Post by Ben Dauelsberg

Shifting the standard to drive good. The issue with climate and socially focused business cases is often simple: People don’t want to "invest for good." They want to buy more money. To bridge this gap, we have to shift the frame. We need to acknowledge that the very definitions of risk and returns have fundamentally changed. I recently came across an idea by @Wan Yang, proposing that we evaluate countries not just on GDP or wealth per capita, but on their net impact on the world and its people. We need a similar approach for companies, based on a pragmatic systems perspective. In an era of compounding crises —climate, economic, political, and social—the independence of value chains and their alignment with nature aren't just "nice-to-haves." They are the blueprints for true resilience. We are already seeing the "invisible" costs becoming very real. Take the coffee and cacao industries: • They are "disappearing" as we know them. • Production is being squeezed by shifting climate envelopes, soil degradation, and rising pests. • These aren't just "supply chain issues"—they are existential threats to entire sectors. At the same time, social costs and systemic harms are exploding—driven by the externalized debts of fast fashion, processed foods, and “traditional” social media. This isn't news. What is needed is a valuation framework that goes beyond traditional KPIs and basic CO2 emissions. We need a model that incorporates True Cost AND Net Benefit. If you are currently exploring functional externality KPIs, models or pilot projects, I would be happy to get in touch. Look into the comments for some interesting resources. #ImpactInvesting #SustainableFinance #SystemChange #TrueCost #FutureOfBusiness