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Two Steps Forward

2023: The year in preview

A peek into what GreenBiz Group has got planned for the year just starting.

2023 calendar with Kilroy face peeking over the top

GreenBiz Group

Reprinted from GreenBuzz, a free weekly newsletter. Subscribe here.

Happy 2023! I hope you had a joyous and restful holiday break and are ready to face the year ahead.

What will the next 12 months bring? If they were anything like the last 12 — or the 12 before that — they’ll be replete with predictable advances, unexpected setbacks and more than a few WTF moments. Will the anti-woke, anti-ESG movement get traction beyond a relatively small cohort of noisy critics? Will climate tech investments begin to bear fruit? Will the mainstreaming of the circular economy accelerate? Will greenwashing become louder or softer? How will sustainability professionals’ jobs and careers fare in all this?

I'm not going to attempt to answer those questions except to say that sustainable business will continue to be an area of growing interest and concern by a broad range of stakeholders, and that companies of all sizes and sectors will continue to struggle to find their way. That’s been the story of the past three decades — and likely the next three.

What I will offer here is a preview of 2023 from the perspective of GreenBiz Group. Our little company continues to grow — now, nearly 70 people strong, from Honolulu to Paris, with more to come — along with our offerings, both in quality and quantity. And we've got ambitious growth plans for the next few years, so expect to see a steady stream of innovations and introductions — of people, products, events and opportunities to engage with us.

Before going any further, let me just say: Thank you. For being a loyal GreenBuzz and Two Steps Forward reader. For being part of the vast GreenBiz community. And for the work you do in the name of sustainability every single day. Despite all of the ups and downs, successes and frustrations, there’s no place I’d rather be working than in this community. I wake up most days excited to see what’s new and what’s next. I hope that’s true for you, too.

There’s a lot of "new" and "next" coming your way this year from my terrific colleagues at GreenBiz. After all, this is the moment so many of us have been waiting for, as the world (finally) tunes into sustainability issues — environmental, social and governance — and seeks guidance and solutions.

So, as has become my first-week-in-January tradition, and with your indulgence, I'm going to preview some of what we've got cooking in 2023 at GreenBiz Group in the hopes that it will whet your appetite and, perhaps, help you plan your calendar for the year ahead.

  • We begin the year, as we have for the past 16, with publication of the 2023 State of Green Business report, which we’ll unveil during a webcast Jan. 23, featuring several GreenBiz analysts and journalists who contributed to the report. It’s free to join in, but you’ll need to register.
     
  • Also Jan. 23, we will launch the latest in our growing roster of weekly newsletters: Climate Tech Rundown, published Mondays, with snapshots of recent developments in the growing field of climate technology. (It will be sent to all subscribers of Climate Tech Weekly, published Wednesdays.) Also, look for Carbon Weekly, our ninth weekly newsletter, launching early this year and covering the world of carbon removal, carbon offsetting and crediting, and related topics. Feel free to sign up.
     
  • That same week in January will feature two meetings — one in San Francisco, another in London — of the GreenBiz Executive Network, our membership group of sustainability professionals from large companies, and its newer European counterpart. They are the anchors of our growing portfolio of peer networks, including the just-launched GreenBiz Circularity Network, with more to come in 2023.
     
  • February, of course, brings our 15th annual GreenBiz forum, in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is on track to sell out once again. This year, we’re featuring an exciting side event, the GreenBiz Comms Summit, an invitation-only gathering of sustainability and communications professionals, along with their allies in NGOs, media, law firms and finance. It will include roll-up-your-sleeves group exercises to uplevel everyone’s skills in sustainability messaging. Visit here to learn more and to request an invitation.
     
  • On March 8, Editorial Director Heather Clancy offers up her latest list of "badass women" in sustainability. It’s always inspiring and insightful to see who makes the cut.
     
  • May 23 features the launch of a new annual report, this one on the state of ESG and sustainable finance, in partnership with S&P Global. It will feature never-before-published data on trends in corporate reporting and performance, ESG investing, natural capital commitments and many other topics, so stay tuned for that.
     
  • June brings two of our annual events: Circularity 23 (June 5-7), North America’s premier circular economy event, this year in Seattle; and GreenFin 23 (June 26-28), in Boston, our fast-growing annual conference on ESG and sustainable finance.
     
  • In October, VERGE 23 rounds out our annual calendar of in-person events. The climate tech gathering, which last year attracted more than 4,000 professionals for a conference, trade show and terrific networking, returns to San Jose, Calif., Oct. 24-26.

We’ll also be featuring several virtual events, webcasts and in-person gatherings throughout the year. Plus, every week: daily news and analysis, weekly newsletters, podcasts — and a few surprises. Plus, dispatches from our editors and analysts from Climate Week 23, COP28 and other key industry events.

Whew. It’s both exhausting and exhilarating just to write this!

I encourage you to stick with us throughout the year and sincerely hope you will. It’s an exciting, challenging time in our field, and we’re here to help you make the most of it all.

Thanks for reading. You can find my past articles here. Also, I invite you to follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn, subscribe to my Monday morning newsletter, GreenBuzz, from which this was reprinted, and listen to GreenBiz 350, my weekly podcast, co-hosted with Heather Clancy.

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