Local Industry Leaders As Climate Allies? What I Learned Attending CRBA’s Screening of Beyond Zero

I recently joined a gathering of about thirty climate activists for a screening of Beyond Zero at the Interface showroom in San Francisco, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. The film recounts how the CEO of Interface, a global carpet company, was inspired to put the company on a path to sustainable practices starting back in the 1990s. Seeing that story in the place where some of those innovations now live felt surprisingly grounding. Discovering how Interface’s corporate journey wasn’t driven by existing technologies or by mandates or corporate governance fads but above all by a corporate leader’s uncompromising commitment to environmental accountability — a where there’s a will there’s a way approach — made me see that the biggest obstacle to solving the climate crisis may be the narratives we’ve created for ourselves.