Arcadis and Climate Change - with David Pocock, Aussie Warrior.

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David Pocock: Aussie Warrior.

Within Arcadis, we are fully aware that the biggest challenge we currently face is climate change and we know it’s a difficult problem to solve.

As Arcadians, we share a vision of the future, underpinned by our proud heritage and unique culture. With policymakers focused on ‘building back better’ and a green recovery, we have the ambition and deep industry and asset knowledge to make net zero a reality.

This is an opportunity for change, leadership, collaboration and innovation. It requires strong direction to make the right decisions at every opportunity. It requires a new level of understanding and partnership – because no one wins unless we all do.

Arcadis’ James While, a former first class rugby player himself who leads the Rail and Infrastructure Pursuits for Arcadis in the North of UK, recently spent some time with former Australia rugby superstar, David Pocock, a man who has called time on his career aged 32 to focus on the Climate Change issues that face us all through his initiative The Cool Down, a collective effort where over 300 Australian athletes have joined forces to bring attention to the serious decarbonisation and climate issues faced by the planet:

“Like so many Australians, we’ve experienced the impacts of climate change first hand. But at the moment, if climate action was the Olympics, Australia isn’t winning gold, we're not making the finals, in fact, we don't even qualify. Aussies love watching their sport but in this particular race, we’re ranked dead last in the world,” argued Pocock.

“I was born and raised on a farm and my family still farm in Zimbabwe. The rural people of my homeland who spend their lives living close to their land are physically seeing how changing weather patterns are ruining their livelihoods yet they and many others simply have no resources or support to adapt.

“As athletes, we often talk about marginal gain- doing 100 things 1% better to gain a competitive advantage, but sadly, right now, Australia isn’t even ready to adopt that thinking to our issues; we are, in simple terms, the unfit, undertrained overweight kid with some decent natural talent, but refusing to get fit enough to fight the battles ahead of us.

“We are almost unique amongst developed countries that we don’t yet even have an emissions standard for our motor vehicles- a staggering lack of legislation that would make an immediate impact. There’s a deliberate move by energy and fossil fuel companies to engage in ‘state capture’ of politicians to silence part of the debate and that is increasingly worrying,” Pocock noted.

“The next generations will judge us harshly unless we change. We need to be driving the Climate Agenda to the front and centre of everything we’re doing and thinking and we need to embrace the commercial and social opportunities that it is capable of creating.

“I am well aware of the cultural heritage of the mining industry in Australia. We have built regional economies based upon our mineral and fossil fuel wealth, yet when that argument is presented, the simple metrics are that this industry now employs fewer that 50,000 people. The benefit of a decarbonisation strategy would see something approach 1 million job opportunities – I am already aware of former mine workers who have changed their professions to work within wind generated energy and speaking to them, they’re in a much better place now- better health, much improved working conditions, better hours and a much cleaner job,” he continued.

?“To go back to the playing analogy, we need to get our nation fit before we can even think of some of the nuances of climate change. This is about the big stuff- the commitment to action, getting the emissions legislation in, trying to implement things like Carbon Border Tariffs and the like.

“We as sportsmen can get dragged into this situation at great social cost to ourselves and our family, or we can lead the agenda by using our platform and getting others to take steps.

“The human race can achieve so much when we put our minds to it. We can put people onto the Moon and in search of Mars and the only limit we have to thinking is our own preconceptions,” concluded Pocock.

“This is the biggest challenge we have ever faced and my message to all is to be bold, to take action and to put this agenda at the front and centre of our thinking before it’s too late.”

David Pocock is a great of Australian rugby, representing his country on 83 occasions and scoring a try in the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final. For more details, visit: https://www.thecooldown.com.au/home

In the UK, BT Sport will premiere Playing Against the Clock on October 31 on BT Sport 1 at 6pm, part of a BT Sport focus on sustainability to inform and inspire viewers on the climate emergency. To sign up to BT Sport’s Green Routine and make a change visit btsport.com/greenroutine. For more on BT’s work to fight climate change, visit: www.bt.com/sustainability