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John Elkington

John Elkington

A world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development.

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Journal

Flying Down To Paraná

John Elkington · 23 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

The adventures continue. Yesterday, we were flown to Paraná in a small, private Citation jet – though we were assured that the emissions were being offset as part of the previous day’s event. Four Klabin people accompanied us, including Klabin’s Chief Technology Officer, Francisco César Razzolini.

Among other things we were given a guided tour of: the Klabin pulp mill – where we saw different stages of the Puma project, the biggest investment in Klabin’s history; one of a series of smallholdings helping the landless find a footing; and the company-sponsored ecology park, where we watched an operation being carried out on a maned wolf.

In the evening we went out for a beer in Harmonia, where many Klabin people live, staying overnight at the Klabin hotel there. Then, this (very cold) morning we visited the Klabin technology centre nearby, being shown a range of products, old and new.

Next, we were invited to plant another tree each, this time within Harmonia, behind an environmental centre. Louise planted a Copaíba, whereas in my case the sapling was a Sibipiruna. As I said to Louise after yesterday’s rather more informal planting, it’s as if you leave something of your soul in the soil – in a good way.

Then we were flown back to São Paulo, clear skies permitting a very different view of the landscape than we could see through yesterday’s clouds.

Ready to fly
Landed in Paraná
Guard dog, albeit very friendly
Visiting one of a number of farms supported by Klabin
The cabbages look healthy
Courgettes/zucchini take cover
Compost material based on Klabin waste materials
Lula territory, as we visit a local village for lunch
Some of the delightful people who hosted us
On display
A backdrop of campaigns by the landless, against exclusion, poverty and ‘green deserts’
Louise planting her tree
Juliana plants another tree
Getting my hands dirty, planting an Ipê sapling
The Klabin pulp mill
Francisco gives us a panorama
One of the mountains of wood chips
Insider’s view
Louise and Gonzalo (front) Juliana and I (back): courtesy of Klabin
Gonzalo and Louise in electric runabout at the ecology park
Maned wolf being operated on
Paper in natural form
Gonzalo, Uinston and Francisco
A game demonstrating how water always seeks the lowest path
Sunset
This morning, Louise and Francisco at the Technology Centre
Being introduced to new products
Cameras everywhere
Native (apparently) bamboo, close by where we are due to plant our trees
‘My’ tree
Heading out
Sample of Klabin’s ‘mosaic’ planting, mixing plantations and areas of natural forest
Other landforms spotted en route back to São Paulo

Inova Klabin 2022

John Elkington · 22 September 2022 · 2 Comments

Extraordinary day at the Inova Klabin event held in the Biennial Building in Ibirapuera, São Paulo’s city park. Did the keynote on Green Swans and the regenerative economy. Among many highlights were meeting and talking with senior Klabin management, including the chairman, CEO and CTO. Fascinating exchange with the CEO, Christiano Cardoso Teixera and three senior people from Tetrapak, one of Klabin’s big customers.

Also immensely enjoyed meeting the artist Edson Pavoni, who had done a stunning artwork for the event based on the canopies of forests, made out of configured paper and then animated by winds passing through the canopies of distant forests in Brazil. Also delighted to meet musicians from the Instituto Baccarelli, which works with young people from the city’s favelas, or slums, to turn them into professional musicians – or whatever else they want to become.

The stage where I would speak, image scooped from social media
Different view
Louise with Shirli, our Brazilian agent
Cardboard seating – a lot more robust than it sounds
Part of the exhibition space
Ditto
Louise with Daniela, our Klabin host for the day
In front of the Kind stand, with the founder (left) – her products in part made with Klabin by-products
One of the firefighting crew at one of the exhibits
Shirli and Daniela
Louise with Edson, behind his artwork
Getting ready to fit Louise’s part of the installation
More work being done – snake tattoo symbolising intelligence, she explained
Louise (back row) and me (front) with the Instituto Baccarelli orchestra
The orchestra in full flow
Louise and Bruna
Edson hamming it up

Line 6, São Paulo

John Elkington · 21 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

Arrived in São Paulo around 05.00 this morning and were ferried to hotel by our driver, Carlos. Did a Volans team meeting en route. On my first visits to Brazil, the thought of wi-fi from a speeding car would have seemed like sci-fi. Then across to Acciona to hear about their mega-project, Line 6 of the city’s subway system. After a briefing and lunch, we were vanned across to one of the construction sites and taken deep into the tunnel workings. Beyond impressive. But the social and environmental aspects were fascinating, too. More on that anon.

Team meeting under way as Carlos negotiates São Paulo traffic
Business as unusual in Acciona’s offices
Concrete casings for the tunnel
Reflecting
Our intrepid team
Venturing deeper
Looking back
A concatenation of materials
In the background, a shrine to Saint Barbara, patron saint of miners
Louise inspects a control room
Concrete silos, I imagine
The cutting edge of the tunnelling machine, with welding under way
Ditto
(Very) heavy machinery
Welding on a drain cover
We emerge, mind-boggled

Fixing The Future

John Elkington · 17 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

Fixing The Future Festival logo
Sample of speaker billings
Hello, Barcelona
Me, Montserrat Vilà, Tim Smit, Deli Saavedra
Tim in full flow
Me, Bethany Koby, Carlota Pi

Thoroughly enjoying the Fixing The Future Festival in Barcelona. Chaired two sessions yesterday, one in the morning on Biodiversity and Regeneration (with Montse Vilà of the Doñana Biology Station, Tim Smit of the Eden Project and Deli Saavedra of Rewilding Europe) and one in the afternoon on Revolution & Regeneration (with Bethany Koby of Fam Studio and Carlota Pi of Holaluz).

Wonderful to see old friends, including festival organiser Cathy Runciman of Atlas of the Future and Lisa Goldapple of Topia. And the serendipity effect has been in overdrive, as when I introduced Tim to Brian Eno, who I had met the previous evening while walking back from a dinner at the Hidden Factory, after which we had a wonderful lunch together.

Then an evening of Salvador Dalí, paella, and monsoon-like rain that left even those of us with umbrellas drenched, but that’s another story.

Celebrating Yvon Chouinard

John Elkington · 15 September 2022 · Leave a Comment

Screengrab of the LA Times article

I was delighted to be quoted in The Los Angeles Times on the announcement that Yvon Chouinard was moving his company Patagonia into a charitable structure – which means that it will dedicate itself to funding work on climate solutions. I interviewed Yvon a couple of years back, for our Green Swans Observatory – a story that was then picked up by Topia.

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Introduction

I began this blog with an entry reporting on a visit to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Cape Cod, on 30 September 2003. The blog element of the website has gone through several iterations since, with much of the older material still available.

Like so many things in my life, blog entries blur the boundaries between the personal and the professional. As explained on this site’s Home Page, the website and the blog are part platform for ongoing projects, part autobiography, and part accountability mechanism.

In addition, my blogs have appeared on many sites such as: Chinadialogue, CSRWire, Fast Company, GreenBiz, Guardian Sustainable Business, and the Harvard Business Review.

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About

John Elkington is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently Founding Partner and Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements.

Contact

john@johnelkington.com  |  +44 203 701 7550 | Twitter: @volansjohn

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