SPEECHES 2007

ISTANBUL FOR UNILEVER

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MCDONALDS IN CHICAGO (Apr07)

As part of a panel of external experts, I was invited to talk to an international audience of McDonalds restaurant owners and other employees, in Chicago.  We were told to be provocative and give our honest views of the organisation, which I enjoyed!  See My Blog for a detailed description of the trip.

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MCDONALDS EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT PRESENTATION (Mar07)

I haven't been the greatest fan of McDonalds in the past but was impressed with their response to Greenpeace's campaign in 2006 on soya used in chicken feed coming from newly cleared rainforest. (See more about this in my Blog).  So I went to Naples to give a presentation to McDonalds European Management Team on sustainability issues.  This trip was covered in the Financial Times. And I've agreed to go to Chicago at the end of April to sit on a panel debate on the same theme to an audience of McDonalds international management. 

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PROCTER & GAMBLE - WHAT'S THE FUTURE OF GREEN WASHING? (Jun 2007)

An internal presentation to Procter & Gamble staff on issues around green detergents.  I firmly believe that the biggest issue in relation to clothes washing is reducing the temperature of your wash.  Procter & Gamble's Turn to 30C campaign promoted on Ariel washing powder is a step in the right direction.   Also see My Blog.

I also chaired a session at Procter & Gambles Consumer Association day, attended by consumer organisations from around Europe.    

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PROCTER & GAMBLE ADVISORY PANEL

Procter & Gamble have set up an External Advisory Panel on sustainability issues for their Fabric & Home Care business - essentially focusing on detergents and cleaning products.  The idea is to provide an external perspective and help identify emerging environmental tends.  Our first meeting took place in March 2007 at a splendid location outside Brussels.  Further activities are planned.  Procter & Gamble have a website, called Science in the Box, which provides information on their safety and sustainability approach. 

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MORGAN STANLEY (Nov07)

"Just a quick note to thank you for your talk yesterday.  It hit just the right note!  Have had some great feedback from several attendees."       

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SELF STORAGE ASSOCIATION SPEECH

The 2007 Self Storage Association meeting had a distinct sailing theme.  Tracy Edwards, of sailing fame, kicked off with a speech about her life surviving both the physical and financial perils of being a top class sailor.  And I followed with a story about my time crewing on a luxury racing yacht in the Carribbean, where all the rubbish - including plastics - was being thrown straight into the sea.  The next speaker, Michael Pawlyn from Exploration Architecture, brought us back on land explaining how many of his ideas for buildings and design come from nature.  Out speeches were meant to both entertain and inform.  Given the rather gruesome buildings that are predominantly used for self storage, the hope is that we also inspired them to greater things!

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ESTATES GAZETTE RETAIL SUMMIT  (May 2007)

Developers of shops and shopping centres aren't very keen on internet shopping, I discovered - it could mean less people on the streets.  In my speech at Claridges to the property retail sector,  I pointed out that it would be no bad thing if there was less development - certainly of the bog standard kind that predominates today.  If a new supermarket comes to town wouldn't it be far more popular if it was state of the art green.  That doesn't just mean wind mills on the roof or even solar power.  It means it should be super energy efficient, have day light lighting, green roofs (plants on the roof), less construction waste, innovative recycling systems and many other green features... Other speakers included directors from the UK's largest retail developers, Land Securities and Hammerson, as well as the property director at Sainsbury and the architect of the Blue Water Shopping Centre. 

See my Blog for more information.

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LUXEMBOURG INVESTMENT FUND INDUSTRY CONFERENCE  (Mar07)

ALFI is the official trade body of the Luxembourg Investment Fund Industry - Europe's biggest fund centre in terms of assets under management.  I gave the key note speech at their conference, attended by 780 delegates.  The title of my speech was: Is the investment community making money at the expense of the planet?  The answer has to be 'yes' but my hope is that there more of them are beginning to see that the environment should be far higher up their list of priorities. 

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KEY NOTE SPEAKER AT THE GREEN FUNERALS EXHIBITION (Apr07)

Bizarrely, one of the most interesting subjects I researched for The New Green Consumer Guide was 'green death'.  On Saturday April 28th made the key note speech at the Green Funeral Exhibition organised by the Natural Death Centre. 

On display were a range of coffins from plain cardboard to ones made from banana leaves and water hyacinth.  And key points for discussion included the horrors of embalming, mercury emissions from crematoria and why we bury bodies too deep in the ground for worms and bacteria to break them down.

If you want information on 'green death' and burial you couldn't do better than to buy The Natural Death Handbook.  

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TRIODOS BANK AGM (Jun 2007)

Triodos is the greenest bank in Britain!  The theme of their AGM this year was 'Ethical Consumption - are we kidding ourselves we're changing the world?'.  Although I opposed the debate, my views were not so far apart from Andrew Simms, policy director of the New Economics Foundation and author of 'Tescopoly' published this year.   Also see My Blog...

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NATIONAL TRUST QUESTION-TIME STYLE PUBLIC DEBATE -
NEVER MIND THE ICE CAPS! WHO CAN SAVE BRITAIN'S BACKYARD? (Mar07)

Rosie Boycott chaired an audience led debate with a panel of personalities from business, media and politics at the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), London.  I was on the panel alongside David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Environment; Professor Philip Stott from the University of London; Steve Howard, the CEO of the Climate Group (www.theclimategroup.org); and Alex James, best known as bass player in the band Blur.

The debate was staged by the National Trust to mark the launch of their photographic exhibition 'Exposed: Climate Change in Britain's Backyard'.  Highlights of the exhibition are on show at the RGS

See more about this on my Blog.

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PRESENTATION TO THE RESOURCE RECOVERY FORUM (Jun 2007)

"I am very sorry that the floods stood between me and the meeting..... I have already heard that the meeting was good and your presentation was described as brilliant, so I am doubly disappointed I was not there...." 
Kit Strange, Resources Recovery Forum.

The Resources Recovery Forum, set up in 1997, is a network of organisations promoting more sustainable waste management.  They invited me to speak at their June meeting on waste issues. 

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EDEN PROJECT'S WASTE NEUTRAL CAMPAIGN

Walking down the hill towards the biomes I never cease to be impressed - the vast bubble structures now have greenery around them as well as inside, where once they were set in what looked like barren earth and rock.  Unfortunately I missed the day-time talks for Eden's Waste Neutral campaign, arriving in time for a supper before giving my presentation.  Tim Smit's introduction to my talk made me laugh so much that I found it difficult to get going - he read out my 'death tips' from The New Green Consumer Guide.

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BATTLE OF IDEAS

Yes it was a battle.  When I agreed to oppose the motion that ‘Recycling is a waste of time’ it didn’t occur to me that most of the audience would be actively hostile to my position and that of my fellow panelist, Julie Hill, author of A Zero Waste.  Set up by the Institute of Ideas, the Battle of Ideas was a whole weekend of debates covering topics as diverse as ‘What’s the point of exams’ to ‘Why do people hate America’ and ‘Demonising parents’.  Read more on my Blog.

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FOOD ETHICS COUNCIL - BUSINESS FORUM MEETING (June 2007)

The topic for the first Business Forum meeting of the Food Ethics Council was 'Food Miles or Food Minutes - Is sustainability all in the timing?  I chaired the event, which was attended by a diverse mix of people in the food industry including Raymond Blanc from Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and Peter Bradnock, Chief Executive of the British Poultry Council.

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GREEN ALLIANCE SUMMER RECEPTION DEBATE (Summer 2007)

Giles Chitty and Julia Hailes at Green Alliance Summer Reception 

I spoke at the Green Alliance Summer Reception debate opposing the motion 'Is it up to politicians to save us?' alongside Mathew Taylor, ex No 10 and now Chief Executive of the RSA - see blog.

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND CLIMATE CHANGE (May 2007)

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) invited me to make the key note speech at their conference on 'Civil Society responding to Climate Change' in Brussels.  See My Blog about this - it was a bureaucratic nightmare.

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SHEFFIELD HALLAM - CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

Sheffield Hallam University organised a series of seminars on Sustainable Consumption and Production.  I spoke at the fifth in the series called Changing the way we buy and sell.  I thought the most interesting presentation was about trading in the virtual world - it's like a parallel universe with share prices, commodity stocks, minerals and metals all fluctuating in value.   And, it appears that there are some super-rich people in the cyberspace who in reality are pretty poor.  Intriguingly, they may be able trade their virtual richesse for real money, blurring the lines between the two worlds.... From an environmental perspective, I rather like the idea of people becoming extremely wealthy without real consumption of resources - piling up gold and diamonds in games like Runescape has far less impact that digging them out of the ground in Rwanda or Lesotho...

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SPEECHES FOR SCHOOL

Although I don't encourage schools to ask me to do speeches, some of them have managed to persuade me - and I have to admit that it can be very inspiring.  At Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire, for example there were some very challenging questions from one pupil in particular about how capitalism and environmentalism could possibly work together.  And handing out prizes at Colyton School in Devon, who regularly lead the league tables, there were some very impressive results and an inspiring headmaster. I also got a great welcome from Downe House from a very enthusiastic team of girls who were intent on greening their school.

Pupils at Colyton Grammar School

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LOCAL EVENTS

The town of Frome in Somerset has a lot of green activity.  The Frome Green Festival held in July was introduced by Kevin McCloud and was well attended.  I had a stall selling copies of The New Green Consumer Guide and was kept very busy throughout the day.  I also spoke at a Green Cafe event organised by the Yeovil Community Arts Association, at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil.  Also see below for events organised by  South Somerset Climate Action.

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BOOK SIGNINGS - BRIGHTON, BATH, PLYMOUTH

The City Book Shop in Hove (near Brighton), Mr B's Emporium in Bath and Waterstones in Plymouth organised evening events for me to come and talk.  In Brighton they hired a hall but at Mr B's and Waterstones, the audience sat amongst the books.  What struck me was the immense enthusiasm of the people who came - they were keen to know more and there was a feeling that we could have gone on talking well into the night. 

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HOMES FOR GOOD 2007

Organised by the Somerset Trust for Sustainable Development (currently being re-named the Ecos Trust), the Homes for Good Exhibition was held in Weston Super-Mare in February. It showed people how buildings can be designed, built, refurbished, decorated and furnished in an ecologically sensitive way with demos and talks on sustainable building and lifestyle.  I spoke about The New Green Consumer Guide with ideas on what people do in their homes.

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AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH - SHOWING IN SOMERSET!

I've now led the discussion following two screenings of An Inconvenient Truth in Ilminster, Somerset, the first time alongside Rosie Boycott.   Organised by South Somerset Climate Action, the theatre was packed both times.  On March 13th I held a question and answer session following another screening, this time in Halstock, Dorset, organised by the Renewable Energy Group (Dorset based)

Quoting from the Guardian - "with wit, intelligence, passion and hope, Al Gore's film, plainly shows that climate change is the biggest moral challenge facing our civilisation..... the film gets right to your gut.  Using graphics, photographs and computer animation, the former US Vice-President sets out the case that the climate is changing.  By the time he's done, you accept that we're facing a planetary emergency...... and you desperately want to do something about it.... a model of political communication."

 For further information about South Somerset Climate Action email Joe Burlington - joe@jburlington.co.uk.  They organise regular meetings and events.  For further information on the Renewable Energy Group contact Richard Smith - bucheron.smithy@virgin.net  

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