Responsible Futures

This was one of the best Sustain Talks I have done to date.  Richard Hagan really walks the walk when it comes to sustainability. He has transformed his business into a sustainable one.  The lessons he shares are so valuable.    To every leader in every company. Take some time and listen to this.  Richard shares the true value to companies in becoming more sustainable. His passion is undeniable, and he makes utter sense.  This is the reason I started sharing these conversations.  If you are a climate denier, if you can’t understand why sustainability matters so much, if you want to do good but you aren’t sure how, if you don’t know where to start, if you want to know about data, about reducing your energy costs, if you want to know more about the B-Corp process, if you think you are too small to make a difference.  Listen to this.  You will learn something from every single answer to the questions.   I cannot stress the importance of this conversation.

Today I'm joined by Gail Grace.  Gail is a female empowerment coach helping women to further their careers, have more confidence, greater success and helps with imposter syndrome, stress management and more.  In this Sustain Talks I ask Gail How you define women’s empowerment and equality? Are we starting to see a difference in DE&I  How can we empower more women at work?  Do you think there are barriers to change?  Why don't women put themselves forward as much as men?  What can men do to support their female colleagues? What can we do to change the gender pay gap? What steps can we take to advance female empowerment? What are the benefits of mentorship? What a coach can do?  Who inspires you and why?   Contact Gail  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gail-grace-550ba371/  www.gailgrace.co.uk

I'm joined by Dan Sherrard-Smith.  Dan is the founder of MotherTree an organisation that helps you track your moneys carbon footprint.    In this chat we discuss  What determines a green bank?  How you can find out if your bank is green or not? Who are the worst offenders and why?  Who are the best and why?  What the footprint of your bank account is?  How much of a difference does greening your money make to the environment? What the comparison is to flying, or going vegetarian?  Green pensions?   

If you want to find out if your bank is green go to https://www.mymothertree.com/?refer=sustaintalks 

Connect with Dan here https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-sherrard-smith/

This weeks Sustain Talks I’m joined by Graeme Heyes, Enterprise fellow working with businesses to support their journey to Net Zero at the Centre for Enterprise at Manchester Metropolitan University. Graham has a PHD in sustainable business model design and Innovation, with over 15 years of expertise.   When Graeme started this journey he used to talk about climate change as something that was happening in the future.  He explains why he thinks we are living in a climate emergency and that we're at the very early stages of it.    Graeme shares his predictions but has a positive belief in the opportunity that lies ahead for businesses.   We also discussed MMUs Eco-I programme which supports businesses that are trying to work out their place in the world and how they can adopt low carbon business solutions.  I also loved hearing what Graeme would do with £10 million towards sustainable innovation.  You’ll have to watch to find out.    This was one of those Sustain Talks that I could listen to over again, there was so much insight to be gained.  I hope you enjoy it.

This week I was joined by Andrew Griffiths Director of Policy and Partnerships from Planet Mark for the Sustain Talks chat.   Andrew shares his views on sustainability and net zero and setting targets and how Planet Mark encourages businesses to reduce their carbon footprint.    He also shares his thought on COP27 having attended giving a very candid view on what he thought of the event and the outcomes.    We also discussed accreditations, what they mean and why they matter and what the future looks like and how he sees it.

Sam speaks with Tobi Elusakin, a sustainability consultant with the international construction and consulting firm Mace, in this week's Sustain Talks.   Tobi provides us a wonderful overview of his professional background and offers some excellent advice for those who want to work in sustainability. He talks to us about his values and how his perspective on sustainability has changed over the course of his schooling and career.   Sam and Tobi discuss the challenging times we all have ahead of us due to the energy crisis and climate change.   Tobi shared this grim yet true assessment:   "The only reason most people are focusing on energy consumption right now is that it's really expensive"  On a more encouraging note, Tobi explains what Mace are doing to teach its staff about sustainability, including holding weekly masterclasses on subjects like solar, renewable energy, and retrofitting.   This Sustain Talks is for you if you're an individual trying to learn more about sustainability or a company looking to teach your staff more about how to be more sustainable.   00:45 - Who is Tobi Elusakin 06:00 - Tobi's view of sustainability 10:32 - What is the answer to the energy crisis? 16:35 - Tobi's view on Net Zero. 23:50 - How is Mace getting employees involved in achieving targets? 27:20 - How to retain staff with education and sustainability goals. 28:54 - What do we all need to stop doing?

In this weeks Sustain Talks Sam is joined by Michelle Furtado, Director of FuturEcoLogic and a climate activist.  With so much media attention focused on climate activism, it seemed important to talk to an activist to fully understand the work that they do.   Activists do of course talk to MPs and write letters but these are mostly ignored, to get headlines and keep the issues alive more direct action is often taken, we have all seen in the last few weeks activists gluing themselves to floors, splashing soup over paintings, and spraying jewellery shops with paint in an attempt to raise awareness of "Just Stop Oil". The media seem to focus on reacting to the shocking incidents and dismissing the activists rather than understanding some of the good work that is done by them - such as setting up climate emergency centres that help people get grants and educate them through workshops.  Michelle reminds us that if we continue as business as normal the picture is bad, fires, floods, mass migration, loss of cities, loss of key farmland...but that Mad Max future isn't inevitable if action is taken. In fact, taking action on climate will produce jobs and make communities healthier in the long run...   00:50 - Who is Michelle Furtado? 02:00 - What activities do activists do behind the scenes that we don't see? 04:00 - Is letter writing better than the direct action activism we are seeing Just Stop Oil doing now? 07:30 - What would Michelle say to people who support what climate activists stand for but don't support activists direct action? 09:30 - Just Stop Oil researched whether the soup would damage the Van Gogh. 12:00 - The media tends to focus on and highlight the activities as being irresponsible, thus the beneficial work that activists accomplish isn't as extensively reported on. 14:40 - There is a lot of good work and innovation going on around climate change. 16:30 - Is the direct action activism that is happening currently working? 19:00 - We need to reduce emissions drastically. What will the world look like if we don't? 23:15 - Are we doing enough? What more should do we need to do? and who should be doing it?