Climate Fluency for Corporate Leaders
How is climate change impacting your business, strategy, and customers today?
And do you know what to expect over the next five years?
The urgency of climate risk is now widely understood, but many companies continue to address it tangentially due to:
- Short-term strategic planning horizons: These pressures lead to a compliance and cost control mindset.
- Background noise: Non-scientific climate denial and domestic and geopolitical uncertainties tempt companies to pause.
- Competing priorities: Tariffs, increasing regulation, and low growth expectations fill the plate.
- Lack of a clear story line: Leadership lacks a logical, clear, fact-based storyline as a background for sound business decision-making.
As a result, proactive, long-term actions to build climate resilience and future-proof businesses are rare.
What should we do: Retreat? Play dead?
Or lean into climate leadership?
We have only these three options with climate impacts on assets and society increasing and geopolitics swirling around us,.
"The Story" connects the dots in an 8-step framework for CFOs, CEOs, and board members to make informed decisions. It answers:
- What is the true climate situation today?
- What do recent trends tell us?
- What can we reasonably expect to happen over the next 5 years?
Meanwhile, substantial opportunities exist to reduce risk and reap benefits in the transition to a low-carbon economy, creating thriving enterprises, and attracting the brightest talent.
The Climate Story
"The Story" (a free-to-view ~30-slide PDF) connects the dots between climate science and financial decision-making, guiding corporate leaders through eight critical steps, ending with how capital markets are responding:
- Align - have the full team "on the same page" regarding the facts and impacts.
- Identify risks - understand areas of vulnerability
- Identify opportunities - envision ways of seeking competitive advantage in new product and service offerings.
Coming Soon
Navigating Sustainable Growth: A Roadmap for Boards and Corporate Leaders
How do companies address climate change while advancing sustainable growth and profitability?
Gib’s latest book, published in mid-2025, will be a must-read for boards, C-suite executives, corporate secretaries, and anyone interested in the subject. The easy-to-read, practical guide is full of graphics and useful tips. Over 325 best practice examples from 180 companies - support the latest research on enhancing board fluency and aligning the board and C-suite.
The Climate Story is Appendix A in the book. This website and the free and paid briefings grew out of the discussions Gib and Lucy had working on the book.
About Us
Lucy Carmody
Lucy has been a sustainability leader for over 20 years, working with partners in the USA, Asia and Europe. She is an accomplished strategist and communicator with a background in carbon and climate finance, investment management and thematic ESG research.
Gib Hedstrom
Gib has been advising corporate leaders and boards on climate and sustainability for 30 years. Trained in finance at GE, he led the global launch of environmental auditing. He has met with boards of major corporations for over 200 hours, including in executive session, advising on climate and sustainable growth.