No I’m not.
I’m not into complacency either ( at least not intentionally). I work in, and am passionate about, sustainability however recently I was shaken out of my complacency by a seminar I attended by a leading change management expert in the Sustainability space. Bob Doppelt*.
You may have heard but the follow up to Kyoto is happening in Copenhagen this later year – the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The scientists had a bit of a pre-meeting recently to agree the science and it was not good news. Let me summarise:
- Worse Case IPCC Occurring: New data shows likely temperature rise of +2o C (maybe 3-5oC), sea rise of 1 meter, risk of abrupt & irreversible changes.
- Major Social Upheaval: Billions of people moving, global conflicts
- Immediate Action Needed: ‘West ’must become essentially ‘carbon free ’by 2050 (+80%) but near term action essential(3-5 year and 2020) .
- Disproportional Impacts: Most vulnerable within and between societies most affected now and in immediate future—all affected soon.
- No Excuse For Inaction: Knowledge, skills and technologies exist now and will produce major job, public health & ecological benefits.
- Must rapidly overcome cognitive, behavioral, organizational, cultural, and political constraints.
So the impact this had on me was that it is easy to pat yourself on the back either as an individual or as a brand at the progress we are making on the carbon agenda. In reality we may be making small incremental changes which really will have little impact in the grand scheme. For the west to become carbon free in 2050 is a massive step change in thinking, product offering, the way we live. Now that can be an exciting prospect, a great business opportunity and can drive great innovation.
The question to myself (and to you) is how do we start driving down that step change route?
*You can get his book here, and find out more here
