The Fairfax Way is a new portrait of Prem Watsa, the principled, philanthropic and famously reclusive leader of Fairfax Financial. The nearly 400-page biography gave author David Thomas unprecedented access into the life of the “Canadian Warren Buffett,” to learn about how he built Fairfax and the legacy he hopes will endure for generations.

With the book, Watsa partly wanted to ensure that outsiders understood Fairfax’s culture well enough not to dismantle it after he’s gone. I was drawn to the book not only because Watsa and I share an alma mater, the Ivey Business School, but also because of the curious gap between Watsa’s philosophy and the application of it when it comes to climate risk. 

The irony is that by carefully…