Journal

Flew into Belo Horizonte, via São Paulo, on Tuesday – to speak at the 15th CONCRED conference for credit unions, organised by Confebras. Some 3,000 people attending. As ever, loved the spirit of the thing, and was guided through the days by Claudia Luciane Leite, on the left of the last photo.

The plenary session began with a stunningly good Brazilian band, with orchestra, playing a series of Beatles songs. Made me feel right at home. And one highlight was a really interesting talk with Gabriel Galípolo, who some see as being groomed to become Brazil’s central bank head.

Have been hobbling through the proceedings, after somehow cracking a foot bone last week. My left foot has been heavily bandaged for a week now – and have also been wearing new support shoes to get me through all the walking around airports and the like.

Spent much of my spare time in the Radisson Blu hotel working on a long article on the impending next stage of the sustainability revolution. Seemed to make good progress.

But extremely unwelcome news as our driver Marcos dropped me at Belo Horizonte airport for the trip to São Paulo. This afternoon another plane bound for SP crashed, killing all 61 people on board. Got in touch with Elaine to say that it wasn’t my flight, to find Gaia had already told her the same. But startling to think how quickly these things can happen.

Went across to the Isle of Wight yesterday afternoon with Elaine, shepherded by Karen Bearman who runs the WWF UK Council of Ambassadors, for a WWF event – involving harvesting seeds from a seagrass meadow hard by the bridge across from the ferry dock.

This was my first face-to-face contact with some of the Project Seagrass team. For more on the seagrass story, see here, with the explanation helpfully rendered in multiple languages. And further discussion of seagrass’s many ecological benefits can be found here, via the Smithsonian.

The first time that I think I saw seagrass was in the Red Sea back in 1958, when I was nine or so. Looking through the glass bottom of a small boat, I remember the forests of sea snakes and, at least one seagrass grazer, a sea turtle.

Gathering the seed proved a lot harder than I had imagined, partly because of the turbidity of the water and partly because the seagrass leaves were coated in so many epiphytes – making it hard to work out what was seed and what wasn’t.

Had been given a large bag for the harvest, but the only four strands I got were each given to me by different people who apparently (and correctly) felt I needed help. All of them women. Also got distracted by numerous floating gelatinous objects, clear jelly blobs, that may have been some form of salp.

In any event, a great picnic on the beach and I really appreciated the chance to talk to younger influencers now involved with WWF, including Sam Bentley, Haroon Mota of Active Inclusion Network and Kedar Wiliams-Stirling, the actor.

Elaine stayed on the beach while we waded and harvested, where a passing retired fisherman opined that if it comes to a clash between people and planet, people should always win. Elaine’s response was along the lines that this can work – until it doesn’t. another passer by noted that tourists complain that the seagrass washing up “spoils” their image of what a beach should be, in effect all sand.

Clearly, we have a fair amount of work still to do.

And in the background, on the western horizon, stood Esso’s Fawley Refinery, which I visited solo back in the late 1970s when developing early corporate case studies as the first editor of the ENDS Report. Little did I realise then that Esso’s parent company, Exxon, would become the arch-enemy in terms of climate change.

Among many other things, my latest book, Tickling Sharks, covers the very public collision I had with their then Chairman and CEO, Rex Tillerson. Though in that case it was a bit more like trying to whack a corporate shark on the nose with an oar…

Then back onto the train, getting home around midnight – with an intensified urge to learn more about seagrass and do more to help ensure its conservation and regeneration. Meanwhile, the Chief Pollinator part of me loves the idea that, at least as far as I understand it, they are the only sea plant that pollinates underwater.

In October, I am due to visit Bucharest and Romania for the first time. I will be hosted by the Ambasada Sustenabilității în România, who are organizing the 𝐒𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐀 𝐂𝐄𝐎 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐔𝐌 on October 9th, a hybrid event, aimed at the leaders of the largest companies in Romania, but also at “visionary entrepreneurs.”

With Prof. Wayne Visser, I will explain the sustainability agenda for business – and explain the evolution of more sustainable business models. We will also provide examples of best practice from companies that are successfully balancing profitability with responsibility for people and planet.

Says Oana Grosanu, the executive director of the Sustainability Embassy in Bucharest, “We’ve been beating your brains out thinking on how to promote this event in the most creative and impactful way possible. I think we have chosen a rather unexpected approach for a business conference: powerful messages, aimed to company leaders from the young generation, today’s children and tomorrow’s adults.”

She goes on to explain: “One of the kids is my 10-year-old boy. Seeing him on the visual is a very strong motivation because it reminds me what we ‘fight’ for at the Sustainability Embassy in Romania every day, being 100% convinced that only sustainability can offer Romanian people a prosperous economy, a healthy environment, a fair society and a safer tomorrow.”

What a joy to be involved! Tickets for the event are available on this link, with special early bird fees until July 25.

A Must Read from the Godfather of Sustainability

Volans and Fast Company Press are proud to announce the release of Tickling Sharks: How We Sold Business on Sustainability, the 21st book by John Elkington, aka the “Godfather of Sustainability.” It offers a candid and comprehensive look at the evolution of the sustainability agenda over the past 50 years, offering unparalleled insights from the man who coined the term “triple bottom line”—People, Planet, and Profit.

John Elkington has been at the forefront of the sustainability movement since it began, advising some of the world’s most influential companies and business leaders. In Tickling Sharks, he shares an insider’s perspective on the trials, triumphs, and transformations that have shaped the journey towards sustainable business practices.

The book’s central message is that the next 15 years will see more change than the past 50 years—but that it will drive us towards systemic breakdowns as well as breakthroughs. The quality of leadership will be even more critical than in normal, less disrupted times. 

Tickling Sharks is a call to action for business leaders, policymakers, and sustainability advocates. Whether you read it on a plane, on the beach or back in the office, this is a must-read for anyone committed to driving positive, systemic change.

If you would like John to talk about Tickling Sharks to your organisation, please contact Natalie Jude. 

Reviews

“John is a legend. Throughout my 30-year career in sustainability leadership, he has been a source of insight and inspiration. By extension he has influenced the thinking of thousands of senior executives on our programmes.” Dame Polly Courtice, founding director, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership 

“Thank you, John, for being our godfather, soothsayer, advocate, provocateur, and—ultimately—inspiration.” Hannah Jones, CEO, The Earthshot Prize 

“By coaching the enlightened—and confronting the laggards—John has helped put the issues and opportunities firmly on the top tables of some of the world’s largest and most impactful businesses.” Sir Dave Lewis, former CEO, Tesco PLC; chair, WWF-UK 

“John has seen farther, sooner, and better than anyone how commerce could reimagine the world and has done so with modesty, eloquence, and kindness.” Paul Hawken, environmentalist, entrepreneur, author of The Ecology of Commerce, Drawdown, and Regeneration 

“With his patented mixture of humor and ardor, the father of the triple bottom line distils the most important lessons learned during a long career spent at the bleeding edge of ESG.” Denis Hayes, organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970; former head, Solar Energy Research Institute; president, Bullitt Foundation 

“John Elkington is unusual in that he has ridden—and helped shape—so many waves of change. But perhaps his central contribution has been in helping to ensure that the tremendous opportunities offered by responsible and sustainable business models are increasingly understood by CEOs and boards.” Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, campaigner, and co-author of Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take 

NOTES

Availability: Tickling Sharks is now available at major bookstores and online retailers in hardback, paperback, Kindle and audio versions. 

Media Inquiries: For more information, please visit Fast Company Press’s website or contact Natalie Jude at +44 (0)7788212915 or natalie@volans.com. She can also help with review copies, interviews, and other media requests.

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