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We arrived in Dubai for the COP28 climate summit just after midnight on Sunday 3rd, returning on Friday 8th. In between, Louise (Kjellerup Roper) and I experienced multiple different worlds – hinted at in the following images. A separate sequence on our subsequent trip to Masdar City and Abu Dhabi follows. Among other things, we launched our new white paper – on greenwashing and green hushing – with the First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and the UAE Global Councils on the SDGs.

We have done a new, short video ahead of our flight to Dubai tomorrow. More anon, hopefully.

What a joy to take part this evening in a virtual celebration of the life and work of futurist and green economist Hazel Henderson. I spoke alongside the likes of Amory Lovins, Fritjof Capra, Kate Raworth and Ralph Nader.

I first encountered Hazel back in the 1980s, via The Other Economic Summit (TOES) initiative, of which I was part. More recently, I was a member of her Advisory Board at Ethical Markets Media.

Afterwards, Elaine and I went across to the Conduit Club for a reception for impact investors, where we caught up with people like Mark Campanale of Carbon Tracker and Planet Tracker, and Clare Brook of Blue Marine Foundation. Warm thanks to our hosts, John Ditchfield and Matt Coppin of Impact Lens, like the Trackers also based at the Conduit shortly to become Harmonic, who Elaine and I had had an afternoon session with on our own finances.

Up very early to take train and Drain (Waterloo & City line) to Bank station, ahead of an event at the very top of The Gherkin. Watched the sun come up in the east from the top of the Gherkin. The event was hosted by Tech Nation and a range of other organisations. Our CEO, Louise Kjellerup Roper, co-chairs their Climate Committee.

We kicked off with my fireside chat with Elisa Moscolin, EVP for sustainability at Sage Group. Our theme – and that of the event – was the rise of CSO (Chief Sustainability Officer) and the challenge of Sustainability Leadership.

Early on, I recalled being taken around the building by the then site engineer, Sara Fox, a formidable Texan managing 200 male construction workers, while some of the glass was still going in. And, some time later, I had also chaired a long-ago Nestlé dinner atop the Gherkin when their Shared Value Advisory Council, of which I was a long-standing member, came to town.

One highlight today, I think for most of us, was the concluding address from Sir David King. Bracing, to put it mildly.

Flew in yesterday afternoon to Shannon Airport, ahead of today’s site visits with Eire’s electricity provider, ESB. Stayed at the Clayton Hotel in Limerick, my bedroom window overlooking Steamboat Quay – with ships moving in and out.

This morning, after an early breakfast, we were taken by minibus to see a salmon hatchery near Parteen Weir, plus the release of a tanker full of eels that had been netted upstream of a dam and hydropower station which would otherwise have mashed a fair few of them, and were now being released to make their way back down to the Atlantic.

The scale of the Ardnacrusha hydropower station, when we got there, was slightly mind-numbing – particularly given that it opened as long ago as 1929. Then we headed across to Moneypoint, which was even larger – but still burning coal.

More hopeful was the Green Atlantic hub now evolving here. We walked around the Synchronous Condenser, designed to balance the electricity grid as ever-increasing quantities of renewable energy are used. Lots to think about when we get home.