Banter 108: 25Feb26 Creating Inspiring Futures, with Gwyn Jones

sustainability challenges and solutions, Association of Sustainability Practitioners (ASP), National Emergency Briefing, Donut Economics and the six-stakeholder business framework, Parish Councils

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Presentation for Creating Inspiring Futures:

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Local Councils 25 Feb 2026.pptx

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You are welcome to download this presentation. A markdown version (ie text only) is provided at the bottom of this page. The last few minutes of the presentation include a video of part of the National Emergency Briefing. If you want to see more of this, here are some links:

National Emergency Briefing:

Here are videos from the National Emergency Briefing, where UK climate and nature experts presented urgent evidence on the risks posed by climate breakdown and ecological collapse at Westminster Central Hall on 27 November 2025 — the event has been documented and shared online: https://youtu.be/QddkB1jK4sU

This video shows the opening remarks from the briefing, delivered as part of the series of talks intended to inform policymakers and leaders about climate and nature emergencies:

https://youtu.be/D_qEWSGr_aw

This includes presentations by leading experts outlining the scientific evidence, impacts, and the call for a wider televised emergency briefing for the public.

Additional Video Resources You Can Explore

• Official expert briefing playlist on YouTube — a series of individual talk videos from speakers at the briefing. Expert Briefings Playlist (YouTube)

• Event’s YouTube channel where more recordings related to the National Emergency Briefing are published. The National Emergency Briefing Channel (YouTube)

• There are also brief clips shared on social platforms like Facebook from the official briefing account. NEBriefing Video Clips (Facebook)

About the Briefing

The National Emergency Briefing brought together scientists, military figures, economists, health experts, and campaigners to present evidence on climate & nature crises, urging an emergency-level response and a public national televised briefing on these risks.

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Meeting Summary for Creating Inspiring Futures:

Feb 25, 2026 11:50 AM London ID: 834 5460 8536

Quick recap

The meeting focused on a presentation by Gwyn Jones Poole about sustainability challenges and solutions, who shared insights from the Association of Sustainability Practitioners (ASP) and the National Emergency Briefing. Gwyn discussed the urgent need for systemic change, highlighting how climate change impacts are already affecting societies and economies, while also presenting alternative models like Donut Economics and the six-stakeholder business framework. The discussion included concerns about corporate responsibility, political leadership, and the role of civic society in driving sustainability transitions, with participants sharing çThe conversation ended with participants expressing both concern and optimism about the potential for transformative change, while noting the importance of local government initiatives and community-level actions in addressing climate challenges.

Next steps

• Ken: Arrange for the film of the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) to be shown in the village hall and encourage its spread to other local parish councils.

• Ken: Work with others to involve Dorset Council in showing the NEB film and support its promotion across local councils.

• Gwyn: Post the recording of this meeting on ASP's website to help spread the work discussed.

Summary Sustainability: A Collaborative Approach

Gwyn presented on sustainability, emphasizing the need for a collaborative, apolitical approach to address the existential threat of climate change and biodiversity loss. He highlighted the importance of creating a world where there is "enough for everyone forever" while avoiding social, economic, or environmental collapse. Gwyn introduced the concept of moving from an egocentric to an eco-centric model, where humans recognize their interdependence with nature and strive to live in harmony with it. He stressed the need to reclaim or redefine the term "sustainability" to accurately reflect the desired outcome of conscious thinking and living in balance with nature.

Complexity, Models, and Climate Action

Gwyn discussed the need for simplicity in addressing complex systems while emphasizing the importance of understanding these systems' complexities. He highlighted the shift towards creating new models that make existing failing systems obsolete, particularly focusing on sustainable communities and regenerative business models. Gwyn also addressed the current corporate model's limitations and the emergence of alternative models like Donut Economics and the six-stakeholder model, which prioritize collaboration and well-being over extraction. He concluded by emphasizing the urgency of addressing climate change and the need for political unity to navigate the short-term challenges while focusing on long-term solutions.

Climate Action: A Health Emergency

Gwyn Jones Poole emphasized the urgent need for transformative action to address climate change, highlighting its devastating impacts on the global economy, health services, and food security. He cited actuaries' warnings and the State of the Climate report to underscore the severity of the crisis, stating that inaction would lead to catastrophic outcomes. Gwyn also discussed policy wins, such as promoting active transport and a plant-based diet, which could improve public health and reduce emissions, potentially saving the UK billions annually. He concluded by declaring the climate emergency a health emergency, urging immediate and decisive action to ensure a sustainable future.

Scientific Advice and Climate Action

Gwyn discussed the importance of listening to scientists, particularly in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. He emphasized that governments must act on scientific advice and communicate regularly with the public about progress. Gwyn highlighted the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists on politicians and called for fundamental shifts in addressing climate change and biodiversity loss. He suggested that investing in nature and regenerative projects could benefit businesses and communities, while also calling for corporations to pay their fair share of taxes and support local communities.

Youth Climate Action and Business

Gwyn discussed the growing awareness among young people about climate change and sustainability, highlighting how they are rejecting traditional corporate paths in favour of more sustainable models. He emphasized the importance of a balanced approach, where sustainable businesses can coexist with traditional ones, while acknowledging the need for political and systemic changes. The group discussed the potential of the National Emergency Briefing (NEB) film to raise awareness and influence policy, with Ken noting efforts to show it in local parish halls and councils. Graham and others shared optimism about corporate willingness to adopt greener practices, while Tristram raised concerns about the impact of reduced competition on national economies. The conversation ended with an agreement to continue these discussions and explore ways to implement sustainable practices at both local and national levels.

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Chat for "Creating Inspiring Futures":

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Audio-transcript for "Creating Inspiring Futures:

105 00:16:10.330 --> 00:16:16.020 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Super. Well, Graham, Thank you very much for this opportunity to talk with your group.

106 00:16:16.180 --> 00:16:18.950 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And thank you, everyone, for turning up.

107 00:16:19.130 --> 00:16:23.960 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I want to see this as more of a…

108 00:16:24.070 --> 00:16:32.250 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: not me telling you what the world's like, but us discussing what we think the world's like. So, I see my role today as basically to

109 00:16:32.380 --> 00:16:37.409 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To add some different perspectives, and to stimulate the conversation.

110 00:16:38.530 --> 00:16:42.180 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It is meant to be apolitical. Some of the…

111 00:16:42.300 --> 00:16:47.290 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: ideas and views I put forward may appear political, but

112 00:16:48.380 --> 00:17:00.180 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I don't believe we need to fight this on a political battle. We have a lot of work to do to get towards this inspiring future, and it's a question of collaboration rather than,

113 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:01.710 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: ideology.

114 00:17:01.830 --> 00:17:03.630 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So…

115 00:17:03.770 --> 00:17:11.710 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If you can, wait for the questions for the end, please put them in the Q&A, or hopefully there'll be enough time to,

116 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:13.989 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To have a good conversation.

117 00:17:14.180 --> 00:17:22.949 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, this is a bit about me. I've been in this game for about 20 years. Prior to this, I was,

118 00:17:23.069 --> 00:17:33.589 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: sort of a senior figure in IT world, IT consulting, business continuity, setting up and running organizations across EMEA and Africa, and…

119 00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:38.730 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: pretty much damaging the planet as much as I could with about 7 or 8 flights a week.

120 00:17:39.950 --> 00:17:52.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Funnily enough, I got fed up with doing that, so I decided to choose a different pathway back in 2002-3. And I've been one of the directors at the Association of Sustainability Practitioners since then.

121 00:17:53.000 --> 00:17:56.020 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Brief.

122 00:17:56.690 --> 00:18:00.150 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, yeah, so what the aim today is, is just…

123 00:18:00.290 --> 00:18:08.870 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Just to step back from all the technical details and the action lists, etc, and just… let's reflect on what the big picture is that we're dealing with.

124 00:18:09.820 --> 00:18:18.810 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I say delve, we don't have, you know, ages, but we'll… I'll go through what I believe are the different roles and relationships and balance.

125 00:18:19.080 --> 00:18:30.159 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That are currently there, and what we need to change in order for people like you, particularly, to do the necessary work and actions that will get us where we need to go.

126 00:18:30.450 --> 00:18:35.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And… I see the whole… Challenges?

127 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:49.960 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: All of us have got to create this world we're living in. At the moment, we all are creating, quite subconsciously, the world we've lived in, but this is not a job for individuals, this is a job for groups of people, citizens, civic bodies.

128 00:18:50.030 --> 00:19:02.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And we need to adapt and change what we're doing, because we have got an existential threat facing us. And that… I don't know how many of you went to the National Emergency Briefing or have seen the website since.

129 00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:10.700 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But, I was there, and I… I was both… Deeply shocked, moved, and inspired.

130 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:23.060 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I think that's an excellent initiative, which I'll refer to at the end. I've got a short clip from one of the more inspiring speakers to add some context to that for people that maybe haven't seen it.

131 00:19:23.160 --> 00:19:25.560 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And… there's no silver bullet.

132 00:19:26.420 --> 00:19:38.750 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: there's… we don't know how to live on a planet sustainably with 8 billion people. It's never been done before. So we've all got to basically go on a learning process, and… and that's well advanced.

133 00:19:39.130 --> 00:19:48.680 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, I'm just going to offer some different observations and perspectives, rather than dogmatic rules or, otherwise.

134 00:19:48.820 --> 00:20:02.709 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, briefly about ASP, we were created about 21 years ago now as a result of a responsible business practice master's course. The alumni that came out of there wanted to stay together as they went their separate ways.

135 00:20:02.820 --> 00:20:07.780 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's now an international collaborative learning community. It's not a network.

136 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:13.080 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Come back to this again, but networks traditionally are transactional.

137 00:20:13.890 --> 00:20:17.790 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Whereas communities, the best ones, nurture.

138 00:20:18.030 --> 00:20:22.140 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: members. They nurture themselves, and that's what ASP is.

139 00:20:22.950 --> 00:20:28.889 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're learning how to co-create a world in which future generations can thrive. That's our purpose.

140 00:20:29.010 --> 00:20:31.589 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And… and to get there, we… we…

141 00:20:31.830 --> 00:20:45.929 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: can't devise a mechanism or a transition that involves economic, environmental, or social collapse. That's not what our children want, it's not what our grandchildren want, and it's not what we want. So this is not about an anarchistic revolution.

142 00:20:46.130 --> 00:20:58.669 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're citizens, we've got responsibilities for those that come after us and our families now, and we have to take that seriously. So, adopt a bigger challenge than just coming up with radical ideas.

143 00:20:59.010 --> 00:21:06.300 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And what we do, ASP, as an organization, simply connects, challenges, and supports practitioners.

144 00:21:06.910 --> 00:21:21.470 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: practitioners are people, probably like yourself, that do this because it's the way you live, it's what you want to… the impact you want to have on the world. Some of us do it professionally, but others do it simply because it's… it's… they believe it's their responsibility to…

145 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:23.460 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To create this new world.

146 00:21:24.130 --> 00:21:30.219 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And what we provide is safe places in which the collaborative learning happens, where ideas can get

147 00:21:30.560 --> 00:21:32.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Challenged and, addressed.

148 00:21:32.860 --> 00:21:38.339 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And collaborations can merge, where then people go off and do work together. And we're…

149 00:21:38.710 --> 00:21:42.780 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Multi-generational, we're multi, national.

150 00:21:42.870 --> 00:21:43.770 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And…

151 00:21:43.860 --> 00:21:55.310 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're multidisciplined. We've got creatives, consultants, coaches, mentors, elders, storytellers, business leaders, academics, students, and everything from Gen Z and Millennials to

152 00:21:55.330 --> 00:22:05.359 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: baby boomers like myself. So it's pretty representative, and we need those different perspectives, I think, to make sure we're addressing the needs

153 00:22:06.850 --> 00:22:09.610 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: What I want to talk today are just 3 simple things.

154 00:22:09.840 --> 00:22:18.090 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: very quick summary of where we are today. Just a couple of images, really, without delving into too much of the detail.

155 00:22:18.430 --> 00:22:24.159 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: More importantly, what are we aiming for? There are thousands of great ideas out there.

156 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:32.909 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the one thing I'll say, I think, that is both good and bad about the, if you like, the environmental movement, the sustainability movement, is that

157 00:22:33.100 --> 00:22:35.089 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There are so many ideas.

158 00:22:35.290 --> 00:22:39.399 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And that's good, because we've got to experiment. There's no silver bullet.

159 00:22:39.510 --> 00:22:42.300 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And we live in different communities, different cultures.

160 00:22:42.660 --> 00:22:52.769 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And if we're going to live sustainably, then place and locality is really important. It's got to work for us. It's got to work in Africa. It's got to work in every country.

161 00:22:53.090 --> 00:22:59.229 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… In a sense, that's a weakness, because there's not one voice and one simple idea, but,

162 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:03.359 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I will offer some guiding principles that I think we share.

163 00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:07.349 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the more important point, how the hell are we gonna get there?

164 00:23:07.760 --> 00:23:14.729 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Because we're stuck with the business-as-usual model, an economic model now, which is actually representing the existential threat.

165 00:23:15.010 --> 00:23:19.150 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've never faced this transition to something radically different.

166 00:23:19.510 --> 00:23:20.760 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But we have to.

167 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:26.209 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And there's some people in the audience that look a little bit like me, they've got some white hairs.

168 00:23:26.430 --> 00:23:29.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We were born into the nuclear Holocaust era.

169 00:23:30.510 --> 00:23:32.369 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I can remember as a child.

170 00:23:32.710 --> 00:23:35.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: having nightmares about Russian bombers coming over Norfolk.

171 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:38.780 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's the environment I grew up in.

172 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:43.830 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We have so far been successful at addressing that existential threat.

173 00:23:44.290 --> 00:23:46.209 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I believe we've more or less

174 00:23:46.530 --> 00:23:49.929 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Got that one under control, apart from a few bad actors.

175 00:23:50.070 --> 00:23:55.030 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: What we're facing in the sustainability challenge is just another existential threat.

176 00:23:55.190 --> 00:23:59.100 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That mankind is facing, and has traditionally faced.

177 00:24:02.070 --> 00:24:03.719 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, where are we today?

178 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:10.949 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is both my… most horrific and favourite image.

179 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:16.699 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This was taken in 2021, and I think this just about summarizes where we are, actually.

180 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:23.689 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the Earth is burning. This was all the heat domes that hit North America. And while

181 00:24:23.800 --> 00:24:31.510 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The forests that were largely Planted and set up to combat climate change with carbon offsets, etc.

182 00:24:31.840 --> 00:24:33.080 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: are burning.

183 00:24:33.220 --> 00:24:37.419 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The very mechanism we had put in place to prevent climate change.

184 00:24:37.580 --> 00:24:45.509 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: is contributing to it because of climate change. You know, it's an ironic picture. And then, on the left-hand side, there's two people

185 00:24:45.860 --> 00:24:53.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I don't know what they're thinking, but they look quite relaxed, just staring at the world burning. And there's 3 other guys just playing golf, as if nothing's happening.

186 00:24:54.690 --> 00:24:56.789 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I think this is a pretty…

187 00:24:56.940 --> 00:24:59.200 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Accurate picture of what's going on at the moment.

188 00:24:59.730 --> 00:25:12.420 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The people that are doing the work are obviously at office, but there's a lot of people now just watching while all this happens. In some way, they're… they don't feel the agency and the urgency to actually address it.

189 00:25:13.830 --> 00:25:21.709 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I suspect none of us share that, but I think all of us here today are here because we know there's something to do, and we're committed to it.

190 00:25:24.590 --> 00:25:40.190 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Some sad facts. Where are we today? The climate impacts are not coming tomorrow. They've really been hitting us for the last 10 years. And in 2021-22, it was really clear that almost every country in the world is now suffering

191 00:25:41.050 --> 00:25:47.010 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: obvious impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss. I see the two as being

192 00:25:47.130 --> 00:25:49.879 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Two sides of the same coin.

193 00:25:50.130 --> 00:25:56.569 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: In the Hajj in 2021, 3,000 people died of heat exposure. 3,000 people in the weekend.

194 00:25:57.220 --> 00:25:59.990 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There's never been anything like that in any of the Hajjes.

195 00:26:00.120 --> 00:26:09.140 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Florida was decimated, Southern Europe, particularly Valencia, Germany. These places were being hit by events that were called once-in-a-lifetime. No.

196 00:26:09.280 --> 00:26:16.250 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's the historic view. They were once in a lifetime. They're now probably Once a year.

197 00:26:17.130 --> 00:26:21.809 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: One way of looking at where we are today is, this is the best year in the rest of our life.

198 00:26:22.020 --> 00:26:29.780 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Climate change is getting worse every year now, and the impacts, as we were discussing the white tomato plants, are there for all to see.

199 00:26:29.990 --> 00:26:32.959 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's not academic anymore, it's real.

200 00:26:33.540 --> 00:26:40.930 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The oceans are boiling, we've got threats of the amok changing if the Atlantic currents change, we're in deep trouble.

201 00:26:41.040 --> 00:26:42.510 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And they are changing.

202 00:26:42.750 --> 00:26:44.749 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And there's almost nothing we can do about that.

203 00:26:45.750 --> 00:26:53.600 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The statistic I heard last year, 3,000 people in Britain died directly from climate change impacts. 3,000 people.

204 00:26:53.930 --> 00:27:00.180 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's here on our doorstep. Species are vanishing, the cops are failing, your companies have…

205 00:27:00.500 --> 00:27:06.439 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Gleefully admitted they hijacked this year's COP, or last year's COP, and they've now got them under control.

206 00:27:06.770 --> 00:27:15.300 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They are not decreasing or aiming to decrease their production. So CO2 levels have always been increasing, and still are.

207 00:27:15.500 --> 00:27:18.190 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And there's not much sign of that changing.

208 00:27:19.430 --> 00:27:21.749 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's quite a depressing prospect.

209 00:27:24.650 --> 00:27:27.700 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Okay, so let's look at what we're aiming for. Let's not look at the…

210 00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:33.390 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the problem. Let's try and focus on what the solutions are that are emerging.

211 00:27:33.610 --> 00:27:37.939 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're not… academic anymore. There are real solutions emerging.

212 00:27:39.150 --> 00:27:39.980 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: First.

213 00:27:40.430 --> 00:27:46.010 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: what do we want to get to? And this is one thing that's lacking, I think, is a coherent, single.

214 00:27:46.310 --> 00:27:51.570 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: inspiring vision of what we want to get to. The good news is there are lots of them.

215 00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:58.250 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But it's fragmenting the communication. And one of the main things we've got to do is communicate amongst ourselves.

216 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:06.449 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: and to the rest of the community, what are we aiming for, especially for younger generations? I've got grandchildren.

217 00:28:06.780 --> 00:28:08.290 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I've got children, obviously.

218 00:28:08.750 --> 00:28:13.170 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I don't want them to have fewer opportunities than I did.

219 00:28:13.320 --> 00:28:21.029 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And my generation in Britain, He's the first generation whose children will have fewer opportunities than we did.

220 00:28:22.260 --> 00:28:24.080 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I believe you've got to reverse that.

221 00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:31.879 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've got to come up with an inspiring vision that serves the long term, and also serves the short term.

222 00:28:32.920 --> 00:28:34.859 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We don't want,

223 00:28:35.220 --> 00:28:39.940 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: be going backwards on this. We don't go back to anything, we need to go forward to an inspiring future.

224 00:28:40.390 --> 00:28:42.980 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And that's got to be built on social justice.

225 00:28:43.660 --> 00:28:47.969 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: geographic justice. You know, the colonial model is largely

226 00:28:48.100 --> 00:28:52.770 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the cause of the current situation. We've got to address that.

227 00:28:53.430 --> 00:28:55.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And it's got to be generational justice.

228 00:28:55.950 --> 00:28:59.739 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Why should our children have less opportunities than we did?

229 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:04.140 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I believe the answer is thriving communities, not…

230 00:29:04.470 --> 00:29:24.150 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Not people that are frightened to fly, or frightened to eat meat, or frightened to do this, frightened to do this. No, we've got to weave these into a way of living that allows good futures, good lives, and good ways of living, which people are inspired by, and they feel they're thriving, not just surviving.

231 00:29:25.210 --> 00:29:32.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And fundamentally, None of that is possible unless the systems we're creating are in harmony and balance with nature.

232 00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:36.769 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this is quite often overlooked, and I'll address this later.

233 00:29:38.140 --> 00:29:39.729 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And what are we aiming for?

234 00:29:39.840 --> 00:29:44.020 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Well, there's lots of definition of the word sustainability, I'll come to some of them, but…

235 00:29:44.390 --> 00:29:46.569 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Fundamentally, what I'm talking about is

236 00:29:46.920 --> 00:29:49.390 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Why can't we create a world in which there's enough?

237 00:29:49.800 --> 00:29:51.020 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: for everyone.

238 00:29:51.130 --> 00:29:51.950 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Forever.

239 00:29:53.400 --> 00:29:54.539 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I didn't make this…

240 00:29:54.740 --> 00:30:06.290 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: this phrase up. I was given it by one of my friends who's a sustainability manager. The beauty of this is, I believe everyone under the planet can understand what those four words mean.

241 00:30:06.690 --> 00:30:14.700 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's not scientific, it's not technocratic, it's not ideological, it's just saying that as human beings, wouldn't it be nice if we had enough?

242 00:30:15.550 --> 00:30:19.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: for ourselves and for everybody. And… For that to be sustainable.

243 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:23.809 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So that's the rallying cry that we at ASP are focused on.

244 00:30:25.750 --> 00:30:31.900 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And… This transition from where we are today to where we want to get to tomorrow.

245 00:30:32.700 --> 00:30:37.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We must set down these three criteria. No social or economic collapse.

246 00:30:37.650 --> 00:30:39.670 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We faced this during COVID.

247 00:30:39.850 --> 00:30:45.289 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We survived. A lot of people didn't. It was hell for a lot of people.

248 00:30:45.490 --> 00:30:47.719 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We don't want to be…

249 00:30:47.900 --> 00:30:56.039 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: designing a transition process that involves those again. So let's… let's do the Kennedy thing. Let's go for the big, ambitious goal.

250 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:01.730 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So the transition must, as well as the system, must not involve social or economic collapse.

251 00:31:02.390 --> 00:31:09.100 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We cannot survive environmental collapse, so that is the ultimate thing we have to… Void.

252 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:11.949 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, how are we going to get there?

253 00:31:13.590 --> 00:31:19.299 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Some of you may understand this picture, seen it before, it's what's called the egocentric view.

254 00:31:19.520 --> 00:31:22.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I called it the patriarchal-centric view.

255 00:31:22.540 --> 00:31:27.159 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Because men, not mankind, is put at the top of this ecological

256 00:31:27.600 --> 00:31:42.389 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: system. And this is broadly where we are today. Most of the systems we've got have been developed from the patriarchal model, mostly by men, and largely on this idea that we can dominate the planet. It's just incidental, it's there

257 00:31:42.660 --> 00:31:46.389 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Just at our whim to do what we want. And that…

258 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:58.579 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's the fundamental problem we're dealing with, this disconnect from nature and the lack of understanding of how we're all totally dependent upon nature. There's no question about it in my mind.

259 00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:02.819 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The world can support 8 or 10 billion people comfortably.

260 00:32:03.180 --> 00:32:04.360 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: can't support.

261 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:06.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Is our current lifestyle.

262 00:32:06.570 --> 00:32:14.439 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So the lifestyle has to change. If the lifestyle has to change, we have to go back to the foundations on which that lifestyle has been created.

263 00:32:15.900 --> 00:32:16.800 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So…

264 00:32:17.660 --> 00:32:37.389 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: what I believe we need to do is move to what this is called the eco-centric model, where we see Gaia, the Earth, as a complex set of complex systems, of which we are just one element. And here, the male and the female side of humanity is again divided, but there's no hierarchy here.

265 00:32:37.930 --> 00:32:44.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is a system, I think this accurately reflects Gaia, and it's what we've got to move to.

266 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:48.419 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the thinking that goes along with this, this phrase.

267 00:32:48.620 --> 00:32:55.650 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I got from a book called The Time of the Black Jaguar, which is based on Peruvian, healers.

268 00:32:57.260 --> 00:33:03.999 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Indigenous wisdom, and they have a saying that says, when we forget to nurture what nurtures us, everything decays.

269 00:33:04.410 --> 00:33:09.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And that, I believe, is the underlying problem with this egocentric model.

270 00:33:09.850 --> 00:33:11.070 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You've forgotten.

271 00:33:11.230 --> 00:33:13.509 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've got to respect nature.

272 00:33:13.800 --> 00:33:15.690 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, a switch to…

273 00:33:16.980 --> 00:33:28.379 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: understanding our role in nature, when we learn to nurture what nurtures us, everything thrives. So that's the sort of the rallying call, if you like. And of course, the thing that nurtures us is nature, and we have to start

274 00:33:28.540 --> 00:33:33.759 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: working very… Much more than we have in the past on… on respecting that.

275 00:33:35.170 --> 00:33:39.019 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So let's revisit this, what is sustainability, because the words banded about.

276 00:33:40.570 --> 00:33:45.199 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If we say that it's learning, it's got to be built on learning how to nurture what nurtures us.

277 00:33:45.570 --> 00:33:54.100 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, taking nature as a community of systems and species, etc, they're all interconnected, they're all interrelated.

278 00:33:54.410 --> 00:33:59.050 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: humans are the one species that have moved out of that. So, we've got to…

279 00:33:59.260 --> 00:34:05.700 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I believe, go back to this idea that nature is the center of everything we do. It's a starting point.

280 00:34:07.510 --> 00:34:13.219 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's got to be living in harmony and balance with that, whatever the system is that we produce. It's got to have enough for everyone forever.

281 00:34:13.340 --> 00:34:16.649 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To get there, we have to change the way we're thinking.

282 00:34:16.969 --> 00:34:22.139 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: One of our members came up with a statement that sustainability is the outcome of conscious thinking.

283 00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:27.600 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… this world's been hijacked. You can't have a sustainable company.

284 00:34:28.120 --> 00:34:32.720 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: term does not make sense. You can't have a sustainable product

285 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:35.790 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's a meaningless combination of words.

286 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:44.410 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this is why it's been hijacked, this is why we have to reclaim that word, or come up with a different word that means more accurately what we're wanting.

287 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:49.950 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So let's think about that. If we're going to start designing a new system.

288 00:34:50.350 --> 00:34:57.920 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: First of all, and we see this today in our politics. Politics is just anchored on this idea that we must have simple soundbites.

289 00:34:58.050 --> 00:35:06.330 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You know, it's… it's all the small boats, it's the immigrants, it's this, it's that. Just stop oil. These are all statements that are thrown about.

290 00:35:06.580 --> 00:35:09.430 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I think confuse the situation.

291 00:35:09.620 --> 00:35:19.109 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Wendell Holmes said a long time ago, you know, I wouldn't give a fig for simplicity this side of complexity, but I'd give my right arm for simplicity the other side.

292 00:35:19.430 --> 00:35:35.120 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I know companies that have adopted this themselves. What they're saying is, we want simple solutions and ideas, but they've got to be based on a deep understanding of what the complexity of the systems is we're dealing with. Otherwise, they will always fail.

293 00:35:35.970 --> 00:35:40.230 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And that's one of the… Founding principles of our work.

294 00:35:41.090 --> 00:35:46.950 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this is the other one, Buckminster Fuller, I'm sure you're familiar with this. You never change

295 00:35:47.140 --> 00:35:51.650 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: things by fighting the existing reality. To change something.

296 00:35:51.780 --> 00:35:55.260 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Build a new model makes the existing model obsolete.

297 00:35:55.510 --> 00:35:57.610 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And that is happening today.

298 00:35:58.110 --> 00:36:05.440 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Particularly with the younger generations, who are doing this instinctively, but people of our ages are doing it systematically.

299 00:36:05.660 --> 00:36:11.520 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're actually moving away from trying to change a failing system to trying to create from bottom up.

300 00:36:12.060 --> 00:36:18.299 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: A different system that's based on different principles, that's designed to have sustainability as its outcome.

301 00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:21.019 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So this is one look.

302 00:36:21.390 --> 00:36:24.000 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: At the business as usual, the corporate model.

303 00:36:24.280 --> 00:36:32.570 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Our current model is aimed at creating perpetual growth of wealth by exploiting a finite set of natural resources and social resources.

304 00:36:32.950 --> 00:36:35.969 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That is a failing ideology.

305 00:36:36.130 --> 00:36:37.060 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: cannot.

306 00:36:37.510 --> 00:36:41.569 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: In the long term succeed, because we're living on a finite planet.

307 00:36:41.740 --> 00:36:50.990 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, it's… it might serve a short-term purpose, but ultimately, it will fail. And I think we're there at the moment. I think we've been there, actually, for the last 30 years.

308 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:52.490 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Capital…

309 00:36:52.610 --> 00:37:01.269 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Principles and design criteria, the ones that they've… we've chosen to use, in other words, we can choose different ones, are basically

310 00:37:01.450 --> 00:37:05.789 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's a hierarchical, top-down, centralized control model.

311 00:37:06.140 --> 00:37:08.499 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's exactly the same as an army.

312 00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:13.129 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Why? Because the two things were synonymous when we go back to the East India Company.

313 00:37:13.380 --> 00:37:25.829 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There were armies invading countries and stealing the resource and subjecting the populations because they wanted to create commerce that could extract nature freely and use slave labor.

314 00:37:26.120 --> 00:37:33.049 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've perpetuated that corporate model now. It's based on competition. I win, you lose.

315 00:37:33.200 --> 00:37:34.630 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Winner takes all.

316 00:37:35.020 --> 00:37:36.720 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Net zero-sum game.

317 00:37:36.860 --> 00:37:40.379 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Fundamentally, since the Second World War, it's based on consumerism.

318 00:37:40.560 --> 00:37:50.510 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Just keep manufacturing cheap, poor quality products that have a limited lifestyle and get thrown away so that we get more sales, get more growth.

319 00:37:50.740 --> 00:38:04.530 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We needed that after the Second World War. It served a very valuable purpose to get the armies back into civilian life and the factories back into providing products for the civilian world. But it's outgrown its purpose now.

320 00:38:04.990 --> 00:38:07.160 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And it's focused on wealth creation.

321 00:38:07.350 --> 00:38:08.790 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: For a few.

322 00:38:09.340 --> 00:38:12.129 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Up to the 1970s, it was pretty…

323 00:38:12.830 --> 00:38:21.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: equal, but the inequality has rapidly grown since then to the system we see in the States at the moment, whereby 2,500

324 00:38:22.420 --> 00:38:27.400 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Billionaires and trillionaires have now dominating the whole political and financial

325 00:38:28.160 --> 00:38:37.479 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: scene, and political scene, and it's extractive. There is no attempt in the current corporate model to replace the resources that they're using.

326 00:38:38.030 --> 00:38:44.650 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, fundamentally, just one view of it, it's past its best before date. The negatives are outgrowing the positives.

327 00:38:44.870 --> 00:38:48.049 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And it's now the existential threat.

328 00:38:49.170 --> 00:38:51.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… An antidote.

329 00:38:52.300 --> 00:38:54.420 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Let's look at sustainable communities.

330 00:38:56.130 --> 00:39:03.590 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: A sustainable future is built upon the following principles, and is being built out today. We're seeing this with purpose-led businesses.

331 00:39:03.710 --> 00:39:08.780 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But, designed to create environmental and social benefits.

332 00:39:08.890 --> 00:39:17.889 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: As well as making a profit. Profit is not the goal, profit is a necessary constraint. If you don't make a profit, your business is out of business.

333 00:39:18.060 --> 00:39:22.320 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So it's aimed at creating well-being, both for people and the planet.

334 00:39:22.580 --> 00:39:30.960 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The younger generations that I work with simply will not tolerate a different business model. They're not going to wreck their future by building extractive businesses.

335 00:39:31.190 --> 00:39:33.120 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're not going to diminish people.

336 00:39:33.370 --> 00:39:38.480 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the important thing is, we've got to learn to live within our planetary boundaries.

337 00:39:39.050 --> 00:39:44.530 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, Capitalism 2.0. There's nothing wrong with capitalism, just the version we got.

338 00:39:44.770 --> 00:39:49.760 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Is that… Live this purpose. So the new capitalism

339 00:39:50.170 --> 00:39:56.149 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Being built on communities, communal, local, decentralized thinking and action.

340 00:39:56.630 --> 00:39:58.859 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And we're seeing a lot of this with,

341 00:39:59.000 --> 00:40:01.880 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Now, simple examples are citizens' assemblies.

342 00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:12.169 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Transition Town, Agenda 21, these are all movements created by local people who are now doing a lot more in the local communities to address the imbalance we've got.

343 00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:18.679 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's based on collaboration. It's based on win-win-win. I win, you win, the planet wins.

344 00:40:18.930 --> 00:40:27.920 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's based on us being citizens, not consumers. We're not just here to buy products, we're here to create stronger communities.

345 00:40:28.550 --> 00:40:37.020 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the outcome has got to be well-being of nature and society. And one characteristic, I believe, of good communities is that they do nurture

346 00:40:37.390 --> 00:40:41.259 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the elements within the community. They take the responsibility of being

347 00:40:41.760 --> 00:40:47.630 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Having… caring for and caring about more than just the individual, which is the corporate model.

348 00:40:47.950 --> 00:40:53.069 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: corporate model is based on individualism, and this community's model is based on

349 00:40:53.340 --> 00:40:58.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: communal citizenship. And fundamentally, it's regenerative.

350 00:40:59.350 --> 00:41:05.280 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's not just living within the boundaries, he's actually, and we're in this process now, of creating regenerative

351 00:41:05.680 --> 00:41:12.540 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Business models, agricultural models, wildlife situations, and I'm sure many of you are involved in these activities.

352 00:41:12.880 --> 00:41:18.410 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And fundamentally, it's designed to serve the long term as well as the short term.

353 00:41:18.510 --> 00:41:20.569 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: These are conscious decisions.

354 00:41:21.330 --> 00:41:30.799 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the reason we can't take the old model to that very easily, and basically most businesses are designed to… or attempting to be less unsustainable.

355 00:41:31.520 --> 00:41:41.800 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And they can only do that because I've got a Fiat 500. No matter what I do to it, it's never going to win a Formula 1 race. The current corporate model is designed

356 00:41:42.120 --> 00:41:45.469 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To be unsustainable, and it succeeds at that.

357 00:41:46.140 --> 00:41:49.950 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's important for it to reduce its impact, but it can never

358 00:41:50.430 --> 00:41:53.959 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: become sustainable. That's why we need a completely different way of thinking.

359 00:41:55.220 --> 00:41:58.170 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And there's lots of good news out there.

360 00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:16.000 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: New alternatives. I'm sure you've all heard of donor economics, Rayworth's, creation. There are councils around Britain, around Europe, that are using this as their fundamental economic model. They're designing the way they work to live within the planetary boundaries.

361 00:42:16.350 --> 00:42:24.480 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You can't get that on day one. It's a journey, but it's the design principle that they're using. And this is being adopted now widely.

362 00:42:25.710 --> 00:42:28.379 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The other thing is a six-stakeholder model. This…

363 00:42:28.730 --> 00:42:33.319 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Concentric circle model just basically says that every business, every council.

364 00:42:33.590 --> 00:42:45.050 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: is created within the economy. The economy is part of the community, and the community is part of the environment. There's nothing happens on this planet that doesn't happen within the environment.

365 00:42:45.450 --> 00:42:59.769 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So this stakeholder model, which has been introduced about a decade ago, is now becoming current. It's a similar model being used in B Corps, but a lot of the organizations I work with adopt this. And it recognizes six stakeholder groups.

366 00:42:59.840 --> 00:43:10.259 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Not just shareholder groups. The environment, community, investors, business partners and suppliers, note, don't include the word business competitors.

367 00:43:10.410 --> 00:43:11.190 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's a…

368 00:43:11.320 --> 00:43:23.190 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: collaborative economic model, staff and clients. And the idea is that any organization is totally dependent on all these six stakeholders for input to their operation.

369 00:43:23.300 --> 00:43:29.149 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: for products, for people, for safe roads, whatever it is. They draw down from

370 00:43:29.260 --> 00:43:37.350 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: community and the environment to run their organization. And a sustainable business model means that you create more benefits

371 00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:42.049 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: for those… Entities than you take from them.

372 00:43:42.620 --> 00:43:48.380 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's incredibly difficult to do on a small scale, but when we look at communities.

373 00:43:48.690 --> 00:43:56.229 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: then it's possible. The idea is that the outcome to be sustainable, the benefits must replenish and exceed the dependencies.

374 00:43:56.350 --> 00:44:03.570 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the benefits must be good for the stakeholders. Quoting benefits, not extraction.

375 00:44:03.990 --> 00:44:09.559 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And if we do that, then we can achieve a balance where the company does well.

376 00:44:10.200 --> 00:44:14.809 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: by well, I mean, hit its financial targets, makes a profit, gets the revenue.

377 00:44:14.930 --> 00:44:17.850 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And functions well as an economic unit.

378 00:44:18.170 --> 00:44:23.899 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this model is being adopted now, and it's not a panacea, but the progress is being made.

379 00:44:24.310 --> 00:44:40.539 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is one example in Wales, this is River Simple, that designed their entire governance structure to be based on those six stakeholder groups, and it produces, these hydrogen cell two-seater vehicles, which you can lease, you can't buy.

380 00:44:40.930 --> 00:44:59.479 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this is their model. The board of directors is just one part of the governance structure. They've created separate individual companies to represent each of the stakeholders. They have a steward that's assigned to each of those, and the board's responsibility, the individual responsibility of the board members.

381 00:44:59.700 --> 00:45:06.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: is to… Create benefits for all stakeholders without preference.

382 00:45:07.000 --> 00:45:11.120 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And in doing so, they will then become the most valued

383 00:45:11.610 --> 00:45:23.819 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: organization by the stakeholders, the most valuable they can ever become, and they'll return the maximum benefits, particularly for the investors, who have a real trouble with this model, because they don't have

384 00:45:25.380 --> 00:45:35.529 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the authority to say where the money goes. And this model is now being applied globally as well, in small areas, but it's a recognized business model.

385 00:45:36.270 --> 00:45:38.550 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Victoria Hearth, formerly

386 00:45:39.040 --> 00:45:50.519 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Plymouth University, and now Cambridge, is repurposing marketing, saying that marketing isn't the precursor to sales. It's not there to sell products. It's there to actually create

387 00:45:50.650 --> 00:45:57.480 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: A business model and a governance structure that creates well-being and works on regenerative extraction.

388 00:45:58.020 --> 00:46:01.380 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And therefore, the purpose of marketing is to

389 00:46:01.700 --> 00:46:05.160 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Promote the values and principles on which the company's built.

390 00:46:05.370 --> 00:46:08.099 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've seen that organizations like Patagonia

391 00:46:08.270 --> 00:46:19.659 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: pioneer and struggle with this model, but they're still pioneering with it. So they're encouraging people to buy products that are built on the right principles from companies who have the right

392 00:46:19.860 --> 00:46:24.599 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The right, hopefully the ones that will come up with the sustainable solutions we want.

393 00:46:24.890 --> 00:46:26.300 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So basically.

394 00:46:26.880 --> 00:46:36.320 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: These models are there, and if you are starting a company today, you can either go and set up a conventional limited company, or you can literally pick up the standards.

395 00:46:36.730 --> 00:46:48.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the, The, the actual tools that are supported by those systems to create a totally sustainable business

396 00:46:48.820 --> 00:46:57.410 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Not from the outset, but it's designed to have sustainable outcomes. So the solutions are there. They weren't there 15, 20 years ago. It's a massive move.

397 00:46:57.580 --> 00:47:02.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I'm… So, let's get on to the National Emergency Briefing.

398 00:47:04.050 --> 00:47:19.429 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: as I say, I felt this was one of the most important things I've ever seen. I felt this… this was leadership coming from the community. This was individuals, Simon and Nigel Aldridge, who decided that something has to be done because the governments aren't.

399 00:47:20.850 --> 00:47:29.979 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Governments globally, and large corporations globally, are stepping back from their net zero targets. They're diluting them, they're walking away from them.

400 00:47:30.920 --> 00:47:34.529 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That in itself is an indication that that is not leadership.

401 00:47:34.640 --> 00:47:38.150 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's just… when a tough gets going, they're backing off.

402 00:47:39.130 --> 00:47:43.030 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And you've got to empathise and sympathise to some extent, because

403 00:47:43.150 --> 00:47:47.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We haven't yet got the models that don't allow us to navigate the short term.

404 00:47:48.120 --> 00:47:53.789 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Successfully, and we have to do that. So there's this conflict arising now between short-term and long-term.

405 00:47:54.120 --> 00:48:00.050 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And for me, what the briefing did, it… It offered 10 different perspectives.

406 00:48:01.020 --> 00:48:10.899 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: About what the reality is of what we're facing. For me, the big takeaway was that I came away from there actually relieved, now that I knew how

407 00:48:11.400 --> 00:48:18.879 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: desperate a situation we're actually in, and as the guy from the… National Security said.

408 00:48:19.430 --> 00:48:26.599 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's important to recognize the challenge that's actually in front of us, the threat we're really facing, not one that we want to face.

409 00:48:27.750 --> 00:48:31.739 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So it's allowed, I think, to focus on this, and the idea is that…

410 00:48:31.840 --> 00:48:33.949 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This was a demonstration of how they…

411 00:48:34.460 --> 00:48:37.859 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The call is for the government to actually unite

412 00:48:38.430 --> 00:48:45.539 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: As we did in 1939, to face then a much smaller threat than we're facing now, and actually

413 00:48:45.590 --> 00:49:02.539 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: unite all the political powers to resolve this situation quickly, but not in ideas that, if you like, were born in the tree-hugging eco-world, but to focus on redefining GDP, redefining the terms they use and accept now.

414 00:49:02.980 --> 00:49:07.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So that using Specific actions that they…

415 00:49:07.730 --> 00:49:13.929 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's all relevant in each of their areas. The politicians can navigate their way through the next 10 to 15 years.

416 00:49:14.000 --> 00:49:29.250 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: increasing GDP by focusing on the industries we need to get us out of there, and dropping the industries, i.e. the oil industries that are, causing the problems, and to start reporting back to people on what the actual progress is on this.

417 00:49:29.370 --> 00:49:30.130 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And…

418 00:49:30.530 --> 00:49:38.270 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: At best, this is patchy. Britain still probably leads the world in this, but we see already political voices saying.

419 00:49:38.530 --> 00:49:42.390 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We can't afford climate change actions, we can't afford net zero.

420 00:49:43.300 --> 00:49:50.189 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We can't afford not to. That's the reality. So it all ended on positive, inspiring

421 00:49:50.460 --> 00:49:55.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Ideas that could lead us and help the politicians to lead us out of the challenge.

422 00:49:56.090 --> 00:50:05.680 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the list here in the middle, there were speakers about nature, what is happening in nature, and what's the truth about climate, what's happening with weather extremes?

423 00:50:06.140 --> 00:50:10.860 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: science of tipping points and how we're approaching that at the moment. Food, and then the social.

424 00:50:11.180 --> 00:50:15.799 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Aspects of food security, the health system, national security.

425 00:50:16.080 --> 00:50:25.680 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is the first time I've heard the military say that in their doctrine now, they're putting climate change as the number one existential threat to national security.

426 00:50:26.410 --> 00:50:32.499 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: When a bunch of hard-nosed military people say that, you know you… there's a sea change happening.

427 00:50:32.960 --> 00:50:45.480 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the health, which I'll come back to. A speaker from the NHS saying, quite categorically, if we do not take radical action in the next 15 years, the NHS will not exist.

428 00:50:46.260 --> 00:50:50.750 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Because the support structure around it in society won't exist.

429 00:50:51.080 --> 00:50:53.900 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: These are hard lessons to hear.

430 00:50:54.210 --> 00:50:59.140 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But then talks about how the economic models can change, and how the energy transition can happen.

431 00:51:00.630 --> 00:51:07.550 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, if I've done this correctly, what's a… We should be able…

432 00:51:07.940 --> 00:51:12.090 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I'm gonna just unshare for a second, because I'm not sure I shared with the,

433 00:51:14.090 --> 00:51:16.809 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: With the sound on, so do forgive me one second.

434 00:51:26.150 --> 00:51:27.620 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Nope. Right.

435 00:51:30.130 --> 00:51:35.149 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So this is Hugh… Professor Hugh Montgomery, and I'll go in just the last 4 minutes of his talk.

436 00:51:36.860 --> 00:51:45.660 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You're going to hear more about that later, but these are the problems. Without a functioning economy, without food supply available to us.

437 00:51:45.900 --> 00:51:49.909 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We cannot run a health service, we cannot have health.

438 00:51:50.590 --> 00:51:57.050 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I'm not going to be trying to give everyone else's talks, but let's just pick up on a few of those issues.

439 00:51:57.570 --> 00:52:13.750 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're losing somewhere around $10,000 a second to extreme weather events. To ones we definitely can attribute to climate change. We're already at around $4,500 a second being lost to the global economy. And as you've heard.

440 00:52:13.960 --> 00:52:18.669 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Things don't stop if we just stop emitting. Heating will continue.

441 00:52:20.580 --> 00:52:35.639 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're committed to a loss of 20% of the global economy already. That is going to be gone, and it will be gone now in a little over 20 years. Moving forwards, economists are warning us we may lose 50% or north of our global economy.

442 00:52:35.640 --> 00:52:40.969 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Without that, we don't have an education system. We sure as hell don't have a health service.

443 00:52:43.120 --> 00:52:47.169 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This isn't just the scientists. Let's look at what actuaries say.

444 00:52:47.810 --> 00:52:54.149 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The actuaries, the people who do the maths, or math if you're American, on the risk.

445 00:52:55.120 --> 00:52:57.750 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Faced by insurance companies.

446 00:52:58.400 --> 00:53:02.190 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I won't read that out to you. These are statements directly from actuaries.

447 00:53:04.450 --> 00:53:07.420 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: As they pointed out in the forward to their report.

448 00:53:10.420 --> 00:53:13.250 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This isn't some minor rounding error.

449 00:53:16.400 --> 00:53:22.379 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We heard Paul talking about food, and he alluded to this report from Food Seniors.

450 00:53:26.570 --> 00:53:32.370 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So this isn't just coming from scientists like Tim and others. It's not coming from just ecologists.

451 00:53:32.620 --> 00:53:45.760 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: such as Chris Packham. It's not just coming from actuaries, and from food industry people, as well as academics. It's coming across the suite. And that was summarized in the State of the Climate report from last year.

452 00:53:46.470 --> 00:53:54.559 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Which made the following statements. So I recognize an emergency. This is one. We have not been treating it as one.

453 00:53:55.740 --> 00:53:59.540 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've had these sorts of warnings too, which we ignored.

454 00:54:01.040 --> 00:54:09.949 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Not that this might upset our tummies a bit with a bit of salmonella, or that we might get dengue. There may be no livable future for us and our children.

455 00:54:12.180 --> 00:54:21.770 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The point was made earlier. We haven't got time for doing a little bit of recycling. We need transformational change now, if we're going to survive.

456 00:54:25.270 --> 00:54:27.490 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There are some policy wins.

457 00:54:27.600 --> 00:54:42.529 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Because, as we also pointed out at one of the Lancer Commissions, action on climate change brings great benefits economically and to health as well. And Paul has alluded to some of those. If you look, for instance, at active transport.

458 00:54:42.760 --> 00:54:47.420 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And getting rid of particulate pollution, but using physical activity to move.

459 00:54:47.800 --> 00:55:05.849 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Getting rid of gas boilers and so forth, which reduces particulate pollution, and moving to the plant-based diet that Paul alluded to, you get wins on all of these sorts of disease states, which are the bread and butter in every hospital in the country for which your taxes pay.

460 00:55:06.010 --> 00:55:19.310 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We can transform the health of the nation, and we can make our NHS actually sustainable in its own right. There are huge wins if we change to active transport, quite modestly, by changes in policy.

461 00:55:19.480 --> 00:55:25.730 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So these are fiscal wins, whether you're to the right or the left of the political agenda. This just makes sense.

462 00:55:26.290 --> 00:55:36.840 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If we look at the food, to which Paul alluded, the impacts on respiratory health, cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and more.

463 00:55:37.810 --> 00:55:56.250 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If we make these moves to the WHO-recommended diet, the plant-based diet, we get longer lives, lower emissions, and enormous cash savings. And if you just look at the contribution to obesity, if we fix that, that would save this country £126 billion a year.

464 00:55:56.280 --> 00:56:00.840 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: That's enough to take 12% off the base rate of income tax.

465 00:56:10.610 --> 00:56:12.509 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, I'm gonna finish.

466 00:56:12.750 --> 00:56:15.759 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We've had an honest conversation.

467 00:56:15.900 --> 00:56:28.310 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I am scared. I'm 63, I may not have that much longer left on the planet, but I'm scared for my own life and future, and I'm absolutely terrified for that of my son, and you should be too.

468 00:56:28.420 --> 00:56:34.519 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Is this an emergency? It is an emergency. Now it is an emergency, and it requires…

469 00:56:44.150 --> 00:56:49.979 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is no longer a risk. Without action, these impacts are certainties.

470 00:56:50.090 --> 00:56:52.619 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the hazards are catastrophic.

471 00:56:59.000 --> 00:57:01.040 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If we take action.

472 00:57:01.160 --> 00:57:15.489 Audio shared by Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: we might survive to leave the hospital. If we do not, the outcome is absolutely certain. So, I leave you with this thought. The climate emergency is a health emergency, and it's about time we started treating this one.

473 00:57:25.960 --> 00:57:31.249 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Quite sobering stuff, quite frightening, but as you see, there are positives there that are ways out.

474 00:57:31.900 --> 00:57:43.760 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So the three key messages that all the different speakers provided Absolutely with clarity, no ambiguity.

475 00:57:43.900 --> 00:57:50.640 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Governments must listen to the scientists. The COVID report was released two weeks before this.

476 00:57:50.770 --> 00:57:55.019 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: that eat out to help out, that Sunak introduced.

477 00:57:55.270 --> 00:57:56.499 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: in that report.

478 00:57:56.660 --> 00:58:05.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: 23,000 deaths were attributed to that one action that he didn't consider needed reference back to the science.

479 00:58:06.070 --> 00:58:17.559 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: as the Chancellor of this decade, he felt the economy was his purvey, and he made a decision. And I'm not saying anyone could have outguessed that and done better, but if he'd listened to the scientists, we wouldn't have had that.

480 00:58:18.050 --> 00:58:21.479 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So they're saying, do not make that mistake again.

481 00:58:21.620 --> 00:58:24.380 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Scientists are on your side, government, listen to them.

482 00:58:24.560 --> 00:58:36.440 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And brief the public regularly on the progress towards it. This is not a debate about whether we've got climate change or not, or whether we can afford it or not. It's a question of, are we going to act?

483 00:58:36.710 --> 00:58:42.440 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: If so, what's the consequence of actions today? And what are we planning to do tomorrow?

484 00:58:42.680 --> 00:58:44.120 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The project is running.

485 00:58:44.650 --> 00:58:50.250 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: whether we like it or not. The government needs to realign itself and take

486 00:58:50.400 --> 00:58:54.110 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: responsibility for communicating. And they were quite open about this.

487 00:58:54.350 --> 00:59:10.870 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: One of the major reasons we're here at the moment is that, basically, in the political arena, the corporate fossil fuel lobbyists and corporates are bribing politicians. They are paying them to produce reports. They are paying them to support

488 00:59:11.100 --> 00:59:15.919 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Pumping fossil fuel at a rate that is way beyond extinction level.

489 00:59:16.690 --> 00:59:19.590 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So it was… it was pretty hard-hitting.

490 00:59:19.920 --> 00:59:21.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But very positive.

491 00:59:24.570 --> 00:59:30.050 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… How are we going to get the fundamental shifts? There are reasons to be cheerful.

492 00:59:30.890 --> 00:59:40.189 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Most of the symptoms and problems are fine, if we can sort out not addressing the symptoms, but address the problems. Climate change is a symptom.

493 00:59:40.360 --> 00:59:43.110 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: of a problem. If we do not address

494 00:59:43.240 --> 00:59:51.389 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The underlying causes of climate change, and we just reduce the carbon temporarily, it will come back and bite us.

495 00:59:52.150 --> 00:59:59.940 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We have to do the latter. We have to reduce the carbon going into and taking out of the,

496 01:00:00.560 --> 01:00:05.489 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Climate, but we also have to stop the long-term systemic

497 01:00:06.130 --> 01:00:09.730 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Factors that increase the carbon in the first place.

498 01:00:10.790 --> 01:00:20.039 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The good news is, in a systemic system like ours, you address one problem, you address them all. The same actions that will save biodiversity loss and will prevent climate change.

499 01:00:20.280 --> 01:00:28.400 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: work across the system on all the threats. So, it's not a whole bunch of individual actions. Simple actions can actually

500 01:00:29.100 --> 01:00:32.309 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Drastically affect many different problems.

501 01:00:33.090 --> 01:00:34.590 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And this is one thing that I've…

502 01:00:35.130 --> 01:00:41.549 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I've only come across in the last year or two. A lot of people in business still see nature as just something else.

503 01:00:42.010 --> 01:00:56.730 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The truth of the matter is, every single industry and business and council is dependent 100% on the health of nature. It is the universal infrastructure, and we don't talk about it as infrastructure.

504 01:00:57.000 --> 01:01:03.430 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Venture capitalists love investing in infrastructure. Roads, rail, airports, whatever.

505 01:01:03.950 --> 01:01:10.470 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Let them invest in nature, regenerative projects, good community-based projects, regenerative farming.

506 01:01:10.700 --> 01:01:17.500 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Cleaning rivers, cleaning the land. Because if they do that, all their other investments will be de-risked.

507 01:01:19.500 --> 01:01:25.170 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: some… Venture capitalists are realizing that now, but it's still not widely believed.

508 01:01:25.290 --> 01:01:28.140 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, restoring nature, biodiversity gain.

509 01:01:28.460 --> 01:01:32.889 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Food production gains, economic gains, social gains, flood mitigations.

510 01:01:33.220 --> 01:01:37.160 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: All these problems that you guys are facing day by day.

511 01:01:37.460 --> 01:01:41.980 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Will be eased if the other half of the

512 01:01:42.790 --> 01:01:55.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: our society, the corporates, also align themselves with what you're doing. And we've got to build those resilient, thriving communities of not just human communities, but natural ones.

513 01:01:56.360 --> 01:02:07.749 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And we've seen this, don't unlike Circle Economy, Future Guardian, post-growth, regenerative business models. These are all happening now, and I'm sure these occupy a lot of your time at the moment.

514 01:02:09.610 --> 01:02:19.130 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And the last one by the new innovative entrepreneurs, the Gen Zs and Millennials, are flocking to this. Not a majority, but way beyond the tipping point levels.

515 01:02:19.530 --> 01:02:26.060 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: New social norms are developing. People are actively talking about increasing well-being, not just profit.

516 01:02:26.770 --> 01:02:32.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: you'll be dealing with active travel initiatives. You know, I work with that in BCP.

517 01:02:32.870 --> 01:02:33.810 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: they're not…

518 01:02:33.980 --> 01:02:40.039 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: brilliant, but they're laying down the foundations for that. They're offering people alternatives that will help the NHS.

519 01:02:40.160 --> 01:02:46.170 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We're looking at equality and equity. Recycling, reusing, repairing are, you know, just common ideas.

520 01:02:46.520 --> 01:02:50.320 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Are they perfect? No. Are they being improved? Yes.

521 01:02:50.640 --> 01:02:52.940 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Regenerative practices are coming in.

522 01:02:53.140 --> 01:02:59.609 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And we are getting this message across that if you want to invest wisely in this earth, invest in nature first.

523 01:03:01.110 --> 01:03:07.070 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is Elizabeth Warren. This is at least 20 years ago. I'll read it to you, because it's difficult to see on the screen.

524 01:03:07.580 --> 01:03:13.110 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: This is a plea to… For businesses to respect the community, the civic side.

525 01:03:13.790 --> 01:03:29.830 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There is a… there is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. We built a factory out there. Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate.

526 01:03:29.990 --> 01:03:35.800 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You're safe in your factory because police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.

527 01:03:35.950 --> 01:03:40.009 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at our factory.

528 01:03:40.330 --> 01:03:47.500 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Now look, you built a factory, and it turned into something good, terrific, or a great idea. God bless.

529 01:03:47.740 --> 01:03:49.430 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Keep a big hunk of it.

530 01:03:49.650 --> 01:03:57.220 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay it forward for the next kid who comes along.

531 01:03:58.210 --> 01:04:06.259 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: My objection to dealing with chains in the food industry is that they aren't paying their local taxes.

532 01:04:06.910 --> 01:04:09.700 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They are parasitic on our communities.

533 01:04:09.940 --> 01:04:13.269 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You are practically bankrupt as organizations.

534 01:04:13.620 --> 01:04:26.490 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You need to be getting a much bigger slice of corporate funding, corporate taxes, to enable you to do the work that you need to do and you want to do. And, you know, this call from Elizabeth Warren, I think, puts that in context.

535 01:04:27.640 --> 01:04:31.149 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, let's face it, corporates can't… cannot be sustainable.

536 01:04:31.290 --> 01:04:42.999 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're designed to be extractive. They've got to pay their way. What's the role of civic society? I think we've got to work in harmony and balance, and I know you're trying to do that, but I don't see that that's…

537 01:04:43.270 --> 01:04:45.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Well understood by the corporates.

538 01:04:45.830 --> 01:04:53.179 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Especially the big international players, you know, the Yahoos, the Amazons, are they paying local rates? Are they paying local taxes?

539 01:04:54.310 --> 01:05:04.739 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We all… part of the whole society that can compensate. It's our job to create healthy, sustainable communities.

540 01:05:05.350 --> 01:05:11.400 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: natural and social ones. And we've got to be seen as that yin and yang, that other half.

541 01:05:11.940 --> 01:05:18.640 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: helps the companies who give us the products we need in unsustainable ways. We will pick up

542 01:05:18.960 --> 01:05:22.470 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Slack. We will create at scale.

543 01:05:22.630 --> 01:05:29.229 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: and rapidly, the systems that compensate for their extractive, depleted models. And that's…

544 01:05:29.790 --> 01:05:35.399 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I believe, you know, the importance of the local Governments, and the central governments.

545 01:05:36.210 --> 01:05:39.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Who, by many people, are just being scorned at the moment.

546 01:05:39.870 --> 01:05:44.770 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I think we've got to get that clear. And everything you do, you know, regenerative practices.

547 01:05:44.900 --> 01:05:51.540 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're the active travel, circularity, recycling, repairing, and the social services. These are all vital.

548 01:05:51.660 --> 01:05:59.360 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: in that role of what we heard in the National Emergency Briefing, of moving our systems into the sustainable space.

549 01:06:01.490 --> 01:06:08.259 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, what are your thoughts? We haven't got much time left, I'm afraid, but over to you now, so I'll stop sharing and throw the floor over to you.

550 01:06:12.670 --> 01:06:15.230 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Well, thank you so much.

551 01:06:15.490 --> 01:06:23.999 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Gwyn, that's, like all my conversations with you, I'm equally terrified and exhilarated, so well done, you've…

552 01:06:24.000 --> 01:06:46.850 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: been a real rollercoaster ride today. I do have one specific question for you, which is a general question. How is it that the young people nowadays are so much more understanding than we were? How is it that they are actually focused on capitalism 2.0? Do we know where they're getting it from? Because they certainly aren't getting it from school, are they? Where are they getting it?

553 01:06:47.260 --> 01:06:48.040 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: You know?

554 01:06:48.860 --> 01:06:58.910 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: When I left university, there was no conversation about this. You just joined big corporations. There was a few people, Rachel Castle, Stringmacher, that were talking about it, but it was… it was the treehuggers.

555 01:07:00.080 --> 01:07:04.370 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: go on to 2000. Stern Report in 2006.

556 01:07:04.730 --> 01:07:07.240 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Publicise, you know, what was actually happening.

557 01:07:07.540 --> 01:07:22.419 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The awareness has risen increasingly. The students I work with now, I'd say about 10 or 15% of them, just know that they have no future if we carry on. It's public discourse. So, XR, Just Stop Oil, David Asenbrough, Greta Thunberg.

558 01:07:22.550 --> 01:07:25.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They may have been controversial, but they got the message home.

559 01:07:26.220 --> 01:07:39.060 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Right? There is a problem, the world is on fire. They know that. And the big difference I see, Graeme, is that people like me and you have to unlearn what we were taught at university and in business before we can act.

560 01:07:39.430 --> 01:07:41.149 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're short-circuiting that.

561 01:07:41.330 --> 01:07:48.969 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're rejecting oil companies, they're rejecting corporates when they leave universities, they're setting up their own businesses. They don't know how.

562 01:07:49.100 --> 01:07:52.919 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Be successful, but they do know they're not going to join in the

563 01:07:53.910 --> 01:07:56.329 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the destruction of their future. And…

564 01:07:56.440 --> 01:08:00.840 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The suicide rate of young people in Britain is appalling.

565 01:08:02.040 --> 01:08:09.579 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the most dangerous person to a young person today is themselves. Suicide is the most common cause of death for young people.

566 01:08:10.010 --> 01:08:14.100 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: part of that is eco-anxiety. It's all sorts of other things as well.

567 01:08:14.370 --> 01:08:16.590 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But they know about this, they are aware.

568 01:08:17.340 --> 01:08:21.360 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So that, that's my hopefully short answer to that. Stuart.

569 01:08:21.729 --> 01:08:23.869 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You've got your hand up, would you like to…

570 01:08:23.870 --> 01:08:28.039 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Oh, hi, yes, thanks, that's a great talk.

571 01:08:28.279 --> 01:08:34.439 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I do have many thoughts, and I'd love to go down the pub with you and have a few beers.

572 01:08:36.270 --> 01:08:50.460 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: But just two things sort of struck me. I did have the pleasure of having Hugh Montgomery as a colleague. We're both running London Intensive Care Unit, so I know him quite well, and he made some very good points.

573 01:08:50.740 --> 01:08:55.759 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: But one point I'd like to make is that, do you think the national

574 01:08:56.189 --> 01:08:59.680 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Emergency briefing as being suppressed

575 01:09:00.120 --> 01:09:13.140 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I know there's a group trying to make it a public, sort of, television program. Yeah. I think they've condensed it down to about 45 minutes, would like it aired on, mainstream media.

576 01:09:13.260 --> 01:09:20.469 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: That doesn't seem to be happening. The other thing which isn't happening is MPs aren't signing up to,

577 01:09:21.080 --> 01:09:24.510 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Ratify.

578 01:09:24.510 --> 01:09:33.230 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Yeah. Yes and no. I see the world simply as three. There's those people that don't want to listen, and they're not listening.

579 01:09:33.580 --> 01:09:40.180 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Right? That's a large corporates. Some of the political parties aren't listening. There are those people like us.

580 01:09:40.790 --> 01:09:48.670 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: we don't need to be told this. We're doing what we can anyway. It's the people in the middle, the persuadables. What I have seen, the green straws, firstly.

581 01:09:49.279 --> 01:09:52.070 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It wasn't designed to have instant impact.

582 01:09:52.240 --> 01:10:08.669 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Simon, it weren't that clever, but they are working on it, so the film, I think, should have been made first, so it came out instantly, so we can share that. I believe that film should be shown in every university, in every council hall, in every political meeting across the country.

583 01:10:08.670 --> 01:10:09.880 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: In every school.

584 01:10:10.600 --> 01:10:12.980 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: and schools. I think… I'm not sure…

585 01:10:14.560 --> 01:10:19.209 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I suffered 2 days of eco-anxiety after that, and I've been in this game 20 years.

586 01:10:19.550 --> 01:10:20.490 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It… it…

587 01:10:20.700 --> 01:10:29.569 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It was hard for me to come back from that, and I work with a strong support organization. We have to be very careful when we're dealing with young people that we don't terrify them.

588 01:10:29.760 --> 01:10:32.989 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Right, so… I believe the film will be balanced.

589 01:10:33.580 --> 01:10:44.289 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So I think we've got to, but there are… I'm following the LinkedIn tracks of the, NEB. There are politicians signing up. My MP has signed up to it.

590 01:10:44.580 --> 01:10:55.969 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: There are politicians taking it onto the floor of the House of Commons and the House of Lords and debating it. They are the minority, but it is making some impact.

591 01:10:56.540 --> 01:11:03.050 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I think it's a bit like, you know, that 2009 with David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg and XR.

592 01:11:03.700 --> 01:11:07.240 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's created the cracks where more light is getting into the system.

593 01:11:08.150 --> 01:11:16.670 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Is it the panacea? No, but it's a damn good start. And I think we have to amplify and magnify the impacts as much as we can.

594 01:11:17.830 --> 01:11:21.730 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… I'm always optimistic, Stuart.

595 01:11:21.940 --> 01:11:25.000 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And that's some news.

596 01:11:28.620 --> 01:11:31.600 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Anyone else would like to add a comment or a question?

597 01:11:33.740 --> 01:11:41.620 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I must say, I thought there was going to be a whole deluge of enthusiasm or horror at what you've been saying.

598 01:11:42.030 --> 01:11:47.110 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Well, I could try another question. And… That's it, I, I, I…

599 01:11:47.110 --> 01:11:48.040 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Wilson's got one.

600 01:11:48.220 --> 01:11:56.849 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: I take on board your sort of rosy view that we can change things, we can introduce donor economics, we can…

601 01:11:58.590 --> 01:12:01.920 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Curb corporate, sort of, green things.

602 01:12:01.920 --> 01:12:07.940 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: But I think the thing that is really only going to change it is major political shift

603 01:12:08.280 --> 01:12:12.659 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: To try and do things like…

604 01:12:12.820 --> 01:12:23.050 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: limit the fossil fuel companies, don't give any more licenses, mandate, the move to EVs, which seems to be slipping.

605 01:12:23.260 --> 01:12:32.500 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: keep the pressure on for the net zero targets. Fine companies or tax CO2 production.

606 01:12:32.700 --> 01:12:41.499 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: major political changes, which aren't going to happen. I draw a lot of parallels with the industrial military machine.

607 01:12:41.830 --> 01:12:49.590 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: They… have persisted in, certainly in America, after the Second World War.

608 01:12:49.610 --> 01:13:03.810 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: most countries, powered down their industrial military machinery. America didn't. And it is a major part of the financial infrastructure of America is based on

609 01:13:03.810 --> 01:13:11.480 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: arms dealings. I think they get, 40 or 50% of all government spending is in some way spent on the military.

610 01:13:11.610 --> 01:13:17.629 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And the amount the military spend on, lobbying government

611 01:13:17.750 --> 01:13:30.450 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: And the amount of the military which migrate from the Pentagon into government, they seem to be controlling the whole thing, and there are no breaks or limitations on it.

612 01:13:31.130 --> 01:13:31.560 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I'll just…

613 01:13:31.560 --> 01:13:32.189 Cllr.Stuart Withington, Gt Dunmow TC, Essex: Thank you for each.

614 01:13:32.190 --> 01:13:37.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Kristen and Ken, but… I'm not an optimist, and I've given up hope.

615 01:13:37.970 --> 01:13:40.360 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I have evidence that it's happening.

616 01:13:41.060 --> 01:13:46.160 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Literally, I see the young people every day, I see the citizens build, so I trust we will get there.

617 01:13:46.410 --> 01:13:47.870 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: It's 50-50, though.

618 01:13:47.970 --> 01:13:50.489 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But I agree with all those… all the things you've mentioned.

619 01:13:50.800 --> 01:13:53.170 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Frustrum, you had your hand up first, I believe.

620 01:13:53.170 --> 01:13:59.910 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Yeah, I just wanted to put this in… ask you to put this in the context of, sort of, international, global.

621 01:14:00.440 --> 01:14:12.040 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: competition going on in economies, because I worry if you try to… if you do this too fast, and you say, well, we won't have competition, we'll all work in circular economies, the day… and we'll stop using oil.

622 01:14:12.360 --> 01:14:14.830 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: The danger is that the…

623 01:14:15.050 --> 01:14:18.199 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Our national economy will fall behind.

624 01:14:18.540 --> 01:14:20.230 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: for instance, America's.

625 01:14:20.230 --> 01:14:20.580 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Yeah.

626 01:14:20.580 --> 01:14:44.980 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: And if the national economy is not vibrant and growing, the danger then is you get civil unrest and, you know, mayhem, and it goes backwards. So I think your… what you've been talking about, I can see it works at a sort of community level, like a… if you've got a strong national economy, local economies can start to do these things, but I worry a lot about getting rid of competition and that idea, because otherwise.

627 01:14:44.980 --> 01:14:47.879 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: If you don't have competition, you don't have efficiency.

628 01:14:47.880 --> 01:14:56.870 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: No, I agree. This is not a question of sweeping away the business as usual. It's a way of, we have to compensate for its inadequacies.

629 01:14:57.080 --> 01:15:00.809 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Because a lot of people in young… young people went to businesses

630 01:15:00.990 --> 01:15:12.220 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: 20 years ago knew there was problems, didn't know there was other models, but they're the people that want to change the way the business works. The big corporates will never change the way they work. They will always be there.

631 01:15:13.070 --> 01:15:19.320 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: The simple rule thing is, we cannot afford not to do any of this, or we won't have any economy.

632 01:15:19.980 --> 01:15:40.310 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Can I just say, sorry, can I just interrupt you there? I think that big corporates can, by your sort of movement, they can be persuaded to act more responsibly, because otherwise they lose sales and lose credibility. Absolutely. So it doesn't… I don't agree that we can't have big, efficient corporations, we just have to… the guidance for them, the laws have to… and our own feedback.

633 01:15:40.450 --> 01:15:42.500 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: We should push them to be more responsible.

634 01:15:42.500 --> 01:15:51.180 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: What I'm saying, Tristan, we can have efficient companies, but we can't have ones that are sustainable. Therefore, that's a fact, therefore we have to compensate for that elsewhere.

635 01:15:51.180 --> 01:15:54.010 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Well, why can't they be sustainable if they change their practices?

636 01:15:54.010 --> 01:16:09.419 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: No, because they're not designed to be sustainable. Systemically, they're not designed to. So we've got to accept that, you know, my Fiat 500 is never going to win a Formula 1 race, but it's still a good car. So we need… we need oil companies to produce oil, we need companies to produce iPhones.

637 01:16:09.580 --> 01:16:15.139 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We have to compensate for their deficiencies by not flogging them to death and killing them, but by.

638 01:16:15.140 --> 01:16:18.040 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Compensating elsewhere. That's the yin and yang.

639 01:16:18.040 --> 01:16:25.929 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: or we are going to have collapse one way or another. And, you know, it's… there's no easy panacea for this. We've got to…

640 01:16:26.090 --> 01:16:37.459 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: collaborate with big business to make them less unsustainable, and to where they can't be sustained… if they're sustainable, we've got to compensate. So, very briefly,

641 01:16:37.790 --> 01:16:42.779 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Ken, thanks, thanks for… it's a great question, though, Tristan. If we don't solve that, we're not going to get anything.

642 01:16:42.780 --> 01:16:43.550 tristram cary Winchfield Hants: Okay, excellent.

643 01:16:44.500 --> 01:16:58.059 Ken Huggins parish cllr North Dorset: Okay, just a quick observation, really. There's quite a good growing network now of people who are looking to get the film of the NEB shown. So, for example, my parish council, I've got them to agree to show it in the village hall, and we'll be spreading that around local parish councils as well.

644 01:16:58.070 --> 01:17:11.559 Ken Huggins parish cllr North Dorset: There are people looking at working with Dorset Council now, actually getting them involved. They seem to be on board, and I think this is the way, when enough people see it, I think there will be a huge push then for change from people, I would like to hope. Fingers crossed.

645 01:17:11.560 --> 01:17:14.740 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Yeah. And the politicians will follow those people.

646 01:17:15.110 --> 01:17:19.290 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're the leaders. They will say what they want, clearly. That's where the votes are.

647 01:17:19.440 --> 01:17:29.980 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So, and that will help with what Tristan's talking about. The political parties will align with the wishes of the people if we speak up, and that's part of my evidence. I see a lot of… thanks, Ken, that's great.

648 01:17:30.490 --> 01:17:31.270 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Brilliant.

649 01:17:32.060 --> 01:17:48.149 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I was just taken by Tristram's comment and reminded that back in the first Trump administration, when he started chopping the EPA to bits and reducing their specifications, a lot of the American corporates decided to go ahead and

650 01:17:48.150 --> 01:17:52.890 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Continue to implement the old standards before they got chopped down.

651 01:17:52.890 --> 01:17:57.390 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So I think there is a willingness amongst corporates nowadays to

652 01:17:57.400 --> 01:18:10.330 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: fall in line with what could be called greenwashing, but I think that they are beginning to feel that actually they do have an obligation to the planet. So there's a bit of hope there, I see.

653 01:18:10.700 --> 01:18:19.159 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: And of course, Bucky Fuller was very, prominent in American thinking, and hopefully his ideas will still continue to catch on.

654 01:18:20.970 --> 01:18:24.219 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Yeah, and I think we've got to move away from

655 01:18:24.390 --> 01:18:30.869 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: the sort of… the binary situation that a lot of us got stuck in. We don't need everybody

656 01:18:31.090 --> 01:18:33.590 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Have a spiritual awakening.

657 01:18:33.800 --> 01:18:38.249 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: We need enough people to design the systems that the other people will use.

658 01:18:38.580 --> 01:18:43.439 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So a lot of people that drive EV cars don't give a crap about the planet. They do like

659 01:18:43.580 --> 01:18:44.629 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: cheap trouble.

660 01:18:45.110 --> 01:18:50.750 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Systems being designed so that they can live sustainably without any ideological shift.

661 01:18:51.900 --> 01:18:59.630 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: So… We just have to ensure there's enough people focusing on the right developments 2…

662 01:19:00.100 --> 01:19:03.000 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Cause the tipping points that will shift

663 01:19:03.150 --> 01:19:07.970 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Our economies and our corporate and our ways of living over to sustainable ways of living.

664 01:19:08.090 --> 01:19:17.169 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: You know, the average person that works in a delivery company or a supermarket, they're not going to engage in this sort of conversation. They do want systems that work.

665 01:19:17.830 --> 01:19:27.849 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And if we can provide those that are designed by and built by companies that themselves are aiming for sustainability, that's the way out of this. So we must start using some

666 01:19:28.020 --> 01:19:33.710 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Instead of all. Some people are, some businesses are, and we've got to encourage those

667 01:19:33.850 --> 01:19:38.469 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Pioneers to experiment and… and, you know, be brave enough.

668 01:19:38.870 --> 01:19:44.119 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To try things differently, or otherwise, if we just carry on doing the same thing, we'll end up with the same results.

669 01:19:44.500 --> 01:19:46.080 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: But very complex.

670 01:19:47.470 --> 01:19:48.860 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Great questions, anyway, yeah.

671 01:19:48.860 --> 01:19:51.639 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: To see the ball beginning to start rolling.

672 01:19:51.770 --> 01:19:56.750 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: And I would say, I'm really pleased to see so many, Dorset-based,

673 01:19:57.190 --> 01:20:04.129 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: councillors here, council staff, because I've worked with BCP Council, Poole Council, and Bournemouth Council for years, and

674 01:20:04.770 --> 01:20:12.579 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: They're the most enjoyable organizations to work with. They've got some of the best people I've ever worked with, and they're really dedicated to this completely hamstrung

675 01:20:12.770 --> 01:20:15.600 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: by the constraints they're under. So…

676 01:20:15.830 --> 01:20:21.060 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: I'll pick up Stuart saying, if anyone's around here for a drink, I'm happy for a coffee or a beer anytime.

677 01:20:24.570 --> 01:20:41.319 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Good. Well, if there are no further questions or points, Gwyn, thank you so much for coming along this afternoon. I thought it was a really wonderful presentation. I did enjoy it, as well as being terrified by it, and I look forward to seeing where we go in the future, and…

678 01:20:41.650 --> 01:20:51.419 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: I'm due to go and visit friends in Scotland in a couple of months' time, because we're frightened that they're going to fall off the perch before we get to see them.

679 01:20:51.620 --> 01:20:56.759 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So, I'll just have to convince my wife that the route to Scotland from the Isle of Wight is through Poole.

680 01:20:57.070 --> 01:21:00.219 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: So that we can have that coffee or beer or whatever.

681 01:21:00.220 --> 01:21:12.469 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: Absolutely. There'll be another time. And Stuart, I believe you're recording this. I'll be very happy to put the recording of this up on our… on ASP's website as well, to spread your work, because this is clearly a great idea you've got here.

682 01:21:12.580 --> 01:21:17.639 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: To get all these people together, so that's brilliant. Thank you very much, and thank you all for your…

683 01:21:17.990 --> 01:21:22.290 Gwyn Jones Poole, ASP: listening and for your comments and questions today. It's been really good. Thank you.

684 01:21:22.290 --> 01:21:23.909 Ken Huggins parish cllr North Dorset: Yeah. Thanks to you, Gwen.

685 01:21:23.940 --> 01:21:30.159 Graham Stoddart-Stones - Great Collaboration - Bembridge: Thank you all so much, and see you next week, and thank you for your time and trouble. Take care, everyone. Bye-bye.

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Markdown of "Inspiring Futures" presentation (for AI indexing)

Creating an Inspiring Future

The Role of Civic Society

Gwyn Jones Director, Association of Sustainability Practitioners https://sustainabilitypractitioners.org

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The Conversation Today…

We will step back from our day jobs, task lists, and full inboxes to reflect on the big picture.

We’ll explore:

• Different roles and relationships across society

• The balance between citizens, corporates, and civic bodies

• How we respond to existential threats highlighted by the recent National Emergency Briefing

There is no “silver bullet” — just observations and perspectives.

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Collaborative Learning Across Generations and Disciplines

ASP is an international collaborative learning community of sustainability practitioners (NOT a network!).

We are learning how to co-create a world in which future generations can thrive — without economic, environmental, or social collapse.

ASP:

• Connects, challenges, and supports practitioners

• Designs creative, safe spaces for collaborative learning

• Enables new ideas and collaborations

Community includes:

#creatives #consultants #coaches #mentors #elders #story-tellers #businessleaders #academics #students #genz #millennials

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“…it’s the Anthropocene baby”

Where Are We Today?

• Climate impacts are everyday occurrences

• Oceans are “boiling”

• People are dying from climate change

• Species are vanishing

• COPs are failing

• Oil companies are increasing production

• CO₂ levels are rising

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Where Do We Want To Get To?

An inspiring long-term vision of short-term thriving:

• Social justice

• Geographical justice

• Generational justice

• Thriving communities

• Harmony and balance with nature

• Enough for everyone forever

• No social, economic, or environmental collapse

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Changing Our Relationship with Nature

“When we forget to nurture what nurtures us... everything decays” “When we learn to nurture what nurtures us... everything thrives”

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What Is Sustainability?

• Learning to nurture what nurtures us

• Living in harmony and balance with nature

• Ensuring enough for everyone, forever

• The outcome of conscious thinking

Fundamental solutions, not sound-bites.

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How Do We Get There?

The “New” Systems

An Antidote: Sustainable Communities

The sustainable future is built upon these principles:

• Economic wellbeing within planetary boundaries

• Capitalism 2.0

Capitalism 2.0 Design Criteria:

• Communal

• Local

• De-centralised action

• Collaboration

• Win-win-win

• Citizenship

• Wellbeing of nature and society

• Regenerative

• Designed for long-term and short-term benefit

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Business As Usual (Corporate Model)

Current model aims at perpetual wealth growth through exploitation of finite resources.

Capitalism (Current Model):

• Hierarchical

• Top-down

• Centralised control

• Competition

• Winner-takes-all

• Net-zero-sum

• Consumerism

• Wealth creation

• Extractive

Now past their best-before date. An existential threat.

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A Way Forward: The New Alternatives

Doughnut Economics

6 Stakeholder Model

Stakeholders:

• Environment

• Community

• Investors

• Business Partners & Suppliers

• Staff

• Clients

For sustainability:

• Benefits must replenish and exceed dependencies

• Benefits must be good for stakeholders

• The organisation must also do well

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Future Guardian Governance Model

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Managing Stakeholder Perspectives

• Riversimple.com

• Re-purposing Marketing — Dr Victoria Hurth

Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership Fellow and Co-Designer Head Tutor Sustainable Marketing

International Organization for Standardization Purpose-Driven Organizations Project Leader

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Re-purposing Marketing – Driving Sustainability

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The National Emergency Briefing

https://www.nebriefing.org/

Three Key Messages:

1. Governments must listen to scientists

2. Brief the public regularly on progress toward Net Zero

3. Stop taking bribes from fossil fuel corporates and lobbyists

Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE Professor of Intensive Care Medicine Director, Centre for Human Health, UCL

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Part 1: Fundamental Shifts

Address Root Causes, Not Symptoms

Example:

Nature is the universal infrastructure.

Restoring nature creates:

• Biodiversity gain

• Food production gain

• Economic gain

• Social gain (e.g. flood mitigation)

Build resilient, thriving communities.

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Part 2: New Models

• Doughnut Economics

• Circular Economy

• Future Guardian

• Stakeholder Model

• B Corps

• Social Enterprise

• Post-Growth / Regenerative Business

• Restorative Agriculture

• Marketing as a force for good

• Innovative entrepreneurs

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Part 3: New Social Norms

• Wellbeing focus

• Active travel

• Equality and equity

• Recycling, reusing, repairing

• Regenerative practices

• Investing in infrastructure → NATURE

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Corporates vs Civic Society

Corporates

Corporates cannot be “sustainable”. At best they can become “less unsustainable”.

They are designed to:

• Be extractive

• Grow perpetually

• Externalise costs

• Turn planet into landfill

But becoming less-unsustainable is important. And they must pay their way.

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Civic Society

Civic society must compensate by:

• Focusing on wellbeing of nature and communities

• Practising regenerative approaches

• Living within planetary boundaries

• Generating positive impacts for all stakeholders

• Circularity

• Active travel

• Social services

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Reactions…

• Are we responding appropriately?

• Are we responding fast enough?

• How must we adapt to avert the worst outcomes?

• What are your thoughts?

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Do What You Can

Thank you.

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