INOKS CAPITAL SA   © 2018 4 INOKS CAPITAL SA   © 2018 5 FOREWORD INOKS CAPITAL 2017 IMPACT REPORT FOREWORD Where do we stand as the Anthropocene era begins? Two types of events have defined 2018 from varying perspec- tives: firstly the drastic evolution of our ecological situation which is giving way to unprecedented events; secondly the IPCC1 ’s report on our goal to limit global warming to +1.5°C by the end of the current Century (SR15). From the autumn of 2017 to the autumn of 2018 all signals indicated that climate change has gained momentum; as if it had turned a corner from the shaft to the blade of its hockey stick. Over the summer of 2018 the entire Northern Hemisphere endured a heat wave, no longer regionally confined, as tem- peratures climbed higher than anything on record from North to the South of the Hemisphere. Wildfires hit Sweden in July, but equally California in the middle of winter. Unprecedented cloud systems produced Hurricane Harvey, whose flood dam- age costs must have kept insurers awake at night. Similar ca- tastrophes hit Japan in July or Florence in the autumn. Even Lausanne and Sion registered unusually high rainfall. These events draw the same conclusion: climate change is becoming increasingly visible. While we may not for now have noticed an equivalent acceleration in regards to biodiversity, if we were to measure the situation on the scale of nuclear disasters, we would already be witnessing a core meltdown. Which leads us to the IPCC report: no longer does it describe the turn of this Century or its average temperatures, since both have left the reader indifferent. Rather it chooses to illustrate the differences between warming the planet by +1.5°C, and warming it by +2°C. The +1.5°C mark may be reached as soon as 2030 – to avoid it we would need to reduce emissions by at least 45% over the next 10 years, to be carbon neutral by 2050. Our efforts are becoming as ur- gent as our deadline, as our senses pick-up on increasing evidence. A silver lining however: in an attempt to encourage us, the IPCC has reviewed the temperature increase since in- dustrialisation downwards, from +1.1°C to +1°C; disregarding the +0.3°C attributable to aerosols. In reality, we are already on a trajectory towards a +3°C to +5°C increase in average temperatures. For all the above, any expectation for the Anthropo- cene era to unravel any benefits reveals a perplexing naivety. However our margin for action to reduce the upcoming shocks is very real. In fact committing to the climate and ecological battle has never made so much sense. Each and every effort, no matter how small, will spare us future pains. So what of the promises made by Paul Hawken’s Drawdown plan? It provides at least two benefits: it provides identifiable and practical courses of action; as well as several different paths which associate combine technical solutions with a wid- er range of changes that can be applied in multiple forms. However it would take a political miracle, combined with the unlimited, simultaneous and durable cooperation of 8 Billion participants for it to truly take shape. In the current political storm, as populism rises and with it indifference (or even hos- tility) to this topic, the war is far from won. All that remains is to multiply win-win initiatives, as INOKS Capital is labouring to do, in order to lead by example amongst an increasing number of players who refuse to settle for a more hostile and less fertile planet. Prof. Dominique Bourg, Université de Lausanne While presiding over INOKS’ Impact Committee Professor Dominique Bourg teaches at the Faculty of Geosciences and Environment at Université de Lausanne. He is a philosopher and specialist of the environment, global changes and sustainable development. He has published many works, most recently the Dictionary of Ecological Thinking (2015) with Alain Papaux. He also participates in various committees related to the environment, and was part of the Coppens Commission which prepared France’s Charter for the Environment in 2004. 1 I nt ernational Panel on Climate Change