L: What are your initial reflections on this year’s Blue Earth Summit?
J: It was a fantastic gathering, actually, this year, much bigger than when I went two years ago, a great get together of like-minded people from across the whole sustainability and environmental conservation sector. Delegates included other NGOs like ourselves, start-up businesses developing new sustainable products, and established companies sharing their sustainable solutions and ways of working. There were also a range of conservation experts, sharing their learnings, thoughts and views in a range of workshops and seminars. So a real mix of types of organisations, businesses, and individuals, but everybody with a similar mindset of wanting to ensure we have a more sustainable world.
L: Were there any specific conversations or discussions that stood out to you?
J: Yes, it was really difficult because there were so many, and I think that was one of the great things, actually, at Blue Earth this year, the opportunities to network and meet with people were quite extensive. I also attended a few workshops and these sessions were often very insightful.
One really interesting talk was with Dragons’ Den Investor, Deborah Meaden, who gave some helpful insight, I think, particularly for businesses who are thinking about their own sustainability, those who become B Corp certified, and really how she was looking at whether businesses really live and breath their sustainability values or is it just a badge. For example, before working with or investing in a particular business she always checks their website, and, if she doesn’t see the company sharing their sustainability values on the front page, or within one click, but finds it buried within the site, she knows they are not taking it seriously and she immediately discounts them as a business that is taking sustainability seriously. I thought that was really interesting, particularly reflecting on the connections we have ourselves and how we can be even more mindful of the businesses we’re looking at for potential support or collaborations.
L: From a charity’s viewpoint, how do you think networking contributed to the Summit? And what impact did it have on fundraising efforts?
J: I always think that networking events bring plenty of interesting outcomes and I am always looking forward to learning more about our sector, our work, and changes that are happening in the world. It is always good to seek new potential partners and collaborations, be it for fundraising, project investment, or awareness, or communications. I think we got all of that from Blue Earth this year and more.
I met really interesting people from a number of organisations, some in similar areas like us. Other NGO’s like ourselves, looking for partnerships or collaborations, and what was, I think, really coming to the fore is that securing funding for vital conservation work is incredibly hard at the moment and we are all in the same situation trying to find the right sort of funding for the work that we are all delivering on the ground, and trying to find the right partners to work together with.
But the potential collaboration with the people I was speaking to had a sense of really looking for something more meaningful, and wanting to collaborate with people who got their message, who wanted to help share that message, working with endangered species or looking at the way you treat the land … different issues. I spoke to one organisation working with Sumatran orangutans, a critically endangered animal to be highlighting at the forefront, but actually, it was the more fundamental work happening at a committee level that was really striking, the value of which we completely understand at Pelorus Foundation.
I was having more and more of these conversations with other organisations working with sharks, manta rays, elephants, and others, and the common theme throughout was that there is some incredible work being delivered on the ground, but funding is needed for things that are actually hard to fund to support project delivery, which is something Pelorus Foundation focuses on, the areas of work that get overlooked all the time and are often key to a project’s success.
Another talk I attended included Dr. Tony Juniper, Chair of Cool Earth on the platform, who was highlighting something that has always been essential from my international development background, which is understanding you need a holistic worldview if you want to deliver world change. You need evidence but you need also to look at all the solutions instead of doing one thing here and one thing over there, which is going to make change but not significant for global change.
There was also an interesting talk on environmental philanthropy with James Reed, Chair and CEO of Reed and Chair of the Big Give as one of the main speakers. He highlighted how his company has not only successfully grown as a business, but they were also successful philanthropists through their charity Reed Foundation. Part of their support helps charities like Pelorus Foundation with matched-funding via Big Give appeals, and he believes philanthropy and business are not mutually exclusive of each other, but can be embraced as part of their business model. At Reed, they like to say that ‘for one day a week we work for charity’. He has found that business results are better as a philanthropy company and it says something different for their supply chain, staff, recruitment and company culture.
The last session I attended was from Amy James-Turner, defense for the Tottenham Hotspurs, who spoke about women football players and their role in climate change. With her own personal concerns about our planet, she led an extensive research project within the UK football world and found that 71% of football players think climate change is affecting their play – particularly due to increased floods, extreme weather, and heat. Many players are now supporting a ban on flights for domestic matches, and are questioning the use of plastic water bottles in the grounds and changing rooms, and are interested in receiving climate change training.
