into detail on the dataset.

3. To know how to ask (or answer) materiality survey questions

I receive a lot of requests to answer ESG and other sustainability-related surveys. I handle them differently now that I curate the Matereal World.

I received one from a global mining company. Instead of answering confidentially, I answered publicly, and I only answered the two most important questions:

• what does leadership in mining look like? and

• what are the key risks facing the sector?

I provide a five-step plan to guide the global mining industry towards a truly life-affirming approach.

I provide a written piece, Global Mining Co seeks input on sustainability strategy. (paywalled*). This is also available written in Portuguese, and English podcast and Portuguese podcast format (free to read).

4. To get real about “Net Zero”

This one is awkward as the world pushes for more net zero targets and initiatives. So as with lobbying, this is another example of following the money, only this time it’s money ear-marked “net zero”.

I offer a straightforward filter to make sure any initiatives labeled “net zero” are serving life.

In the piece “Net Zero: A Knot of Naught” I call BS on real examples from a range of companies as well as my own federal government. There is a podcast version too. (Both are paywalled*.)

5. To align investor communications with an economy in service of life

Publicly traded companies host regular investor earnings calls in which their executives explain strategic priorities and progress.

Understanding how financial capital is being prioritized is a good way to see whether or not a company is serving life.

In “Where Do Priorities Lie?” I explore the lack of alignment in earnings calls and I provide clear (and very doable!) recommendations for how to ensure messaging is aligned. (Paywalled*.)

This piece also includes a video tutorial with Future-Fit Business Benchmark co-founder, Geoff Kendall, on how to find and understand earnings call details.

6. To get waaay better on purpose

One of the Matereality assessments I conducted, on global meat company JBS, received tremendous praise for its thorough analysis and detailed research.

BUT it’s an 80-slide deck that you probably don’t have time to parse.

So in this piece, Purpose Is As Purpose Does, I extract the most salient details and data points. There is a podcast version, too. (Both are paywalled*.)

I also include recommendations on how to effectively communicate purpose.

And I include several of the most powerful videos on the topic—including incredible examples of local food producers doing truly purposeful work in Brazil and Canada.

Finally, there is a video tutorial with Geoff Kendall exploring the nuts and bolts of true purpose.

7. To get real with ESG reporting

So much of sustainability work is about producing ESG reporting.

And there is a shocking amount of garbage out there that passes for leading edge ESG reporting (and that costs people like you a lot of money).

The post When A Picture Paints 1000 Words (And the pictures aren’t worth much and there are too many words) goes into technical detail on the issues and solutions, using two companies as examples (paywalled*).

I draw on the findings of two Matereality assessments (on JBS and Glencore), and I parse the data into clear recommendations for those involved in creating ESG reports.

There is also a video tutorial going into more detail on the visual glitches in reality and how to make better communications choices.

8. To follow (all) the money

Further on the ESG reporting theme, I compare a reporting laggard and leader in their abilities to “show us the money”. It turns out neither is doing an effective job.

Publicly traded companies simply aren’t helping us understand how they affect the public, by helping us follow the money.

I provide specific examples to illustrate the point, and recommend how to ensure this stops with effective visuals and data, in “Show Me (All) The Money” (paywalled).

I also include a video tutorial to explore the point in greater detail.

9. To build bridges with Brazil

Above I mention several places where there is written and podcast content in Portuguese. My intention here is to help make Matereal World insights available to a Brazilian audience (and to produce more of this content in 2024).

All of the Portuguese content is available for free. If you are Brazilian, or have Brazilian colleagues and collaborators, I hope this can help.

10. To help a gal live her dream

I began the Matereal World because of a dream, as I shared in “Why Am I Here?” (free to read).

I believe our dreams are some of our most powerful tools. I have a lot more pieces of this puzzly dream to drop into place in the days ahead. I am overflowing with possibilities, and they are all prompted by feedback that flows towards me as I walk this path of industrial healing (sometimes even while I’m awake).

Thank you for helping me live the dream. I hope it helps you, too.

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Artwork is a variation on a pencil drawing, Cleaving Archer, by me. She shows up in a little more detail here.