It’s good news, it’s green news, and the UK is leading the way

It would be fair to say that every green initiative on the planet still has a long way to go. Many are little more than lip service or box-ticking exercises but, equally, others are building genuine momentum. For years, we have been saying the world has a choice: Inevitable, substantial, essential change or tragic, irreversible, 100%-avoidable regret. And, while there are still many more choices to make, I do believe we are finally turning corners. So, rather than join the blame game, pointing out the failings and fa?ades of the non-runners, I prefer to put effort into escalating the things that might just make a difference.

 When do you think most people get a house alarm installed? That is right! The day after their house has been burgled. Who would have thought 2020 (the infamously predicted year of perfect vision) would cause such global distress and bring nations to their knees? Yet it did happen, and we are all first-hand witnesses of the wide-reaching effects, even if none of us yet know where 2021’s narrative will take us. But we do know that action needs to be taken for the environment. And there is good news all around if you choose to look.

 Tomorrow’s world is here: And it will be significantly different

 The UK is investing in green bonds to the tune of ￡12 billion to fund a new green industrial revolution. This includes ￡500 million put aside for our first hydrogen-powered city. Alongside other carbon-free initiatives, like those recently launched in Sweden and Germany, this puts the UK at the forefront of the movement for global change. Yes, I know some of this money was already allocated, and the figure may include a bit of political spin, but let’s celebrate, shout about and get behind these activities. This is good news.

 You can read more here: https://www.energydigital.com/sustainability/uk-unveils-pound12-billion-green-industrial-revolution and here: https://www.esgtoday.com/uk-becomes-first-country-in-the-world-to-make-tcfd-aligned-disclosure-mandatory/

 Just as governments will be forced to change, for bigger reasons than political gain, businesses must also adapt to normalising sustainability. And the good news is it will benefit companies great and small, multi-national to local, to start singing the environmental tune. Currently, all businesses have to report their financial results each year. But from 2025, it will also be mandatory to report organisations’ carbon footprint and other sustainability practices to the regulators. And because the environmental crisis is a one-way street, no going back scenario, it is in the best interests of every business, and the governments who regulate them, to create a commercially beneficial and sustainable set of rules to follow. And we can all help to get this right.

 It is time to bid farewell to the era of digital transformation. For we are well and truly into the decade of sustainable transformation. If I was writing this post one or two years ago, I would have been stressing the need for change. Today, as we hopefully emerge from the most significant global pandemic for hundreds of years, I am saying – it is happening now – get onboard.

 And it is not just Governments and businesses that are embracing change. Individuals will see new directions, for their own good and for the right reasons, enforced upon them. This will take the shape of electric cars (when petrol and diesel ones are banned by 2030), better use and reuse of water, stricter recycling regulations, low-cost access to smarter energies and other initiatives. I wonder if a child born in 2020 will even know what a petrol station is by the time they are old enough to drive.

 When mandatory and sustainability are defined by the same end goal, it has to be a good thing, and that is something worth celebrating. Knowing someone tried to burgle your house is unpleasant enough. But having the satisfaction of watching the alarm you had fitted the month before scaring them off, on your CCTV, would be a rich consolation. You would certainly celebrate that investment into managing an unpredictable future.

 Making the best of a bad situation

 There are no two ways about it: 2020 has been horrible for almost everyone. But wouldn’t it be good to look back over the next decade and say, ‘that was the year we all got involved and started backing the new normal.’ Or, ‘that was the year we started the sustainability revolution.’