Reflections
900 short reflections on the planet, the economy, society and life.
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Showing 30 of 900 · A–Z
Is your company part of a 100-Club? There are several to choose from now and they all signal ambitious sustainability leadership. The RE100 and EV100…
Planet · Climate & Energy
Being a business leader on sustainability today means committing to science-based targets. But those who really understand the science – and hence the urgency of…
Planet · Climate & Energy
If you are looking for inspiration, check out the Sunrise Movement – a youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs…
Society · Change & Leadership
In life, it helps to know what we can control, what we should try to control, and what we can’t control. What we can control…
Life · Inner Life
We all need to let go sometimes, take risks together, opt for a change of scenery, or pace, or work – and to trust that…
Life · Inner Life
For those of us who are trying to change the world – or even a small part of the world – acceptance is one of…
Society · Change & Leadership
Is there a role for bean-counters in the sustainability revolution? As a former Director of Sustainability Services at KPMG, I have an insider-outsider view. The…
Economy · Business & Finance
Our global challenges demand ‘a little less conversation, a little more action’. But what can each of us do? I have this little mnemonic to…
Society · Change & Leadership
As the world braces itself for ongoing climate protests, we need to celebrate and support social and environmental activist movements. Women are often at the…
Society · Change & Leadership
Humans are nothing if not adaptable. In fact, adaptation is probably our evolutionary edge as a species. We see adaptation in action every day in…
Society · Change & Leadership
In life, you are being asked to choose between different doors, without really knowing what is behind each one. Finding a path that is interesting…
Life · Wonder & Travel
Letting go – taking risks – is not always easy, or without those knocks and bruises. But it is almost invariably more interesting and rewarding.…
Life · Wonder & Travel
Wales is growing a forest that will span the length and breadth of the country, joining up existing protected woodlands with large scale tree planting…
Planet · Nature & Biodiversity
As much as age is a concrete reality, it is also an ethereal illusion. We all have to make that journey through time, from starting…
Life · Inner Life
We can refuse to be neatly confined to our age-boxes. There is as much wisdom in youth as there is rebellion in old age; adults…
Life · Inner Life
We are conditioned on what is expected of us at any given age, told to grow up or to act our age. When we are…
Life · Inner Life
As much as age is a wrinkling of the skin and a greying of the hair, it is a stretching of the mind and a…
Life · Inner Life
The agro-industry sector is feeding people and starving the planet. In 1962, one farmer fed 25.8 persons; today it is 155. But our mechanistic, chemical-intensive…
Planet · Food & Farming
Years ago, I interviewed James Lovelock, the originator of Gaia Theory, which hypothesises that the Earth behaves like a living organism. When I asked him…
Planet · Climate & Energy
Artificial intelligence might make you think of a humanoid robot or increase your anxiety about the security of your job. But AI comes in many…
Economy · Technology & Innovation
What could be more precious than the air we breathe? The WHO estimates 7 million people die every year from air pollution, and 9 out…
Planet · Climate & Energy
As single-use plastic bans begin to bite, the race is on to create substitute materials. To be regenerative, these products should be climate-positive (absorb more…
Economy · Circular Economy
What is solar powered, sequesters carbon and can grow up to 12 feet a day? You guessed it: algae. In some forms, algae are a…
Planet · Climate & Energy
Automating decisions, by definition, takes humans out of the equation. With that comes the risk that ethics are removed as well. Artificial intelligence (AI) is…
Economy · Technology & Innovation
More and more, I’m only trusting and supporting companies that go ‘all-in’ on sustainability. I still see so much greenwashing, bluewashing and (SDG-related) rainbow-washing. The…
Economy · Business & Finance
In the face of adversity, creativity and solidarity flourish. Which may explain the revival of Amabie, a Japanese folklore healing spirit (yōkai). The story goes…
Life · Joy & Creativity
My simple test for separating sustainability pioneers from pretenders is to look at the extent of their admission (about the scale and urgency of our…
Economy · Business & Finance
While Trump trumpets ‘Make America Great Again’, evidence shows that – on key measures – the US is a laggard, compared with 25 other rich…
Society · Society & Justice
We should never underestimate the pleasure of anticipation. Whether it’s an upcoming holiday, reuniting with loved ones, a new book to read, the next instalment…
Life · Joy & Creativity
We can learn a lot from the leaderless self-organising abilities of ant colonies. Stanford University biologist Deborah Gordon has uncovered five principles: 1. A group…
Planet · Nature & Biodiversity
Reflection of the Day
Society · Change & Leadership
We are entering a perfect storm. A powerful convergence of changing economic models, societal norms, environmental conditions, technology advancements and human capacities are going to ‘flip’ our global system within 10 years. Action on climate change, women in leadership, drone fleets – all these and other solutions are going to be adopted much quicker than the incumbent leaders of business and government expect. The convergence of rapid advances in AI, batteries, EVs and renewables is just one obvious example. Already, cost reductions and adoption rates of solutions are on exponential curves and many are at, or near, the tipping point.
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