1.What’s trending?
Social movements sparked and led by Young people
Youth movement around simple messages such as Protect, Restore & Fund have a great impact. Many social movements have been led by young people & why do they get involved?
Around the world, young people have played a crucial role in a multitude of social and political movements. It can be ranging from protesting the current status to innovating for the future.
There are many reasons for youth participation and the reasons are as varied as the people.
Compared to adults, youth often have much larger social networks compared to adults due to the teenage years primary focus being relationships and developing a sense of self. This can serve as conduits for transmission of ideas and mobilisation. These can go some way to influence decision makers & also embed values which they may carry to adult hood.
Young people are also more inclined to be innovative in their use of media tools and may adopt the latest technologies or even develop their own, they get creative to use platforms that may not be monitored as easily such as BBM in the London 2011 riots. These can help spread their message and mission.
Also, youth may have more time and bandwidth than the older generations, giving them a greater chance to take risks and fight the status quo.
Youth’s paradigm is very different to older generations and although in part conditioned, they are bringing new views, intelligence and are often closer to the fundamentals. An example can often be children when it comes to eating meat.
Children whose parents have raised children to eat meat find a social normal norm but when asked to recognise the link between raising pets and respecting animals and consuming meat, there is often an innate reaction of emotion and confusion.
Altogether, a number of factors make youth participation in social movements an incredibly powerful element.
The World economic forum is adding to the call to action:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/08/the-youth-revolution-is-more-powerful-than-ever/
2.What’s impacting the industry?
Sectors are realising successes in other sectors – The finance sector is seeking to prioritise sustainability.
In recent times, Heads of public and private organizations, regardless of sector, are on path to prioritize sustainability. And right now, banking is starting to see sustainability as a priority, as well. The finance space is getting increasingly more competitive and in some areas more transparent.
People are realising that when they save or invest with a third-party, their hard earned money may be used for projects that are not aligned with their values. Long term, many of the sustainable indexes and banks that incorporate sustainability frameworks in their decision and operating frameworks are seeing the local and global benefits along with their piece of market share.
For example, the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) has championed the Principles for Responsible Banking, which approximately 80 banks across the globe will endorse during Climate Week.
“The Principles for Responsible Banking align the banking industry with the Paris Agreement and with the Sustainable Development Goals, and they demonstrate a clear commitment from the banking industry to assume its defining role in creating a sustainable future,” according to Christiana Figueres, Mission 2020 convener and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Source:Unepfi.org
ESG regulations are affecting many sectors and are increasingly becoming micro as well as macro specific.
Financing Sustainable Development is one of the four focus areas at the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Sustainable Development Impact summit. A range of sessions will spotlight the innovative financial models, pioneering solutions and scalable best practices that can mobilize capital for the the world’s sustainable development goals.
In France they are taking a diligent approach to linking finance and climate change via the Second Degree Investing Initiative (2dii), a think tank based in Paris, France, has taken a different approach to sustainability in financial services. The 2° Investing Initiative (2°ii) is the global think tank for developing climate and long-term risk metrics and related policy options in financial markets. 2°ii coordinates the world’s largest research projects on climate metrics in financial markets, with over 40 research partners in the public, private and philanthropic sector, and over € 3 million re-granted to research partners to date. As part of this work, we developed the first science-based target setting and 2°C scenario analysis tool for financial portfolios, applied by over 200 financial institutions and three financial supervisory authorities to date.
Most recently, the Bank of England announced they want to look into categorizing climate change as a new financial risk; it would have to be stress-tested, but would represent considerable progress. The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures has also contributed to efforts, developing voluntary reporting standards for institutions and corporates.
3.What technology is available right now?
AgTech is rapidly growing in adoption with many farms and primary producers looking to utilise the latest technology to monitor, anticipate, improve and control at a distance to maximise efficiencies.
Farmers in Australia have a number of barriers, namely connectivity and also their ability to hold their Sale of Goods price as some are reluctant to chase efficiencies while prices are getting lower and lower.
Gesi has stated that technology can impact all of the core SDG’s and also 50% of the supporting goals.
The 5 Core Features of a Smart Factory which can be applied to agriculture.
According to Deloitte Analysis, smart factories are:
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Connected – Processes, machines, and humans are connected to provide real-time data to make decisions.
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Optimized – Increased uptime and productivity, and highly automated with minimal human interaction.
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Transparent – Visibility of customer demand forecasts, order tracking, and other live metrics that allow for real-time decision making.
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Proactive – Constantly stocking and replenishing materials, early identification of supplier quality issues, and real-time safety monitoring.
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Agile – Adaptable scheduling changeovers, implementation of product changes in real time, and configurable factory layouts and equipment.
I recently did an overview of Ag 4.0 and a copy of the presentation is available on request.
A number of innovations are emerging internationally and a sample of some up and coming start ups will pique your interest.
Eden Advanced Technologies – This Dutch startup is designing and manufacturing fully automated urban farms. For a start, they have developed an aeroponics farming module capable of growing up to 35 different types of crops, starting with leafy greens and herbs and then going on to tomatoes, paprika, strawberries and beans. More importantly, the crops grow in fully controlled environments, independent of season and weather, without the use of pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.
Sencrop – The Lille-based startup is a pioneer in the field of connected agriculture, offering sensors, a data platform and a service marketplace. For a subscription-based service, Sencrop’s devices will track air temperature, hygrometry, rainfall, leaf wetness, and wind speed, providing users with live readings of their sensors, and predictions about next steps. In January 2019 the startup raised $10 million Series A funding to further simplify crop monitoring and encourage precise, efficient, and eco-friendly agriculture.
Faromatics – Faromatics is a Spanish startup which makes robots that help chicken farmers monitor their flocks. Their ChickenBoy, armed with a series of sensors and cameras, zooms around the chicken barn and measures things like air quality, humidity and temperature, as well as equipment operation. In addition, it can detect dead birds, analyze the chicken feces and can detect intestinal disease. Farmers get better information and cost savings while providing optimal conditions for the chickens.
4. What are we watching?
Lexicon of sustainability
Words consist of vibration and sound. It is these vibrations that create the very reality that surrounds us. Words are the creator; the creator of our universe, our lives, our reality. Without words, a thought can never become a reality.
In this video there is discussion around the power of words in relation to sustainability. Words are the software to our lives that actually creates the hardware too. They can start wars and heal hearts.
Interesting short videos to allow you to reflect on what words you use and ones that you need to understand.
5. What are we listening to?
Edie in the UK offer daily insights to sustainability and their podcast sustainable business covered gets close to the climate strike action.
A very dry British affair but a great resource to go back to.
As businesses throw their weight behind the worldwide day of climate strikes, edie has also headed to London to take part in the strikes, while also giving you a live podcast episode on the streets, jam-packed with exclusive interviews.
Matt and Sarah started the day speaking to the early risers who have arrived at London ahead of the strikes, before heading to the UK Green Building Council’s main office where more than 100 built environment professionals were expected to gather to join the global protests.
This podcast episode features exclusive interviews with the following:
Chris Baker general manager KeepCup
Anna Taylor, co-founder UK Student Climate Network
Julie Hirigoyen, chief executive, UK GBC
Melanie Leech, chief executive, British Property Federation
Duncan Price, director, sustainability, BuroHappold
Lara Kinneir, director, New London Architecture
Gudrun Cartwright Environment director, Business in the Community
Quote we are contemplating:
“We believe that we don’t own this earth—we’re actually belonging to this earth,” she says. “We should be giving back to Mother Earth.
– MICAELA IRON SHELL-DOMINGUEZ