The Decisive Decade

We're facing huge changes. Let's learn from those that already thrive by changing, have achieved sustainable growth and are making money by saving our planet.

Hi,

I’m Michiel (34), and I consider myself an optimist.

I’ve been raised in a world of plenty and I’ve seen the rise of internet liberate access to knowledge worldwide. So far, I’ve been able to adapt to the changes in our society, ways of working and ways of conducting business. Life is good.

Yet, I worry.
I worry about the future and the incredible amount of ‘change’ coming our way. Change that needs to be resolved in a relatively short time and will impact our businesses, ways of working, crafting, supply chain…. everything possibly.

Surely, by the time I add another 34 years to my life, our economy will be vastly different. Possibly, we’ll see major disruption in all industries before 2035, not even accounting for Artificial Intelligence.

I’m convinced that today’s ‘winners’ are not necessarily the winners of the future. Those that create value with sustainable solutions will be.

Let me highlight three significant trends: climate change, population growth and solar energy (spoiler: hockey stick curves galore).
Starting with the most worrisome.

The Bad: Climate Change (Global Warming*)

Debate the underlying details, causes, causality and effects as much as you want. I’m sure you’ll find inconsistencies, but the general trend shows global warming at a alarming rate. Looking at this trend always makes me feel uncomfortable, slightly scared. How does it make you feel?

Our climate changing, our efforts to curb or halt the climate change and our efforts to adapt to the climate changes, each are very impactful in their own right and they all drive different types of change.

Regulation, disinvestments, investments, market behavior and consumer demand… they’re all changing as a result. We’ll explore these in more detail in following episodes.

*Obviously, we’re harming the planet and our environment in more ways than just heating it.

The Good: Solar Energy

Solar energy production capacity is booming, which is very positive since it surpasses expectations from 5-10 years prior. The price has been steadily dropping, making solar and wind energy the cheapest energy sources per watt.

With capacity expected to grow much further and the potential for innovation on the PV (photovoltaic) technology this is a hopeful trend.

However, energy demand will rise with growing population, developing economies and the AI/Technology waves. It is no surprise that ‘Oil and Gas’ is still the biggest industry when it comes to annual revenue. It might stay this way for a while.

The energy sector faces a lot of challenges transitioning and keeping up with demand, yet risks disruption of their business models if innovation keeps bringing the price per watt down.

The Ugly: Population Growth

8.101.057.327 human hearts are beating today (approx. 7% of all humans that have ever lived). This trend is as staggering as hockeystick curves get really. A hundred years ago we were around 2 billion. It’s forecasted that we hit 10 billion in 2-3 decades.

The sheer growth in numbers will influence our world in many ways.
On the one hand the positive impact of economic growth and human capacity. Just think about the enormous amount of talent and productivity we have as a whole.

On the other hand it adds huge pressure on our systems and environments, with risks of mass pollution, mass migration and depletion of natural resources and loss of habitat to name a few.

If only humanity had managed to run durable or sustainable systems to fuel, feed and fight itself by now… 10 billion or even 15 billion might not cause any problems. Sadly, we’re not quite there yet.

Conclusion

We need sustainable business models, sustainable businesses and sustainable growth, fast.

We might not have more than a decade to decisively change for the better and at the same time there is little excuse to stick with ‘business as usual’.

The Mission

Being the optimist: I’m very excited about all the opportunities these changes bring. For investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, citizens and consumers alike. Just imagine the enormous creativity, talent and cooperation we’ll see while adapting and finding new ways. The value we’ll unlock, create and experience.

I want to learn from the people actually doing the work. Those that have success with a sustainable business or operation. Those that have figured out what it takes and want to share how they got there. I want to research and comprehend what works.

It’s my mission to learn as much I can and share these lessons and insights with you. Right here.

I invite you to learn, share and get inspired on Sustainable Growth.

Please share your thoughts, so I can add more value.