Journal

Flew in from Sao Paulo this afternoon, via TAM, after a few days at the annual Instituto Ethos conference on corporate social responsibility. I did a panel session yesterday, chaired by Simon Zadek of AccountAbility and also featuring Fernando Martins of Grupo Santander and Ricardo Henriques, advisor to the President of BNDES, the Brazilian Development Bank. Our session was enitled: ‘Global Crisis: Can a new financial system drive the economy towards a sustainable society?’ My central question was whether the government-moderated economic crisis will be enough to spur transformative changes in our basic economic model – too early to say, but sadly maybe not. Then a very interesting meeting with several people from Braskem. The previous evening, took part in a wonderful dinner with the members of the International Board of Ethos.

When I switched from economics to sociology at university in 1968, Peter Townsend was one of my professors – and had quite an impact on my sensibilities.  Sad to see his obituary today in The Times when I got back from Aberdeen.

Shocked to see the graphic illustration of the precipitous collapse of spawning cod stocks in the North Sea in the Financial Times Magazine for June 6-7, which had been hanging around in a stack of unread magazines due to my recent travel.  One of the triggers for the piece was the new film, The End of the Line: Imagine a Worth Without Fish.  Linked to Charles Clover’s book of the same name.

Flew up to Aberdeen this morning, to join some colleagues from IMSA – including one who was part of the Greenpeace boarding party on the Brent Spar – to talk to people in the oil and gas platform decommissioning business.  The project, the ‘Living North Sea Initiative’, is still under wraps, but has great potential at a time when the North Sea seems to be in continuing decline, despite a spate of government-sponsored efforts to turn the tide.

Hotel Bellechasse 1 Hotel Bellechasse, in the lift

A fairly energetic day in Paris, where I arrived last night, staying again at the Hotel Bellechasse. Then around the corner to an advisory board meeting with EcoVadis, before heading across after lunch to UNESCO for a meeting with Liz Longworth and colleagues. Delighted to see such things as a Calder mobile outside and a large photograph of a whaleshark in the lobby. Jonah Goldstein also took me to see the Picasso mural, which he noted hadn’t been signed by the artist – I said I wasn’t surprised, the painting didn’t strike me as that wonderful. But then I spotted the central figure as we rounded a pillar – and exclaimed that, given my interest in flight and Homo volans, this was perfect, a falling angel. Icarus, Jonah explained.

Remarkable clouds on the way back to London by Eurostar, which I’m spending more time studying now that Elaine has joined us both up for the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Amputee, as I walk garden before EcoVadis meeting Facade Curtain in meeting room Whale shark at UNESCO Calder mobile Kalashnikov as praying mantis

Back from Brazil this morning, finding it hard to forget the fate of AF447 – particularly when the flight out on Monday night hit quite an air pocket part-way out.  Was speaking at the Ethanol Summit 2009, in São Paulo.  Missed Bill Clinton’s speech, sadly, but enjoyed my panel with Lord (John) Browne (previously BP) and José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevado, President of Petrobras.  Recently wrote a letter to the Harvard Business Review in the wake of an HBR article by Gabrielli on the ‘greening’ of the giant Brazilian oil company.  There’s no doubt that progress has been made, but the company’s recent behaviour in its spat with Instituto Ethos, where I sit on the International Board, has been disturbing.

I took the photo above during a dinner hosted by UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane industry association, at a wonderful restaurant called Figueira Rubaiyat, where the area in which we sat was built around this utterly astonishing fig tree, well over 100 years old, and the size of a pod of whales. I had bacalhau, salt cod, which was served in a sizzling cauldron and was utterly delicious.

Among the companies I spoke to during the event was Braskem, which is working on a range of ‘green’ polymers, including polyethylene.  Shown in the photos are a green version of Monopoly which they have been selling through Wal-Mart, where all the pieces are made of green polymers made from ethanol.

Finished off Philip Kerr’s stunning novel A Quiet Flame on the flight back, and ended up concluding that Argentina should have been given a free pass to miss the 20th century altogether. What an utter monster Perón was.

Leonora Novaes of Braskem with their green Monopoly game The board Pieces