‘The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.’ – Carl Sagan – The Pale Blue Dot
Tomorrow is Earth Day https://buff.ly/HPM0kt and this year’s theme is ‘Invest in our Planet.’
As we rebuild our sites and economies after the turbulence of the last few years, I can only agree with this. As Carl Sagan put it, this is the only place we have to live. It’s vitally important that our economies thrive, sustainably and in service of society, to ensure that we survive, happily, and healthily. I am pleased that the City of London Corporation is taking this seriously, adopting a Climate Action Strategy setting out how they will achieve net zero, build climate resilience and champion sustainable growth, both in the UK and globally, over the next two decades. Read more, here https://buff.ly/30a3g0O
I’m also happy to share some of my own journey in this regard.
It really began when I was based in Hong Kong. Each year, I noticed that the air suddenly got a lot cleaner during Chinese New Year, when, I deduced, factories on the other side of the border in mainland China closed down production for two weeks. During the pandemic in London, I saw similar trends with countless pictures showing cleaner vistas over cities as traffic stopped and pollution went down. It was only then that it really struck me how big a problem climate action had become.
I’d just become Chair of the Heart of the Cityhttps://buff.ly/3L5iM6P having been a Trustee for six years. The charity had established a strong role in helping small businesses establish CSR activities with physical meetings, but the pandemic forced a rethink here, as in so many other parts of daily life. Initially, we pivoted the charity to focus on helping SMEs get through the pandemic, with a series of workshops on how to “survive and thrive” – delivered, of course, online.
It then became clear that the charity needed its own pivot to remain relevant post pandemic. Being responsible in general terms no longer seemed enough given the magnitude of change imposed by the pandemic or indeed sufficiently relevant for life beyond the pandemic.
Research showed that large companies were active in the field of carbon net zero, but SMEs often lacked the knowhow or resources to know what to do. Working with the City of London, we agreed to shift focus onto climate action, and develop dedicated programmes to help SMEs get to climate net zero for themselves. In fact, we were fortunate enough to be asked to be the delivery partner for helping SMEs get to carbon net zero by the City of London.
This journey is hardly starting. If we are to move the human race to a truly green sustainable economy, we have much work to do. But at least we can take positive steps forward and build momentum as we go along.
