Just back from first trip to Ivory Coast, courtesy of Nestlé, for their seventh Creating Shared Value Forum, this time in Abidjan. Fascinating opportunity to view shared value and sustainability agendas from an African perspective.
Celebrated my birthday near Yamoussoukro on Friday, but was feeling pretty grim about the prospects of Brexit. Something in my bones. Various people argued that the world’s stock exchanges are the best predictors of outcomes, showing me screens of green histograms based on positive ‘Remain’ outcomes then thought very likely, but I confess I was existentially agitated.
And when we deplaned at Paris this morning, en route to London, the catastrophic news thundered through. One of those moments one will always remmed,her, like hearing of JFK’s assassination.
Have been stunned for much of the time since I got back, using things like the petition for a second referendum (which passed the 3 million signatures mark today, though there are some questions about whether non-UK citizens have also been signing up) as a way of maintaining some sort of forward momentum.
And have also been working since getting back on the report for the Business & Sustainable Development Commission, with Jacqueline (Lim) and Lorraine (Smith). At least that is going well.
The Brexit result is the result of too many factors for simple discussion here, but the split between old and young has been striking. I sent a note to David Grayson this afternoon, recalling the work we did some years back on ageing, politics and sustainability.
One motivating factor in that project was a concern that the greying of populations would shift the centre of gravity towards conservatism, slowing or stalling progress on sustainable development. And it looks as if we have now arrived in exactly that dystopia.
I talked to my mother, Pat, today. She and Tim, now in their mid-90s, both voted for Brexit. I was trying to understand why. Part of the answer is a lack of faith in experts. But I think that’s camouflage. I did a tweet yesterday about the need, if 90-year-olds are to be allowed to vote in future, for the voting age to be lowered to 16. It got a fair few retweets.
Did Boris Johnson have any idea that this might happen? He looked shell-shocked early on, with some media reports suggesting he is frightened of young people’s reactions, as well he should be. Glib politicking has led to a result which is deadly dangerous for younger people, whatever Johnson may say about a glorious future. (Not just in the loss of opportunities, but the likelihood that a weakened UK and EU will be easier to manipulate by malign forces in the wider world.) For Boris, I suspect, the PM’s job would be a toxic chalice for years to come.
In any event, on the upside, here are some images from a fascinating trip to the Ivory Coast – though it is already beginning to feel a lifetime away:
Leave a Reply