Sizzle, Client Earth, Trains, Infographics & Sports

1. We're all in this?together?

At Good Business we spend a lot of time thinking about carbon footprints – whether?our own?or that of our clients – which is why last week’s Financial Times?article?on the subject caught our eye.

The article, which focuses mostly on individuals’ carbon footprints, argues that a fixation on voluntary action to reduce one’s carbon footprint distracts from the need for serious policy measures to tackle the climate crisis. Far from being the solution to climate change, the FT argues that emphasis on individual action only furthers the feelings of powerlessness or ‘eco-anxiety’ that many?young people suffer from.

It's an important point, and one we’d build on by pointing out the other issue with voluntary climate action: that it can also provoke an opposite, but no less dangerous, perception that individual actions are all that’s needed to solve climate change. We believe wholeheartedly that individual engagement in climate action is critical to building the momentum we need for a societal transformation. But we need to walk a fine line between not becoming overwhelmed by the task ahead of us while also recognising that we need to move even further even faster.

And it’s true that this movement can’t be driven by individual action alone. Which is why we’re celebrating?Sizzle, a new venture from long-time friend of Good Business Trewin Restorick. Having already founded award-winning environmental organisation?Hubbub, which focuses on encouraging individual sustainability actions across the UK, through Sizzle Trewin is turning his attentions to driving the systems change needed to make greener choices easier for everyone. By bringing together stakeholders from across society, Sizzle will work on changing the way products and services are delivered, creating transformative change at speed.

We’ll be watching with interest to see what Sizzle comes up with. But in the meantime, we won’t be giving up on oat-milk lattes and meat-free Mondays as a way to move the climate agenda forward. And above all, we’ll be staying positive that climate change is a crisis we can solve together.

2. Law of the Land

As we’ve already discussed this week, voluntary behaviour change is not the only tactic available for protecting the natural world. In that spirit, we wanted to give a shout out to one of our favourite environmental charities: Client Earth.

Voted the most effective environmental group by CEOs from 90+ environmental organisations, Client Earth has built quite a reputation. Its mission is simple but not easy: use the power of the law to protect all life on Earth.

Client Earth lawyers challenge governments and companies when they break environmental laws. Meanwhile, its legal and policy experts help to make sure new laws reflect political and environmental realities. And in the last few months alone, Client Earth has taken legal action against Shell’s Board of Directors for mismanaging climate risk, and successfully sued the UK Government for its failure to set credible climate policies.

“The environmental crisis”, it argues, “is too big to be addressed bottom-up”. We’d agree. The International Energy Agency declared last year that there can be no new oil, gas or coal development if the world is to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and stay within safe limits of global heating. Yet despite this clear warning, governments and businesses all over the world are continuing to expand oil and gas production. To deliver the radical change that is already overdue, industries and governments must transform their practices – or be held to account. The law is a way to do that.

3.?On the right?(railway) track

How best to accelerate decarbonisation in the transport industry? With the world’s first?100% hydrogen powered passenger train route?unveiled in Germany last week, it’s a good time to ask whether current efforts to decarbonise transport focus in the right areas.

While hydrogen is considered key to a transition to a greener future, most hydrogen-based technologies are still some way off mass adoption. Hydrogen powered cars sound great in theory but in practice will require a massive investment in infrastructure, turning petrol stations into hydrogen stations. This will no doubt come in time: despite Elon Musk’s assertion that hydrogen technology is “mind-bogglingly stupid” there are lots of advantages to being able to refuel quickly on the go in ways that feel familiar, and it’s not as if establishing the infrastructure to support electric vehicles is going to happen easily or quickly.

Hydrogen trains may be easier to roll out more quickly than hydrogen-powered cars. Train locomotives need refuelling less often, and less infrastructure change is needed to support their use– there is no need to repurpose large numbers of petrol stations across the country, for example. While public transport use took a hit during the pandemic,?more travellers than ever?are considering taking trains rather than cars or planes, and with new rail routes opening across Europe there is renewed interest in investment in future-fit infrastructure.

A change in individual behaviour is necessary to accelerate the pace of change towards greener transport, but stimulating and capitalising on a change in behaviour towards public transport use, rather than asking individuals to fork out for a brand new car, may be a faster way to unlock hydrogen power and get on the right track for a greener transport network.

4. The Big?Picture?

When we think about ways we can engage people in sustainability, infographics can be indispensable. Data around climate change in particular can be complex and overwhelming, leading to vital messages not breaking through to the mainstream. Vital information that could spur action and create change.?

The IPCC Sixth Assessment report, which is the most recent assessment of the impacts of climate change and our current capacity to adapt to these impacts, is a staggering 3,068 pages long. Although this level of detail and rigour is essential, it’s an insurmountable obstacle for most people. So, we were pleased to come across?an independent summary of their conclusions. This highly visual and concise summary sets out what the IPCC does and condenses the report into one big infographic, translating the key data in a visually engaging and much more accessible format.

To create change, people need to be able to build from a foundation of understanding of these issues. If something as important as the IPCC report can be translated into something a lot easier to digest then there’s a much better chance that people will engage with it.

We’re constantly bombarded with data and information and it’s difficult to decide where we focus our attention. Infographics can provide an overview of a situation that can be grasped in a second and help contribute to a greater democratisation of information. We’d highly recommend this infographic as a primer on climate change, to share far and wide with friends, family and colleagues.

The Goods: Kicking off?sports subscriptions

Most of us don’t take enough exercise, and for many, access to sports is contingent on the right equipment, which can be expensive and hard to store.

In response, sporting goods store Decathlon launched a trial with?2,000 customers?who were offered three different subscriptions at varying price points. This allowed people to access thousands of different types of sporting equipment and to?swap products freely, at any time, for a fraction of the cost of buying equipment.

The results were compelling, and everyone involved was a winner. Families made substantial savings and increased their participation in sports. Decathlon improved cash flows and gathered plenty of data on how to improve the lifespan of their products, as they were able to analyse wear and tear on return. This is a great example of how traditional businesses are shifting their models to turn one time purchase buyers into lifelong customers and improve sustainability.

Although this isn’t available to UK consumers it’s available in Belgium and coming soon – we hope – to the UK. And when it does, it will be a welcome opportunity for us all to dabble in paddle boarding, get our skates on and climb every mountain, without the inconvenience of storage or the costs of purchasing the kit.