Journal

All In Podcast

John Elkington · 14 December 2023 · Leave a Comment

Delighted to see/hear the launch of the All In podcast I did with Chris Coulter of GlobeScan and David Grayson of Cranfield University, before I flew to COP28 in Dubai.

Masdar City And Abu Dhabi

John Elkington · 10 December 2023 · Leave a Comment

An astonishing day, starting in Dubai and involving a fascinating visit to an aquaculture project at Masdar City. A key focus is to use aquaculture to drive desert reclamation. Reminded me of how energetically I tried to get into oceanography and aquaculture back in the early 1970s, before turning my attentions to the environment and, later, sustainability. Then on to Abu Dhabi, where I spoke at an extremely glitzy open air event, in front of the Cultural Foundation and with Jupiter shining brilliantly overhead. Highlights of the evening can be seen here.

*Nightscape as I arrive in my room* on the Palm Jumeirah

*A camel captures my eye, because of eccentric design – and because I find the animals beautiful*

*Simon, Dave and Gregory as we wait to leave*

*My head expands as we wait for a people carrier to take us to Masdar*

*We arrive at the aquaculture site on the edge of Masdar City*

*Neal Spackman introduces us to his mangroves*

*Yuletide welcome to Abu Dhabi, Louise and I reflected*

A Different Climate At COP28

John Elkington · 9 December 2023 · Leave a Comment

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.

*Burj Khalifa (centre) as we zoom towards Expo 2020 site and COP28*

*Tidy – and it turned out that civil society had been somewhat tidied up, too*

*You are invited to smell the polluted air of different cities – including London*

*Ah, a term I came up with in 1986 – with SustainAbility “the Green Growth Company” in its early years*

*Our language is on walls, hoardings and banners everywhere*

*I take part in a session hosted by the Climate Safe Finance Network* – where am a judge on a new contest

*Catching up with sustainability team at Paulig* – which supplied the coffee for the Finnish Pavilion

*And on to the Finnish Pavilion for a Neste event*

*Under way, with Sami Jauhiainen, VP of Renewable Aviation at Neste*

*With Christoph Wolff, CEO of the Smart Freight Centre*

*With Angela Pinnate, Director of Sustainability/LATAM, Natura* & Co

*Sami and Päivi Makronen, Acting VP of Sustainability at Neste*

*Louise in our favourite Emirati food café*

*Flagpoles and flags illustrate the challenge of getting everyone onside*

*Mechanical pollinator, though I prefer Nature’s versions*

*With FAB CSO Shargiil Bashir after our “fireside chat”*

*Electrifying all the organs of the state*

*Brazilian friends: Roberto Waack, biologist and business leader, and Cristiano Oliveira of Biomas*

*Racing, after going to the wrong Expo site, but still time to snap*

*Pinch your fingers to start the virtual reality session*

*Keeping us cool* – and a major climate headache

*As we arrive at Dubai Holding’s perch – a heart-warming, smile-inducing dance*

*Louise and Blue Earth’s Baz Bignell and Will Hayler*

*Dave Ford of Ocean Plastics Leadership Network and Gunnlaugur Erlendsson of Enso Tyres*

En route to celebrate Finnish Independence **Day**

*Sisters-in-arms: Louise shoots Päivi Kivilä and Linda Mankki of Neste*

Off To COP

John Elkington · 1 December 2023 · Leave a Comment

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

Hazel Henderson Celebration

John Elkington · 30 November 2023 · Leave a Comment

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.

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