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A furiously busy week, with several days in Leverkusen alongside Amanda (Feldman), with Bayer MaterialScience. Great meetings with their CEO, Patrick Thomas, and new CFO, Frank Lutz. They are going through an IPO and searching for a new name and branding, which has been proving challenging, though the ‘People, Planet & Profit’ proposition is likely to be central.

Fascinating couple of days, working with Stephan Koch and a small group of key BMS sustainability and related people. Then a frustrating flight back, with delayed flight, endless lines for passports at Heathrow and then almost a shutting down of the M4 into London, though my lanky, white-haired Indian driver, Lofty, managed to sneak around just before the road closed.

On Saturday, we went across to London Fields, to see Simon Pemberton, an artist whose work we have enjoyed in the Financial Times. We had bought a new print of his, which is titled, ‘Preparations for the Next Life,’ showing a couple in or by a river, at night, probably in New York. I love artist’s studios, so had a field day, prowling around. Then on to Hania’s, just around the corner, for a lovely lunch, following a visit to Broadway Market which is at the foot of her road.

Have been working much of the weekend, meanwhile, on The Breakthrough Forecast, which is due to publish (or launch, given that it’s designed to be a website) in a couple of weeks, alongside our dramatised Board meeting, The Stretch Agenda.

Today, Andrew Winston came to lunch – and I enjoyed it immensely. First met him when we were both members of an HP Advisory Board, then flagged his latest book, The Big Pivot, as my top sustainable business book of 2014 in a piece I did for strategy + business. Failed to get him on a bus back to town at Barnes Pond, because they only take TfL cards now. So drove him up across Hammersmith Bridge, in a car that refused to work yesterday, needing yet another new battery. I love the Volvo V70, which must be around 15 years old now, albeit with just 45,000 miles on the clock, but there’s a gremlin in it, somewhere.

Another highlight of the week was re-reading Lionel Davidson’s stunning novel, Kolymsky Heights, first published in 1994. I must have read it around that time, though it seems to me that it was much longer ago. One of those books that continues to suffuse your brain when you’ve finished. Not surprised to see that Philip Pulman, another of my favourite authors, considered it the best thriller he had read.

Next, Philip Kerr’s latest, The Lady from Zagreb. Love his Bernie Gunther novels: have read them all. rarely read novels a second time, but could imagine reading them all a second time round. Inescapably, some of that era in my mind while in Leverkusen this week.

I flew in to Dubai a couple of days back for the second World Green Economy Summit, invited by André Schneder of World Capital – who I first met last year in Verbier.

André chaired the first session today, where I spoke alongside Raphaël Domjan, of Solar Planet, who I had first heard of when he sailed his solar vessel, PlanetSolar, around the world. Titled ‘Green Development Visionaries,’ this was a highly enjoyable session. It was followed by a panel discussion on south-south partnerships. again chaired by André. My co-panellists this time were Edem Bakhshish of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation, Amal-Lee Amin of E3G, Lars Josefsson who chairs the World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on De-carbonizing Energy, and Martin Hiller of REEEP (Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership).

Having coined the term ‘green growth’ back in 1986 (SustainAbility was originally tag-lined ‘The Green Growth Company’), and having published The Green Capitalists in 1987 (with Tom Burke, now part of E3G, as a co-author), I have been fascinated to see how the whole field has evolved. But it was truly weird to go up to the 68th floor in the J.W. Marriot hotel with Sten de Witt of TNO, to down a glass or two of Malbec, and in his case beer, and to then see ‘sustainability’ so prominently featured among the cocktails. Not really sure what to make of that …

Meanwhile, Huffington Post published my latest blog today on the B Corporation movement.

 

What a week! It began with a reception at our Bloomsbury Place office for Canadians involved in social innovation and impact investment, bringing together perhaps 25 people from organisations like The McConnell Foundation, the MaRS Discovery District and Social Innovation Generation with people from our London ecosystem, including the Bridges Ventures, the Cabinet Office and the Finance Lab. A joyous, productive Monday evening.

Then on Tuesday I streaked west to Oxford for a dinner at Balliol College, launching the 2015 Skoll World Forum, with a wonderful before-dinner grace delivered by ‘Arch’ Desmond Tutu. A wonderful opportunity to catch up with social entrepreneurs from around the world, with my table including people from the Skoll Foundation, Barefoot College, Aflatoun and Lord Sainsbury’s office, among others. Could scarcely drag myself away.

Wednesday, back in London, involved a dinner at the Foundling Museum, hosted by Generation Investment Management. A fascinating dinner, with Al Gore and I flanking Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP at table. The Museum was deeply moving, telling the story of the Foundling Hospital. This continues today as the children’s charity Coram, but was established in 1739 by the philanthropist Thomas Coram to care for babies at risk of abandonment. Among those who helped Coram realise his vision were the artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel.

Then Friday saw the first major event for the burgeoning UK chapter of the B Corporation community, originally catalysed by B Lab. Volans has been helping build the momentum, with our Charmian Love working alongside James Perry of COOK and Panahpur. A tremendous day in Spitalfields, with much of the Volans team involved, including Richard (Johnson) handling the technical side very much like a DJ.

During the day, I did a filmed interview, which involved me roving around the area with a cameraman in tow, having a meeting with someone from the OECD who wants me to speak at a big event they’re doing in Paris in June, and a panel session at the end of the day, alongside two B Lab founders: Andrew Kassoy and Bart Houlahan. Great sense of emergence and excitement – with a fascinating mix of people I have known for ages (including Fran van Dijk Dixon of One Stone Advisors, who used to be at SustainAbility) and a bunch of extraordinary people who were totally new to me.

In all, a week that showed how many waves we are surfing, or perhaps how many different waves are beginning to coalesce into a single superwave? Very relevant as we race to put the finishing touches to our new publication, The Stretch Agenda: Breakthrough in the Boardroom. Jacqueline, Sam and I have been working on this for much of the week – and the weekend. Very excited with how it is now coming together.

Then late this morning,, up to Clissold Park for a delightful home-cooked lunch with Gaia and Paul, followed by a memorial service for Mark Lushington, with Jake (Lushington) and Hania. A delightful celebration of some I sadly never met.

Fascinating visit with Elaine to the British Museum to see the Defining Beauty exhibition. One of the most engaging I have seen there, with some of the carving totally mind-boggling in its sophistication. But, at the same time, a slight sense that the exhibits had rained in from the surface above. Nice to be able to do it both on a membership card and relatively late in the day, which meant that it wasn’t like viewing art objects from inside a can of sardines.

Across with Sam to see Futerra near Mount Pleasant, where we had a wonderful session with Soli (Townsend) and Natalya (Sverjensky). Then back to imperial College, where I had a Trustees session with Peter Head and The Ecological Sequestration Trust (TEST). I seem to have come full circle, with my first proper job, from 1974 to 1978, having been with another TEST, John Roberts’ Transport & Environment Studies.

On the way back to Volans, I passed the new ghost bike nearby. Have been sorely conflicted since my last accident, incurred avoiding a Russian family in Oxford Street. My elbow is still giving me a fair amount of grief six months later, but I miss the experience of open-air London and the incidental exercise. Was also depressed to hear that my favourite bike shop in London, Holdsworth‘s in Putney, had closed some time back. But have a sense that I will get back into the fray at some point …