My Manifesto for COP26 and beyond(Oct21)
I’m delighted that Cop26 is getting a lot of attention. I think it’s great that young people – with Greta leading the charge – are voicing their anger at what’s happening to the climate. It’s incredibly positive that more and more businesses around the world are trying to make meaningful changes. Not so good is […]
Eco-anxiety is disempowering (Oct21)
Schools should do more a lot more to prevent eco-anxiety from becoming the biggest mental health issue of our time. Over 70% of 18-24 year-olds feel eco-anxiety, according to research carried out by Force of Nature – an NGO founded in 2019 by 19-year-old climate activist, Clover Hogan. Talking to children around the world, the […]
My Green Life (May21)
When I was a baby my brother painted me green.. Perhaps a sign of what was to come. And the start of my Zoom speech on ‘My Green Life’. I also talk about: Setting up SustainAbility Ltd, with John Elkington, in 1987 The global success of ‘The Green Consumer Guide’, published in 1988 Becoming a […]
Net zero is not good enough or soon enough! (May21)
I consider myself to be a pragmatic environmentalist – with realistic aspirations. But I find that I’m very uncomfortable about the clamour for the Net zero target – by 2050, 2030 or even sooner. Why? Because: It’s possible to do more: Many businesses are setting their sights on ‘net zero’ when they could quite easily […]
Peat in compost is environmental vandalism (Mar21)
That’s what Monty Don says and I agree. But it’s incredibly common. UK gardeners are responsible for destroying our ‘rainforests’. It has to stop and we can make it happen. OK, so why is this such a big deal? First and perhaps most importantly, peatlands are essential in our fight against climate change. Whilst they […]
Clover Hogan is a Force of Nature (Mar21)
If you haven’t come across Clover, have a look at her most recent Ted Talk below – Denial or Despair? How to rewrite your climate change story. Clover is 21. I met her a year ago at a Procter & Gamble advisory meeting, just before Covid struck. I was totally bowled over. She’s incredibly impressive […]
Is the EU’s Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive better for the environment (Feb21)
No. I don’t think it is – at least not all of it. Mid 2021 the EU is planning to introduce the Single-Use Plastics Directive. The key objective appears to be moving business and consumers away from single-use plastics and towards re-usable solutions. On the surface of it, this sounds like a good environmental move. After all, using […]
Too many boardrooms are climate incompetent (Feb21)
Very interested to see this FT article lamenting the lack of directors with expertise in climate and ESG issues. I am proud of what I managed to achieve during my short tenure as a NED at Big Yellow. This was not done simply by suggesting a Net Zero target by a certain date, but by backing […]
READY, STEADY, STOP AT BIG YELLOW (Jan21)
I was excited to join the board of the Big Yellow in March 2020 to ‘provide oversight regarding their strategic environmental objectives, with deliverable targets’. Sadly, my approach does not chime with the executive board and I’ve decided to resign. Perhaps I was too ambitious in hoping to help Big Yellow become an exemplar in […]
Second Nature Advisory Board (Oct12)
I sit on the Advisory board of Second Nature – their mission is making sustainability ‘second nature’ for the organisations they work with. Charles Perry and Mark Griffiths are the company’s founders – and they have a lot of experience between them, with particular emphasis on business strategy and expertise in energy, built-environment, clean tech […]
