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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Climate Week In NYC

John Elkington · 22 September 2017 · Leave a Comment

Snapped as I left the Pershing Square Café, after meeting with Jed Emerson and then Mira Merme – en route back to hotel and then JFK

I spent Climate Week in New York, with key events including: the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit on 20 September; a UNGC Breakthrough Innovation parallel event which I co-hosted the day before; our Carbon Productivity Roundtable (again on the 20th), followed by a dinner, downstairs at the wonderful Il Gattopardo; and then various meetings around town with the Covestro team – Patrick Thomas (CEO), Markus Steilemann (CEO designate) and Richard Northcote (Chief Sustainability Officer). All aided and abetted by Lorraine Smith, our wonderful anchor in NYC.

Patrick was speaking as part of a Breakthrough Innovation panel during the UNGC Leaders Summit, for which I had also briefed Alan Middleton (CEO of PA Consulting) who chaired the session. (So I had a vested interest in the thing succeeding, which it definitely did.)

Before that session, a real highlight for me – and I think everybody – was a seemingly extempore speech by Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. The man who challenged Donald Trump’s assertion that in spurning the Paris Climate Accord he was representing Pittsburgh, not Paris.

Fascinated to visit the Purpose Climate Lab one evening with Richard, steered in by a key contact from IKEA. Met many people I know – and a fair few I didn’t.

On the last day, Friday, Lorraine, the Covestro team and I had a great lunch at Da Noi with Lise Kingo and Lila Karbassi of UNGC. After which I headed across to the Pershing Square Café, for separate sessions with Jed Emerson (who has recently built a 3,000 volume library on capitalism) and Mira Merme (who is developing a vertical farming project in Amsterdam).

Grisly flight back, with Virgin using Delta as a carrier, and Delta shoving me into the worst of Economy seats, despite the fact that I was booked in Business. No apologies. And no intention of flying with either airline in the future, if I can avoid it.

As I flew I was reading Omar el Akkad’s brilliant dystopian novel American War, which didn’t exactly boost my sense of optimism about the deep future – despite having enormously enjoyed the NYC trip overall.

Sunset and the Empire State, seen from EcoVadis rooftop reception
Lise Kingo at the UNGC Leaders Summit
Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto in full flow – stunning
During our Carbon Productivity Roundtable: Nigel Topping (CEO of We Mean Business), Adi Ignatius (editor-in-Chief, Harvard Business Review) and Cyrus Wadus (VP for Sustainable Business & Innovation, Nike)
Cyrus, Adi, Bernard David (of The Global CO2 Initiative) and Patrick Thomas (CEO, Covestro)
Markus, Richard and Lorraine get set
Bloomberg terminal, of indeterminate age – in museum section
Richard, Patrick and Markus viewing NYC from Bloomberg tower
Bloomberg aquarium
Probably my favourite NYC tower, the Chrysler Building
And this one again – I like it so much …

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

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john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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