Key takeaways from our ‘Bridging the Gap’ event

What a day that was!

From climate scientists, green tech pioneers, green businesses, charity heads,  all the way to journalists and bloggers, we had all sorts in the building for our Bridging the Gap event last week. 

The expert panel delivered a range of fascinating insights that delved into the most pressing problems that cause people to fall into the dreaded ‘intention-action’ gap. We also witnessed an inspirational presentation from Professor Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet, who set the scene for us perfectly.

Mark’s presentation was a real eye-opener. It took us on an incredible journey through the history of climate science, the impact we are witnessing today, the key challenges that lie ahead, and the solutions at our disposal. It even included a reminder on how the greenhouse effect works, and details on the first scientists to explore the effects in the 1850s. Hats off to Eunice Foote for being the first to the party!

We were also given details on the key things governments, businesses, and people can do to combat the climate crisis. Excellent food for thought ahead of the afternoon’s discussions and problem-solving sessions.

Possible government actions to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions:

• Support renewable energy
• Tax fossil fuel and cut fossil fuel subsidies
• Support ‘electric’ cars and public transport
• Carbon neutral buildings and retrofitting
• Reforest and Rewild
• Promote low emission farming and diet
• Support and expand Emissions nad Trading Schemes

Possible company actions to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions:

• Set transparent GHG reduction targets
• Switch to 100% renewable energy
• Engage Employees in company sustainability agenda
• Use carbon-neutral buildings or retrofit buildings
• Offset emissions by Reforestation and Rewilding
• Link your ambition to your supply and value chain
• Lobby government to support change
• Empower entrepreneurs to drive green innovation

Possible individual actions to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions:

• Talk about it, to everyone on social media
• Switch to a more vegetarian or vegan diet
• Switch to renewable energy supplier
• Reduce, reuse and recycle more
• Reduce your consumption
• Use electric/hybrid cars
• Stop flying – offset if you do
• Divest your pensions from fossil fuels
• Protest and vote

After Mark had us all brilliantly warmed up and motivated to solve the problem, it was time to hand over to our host, Gabby, for our excellent panel which included:

– Anna Wickes, Sustainability Senior Project Manager at Dr. Martens

– Paul Tyrer, Founder of Eumelia

– Priscilla Oshunremi, Head of Community at Yayzy

– Ella Shone, Founder of Top Up Truck

– Richard Strachan, MD of 3 Sided Cube

As anticipated, the discussion was enthralling, emotive, sometimes controversial, and thoroughly entertaining throughout!

There was hours worth of great content and insights to draw from, so we’ve done our best to filter it down and capture some of the best highlights and quotes to remember and have even provided a recording of the panel discussion (available here). 

Enjoy!

One of the most inspiring moments of the day was witnessing the enthusiastic networking and collaborative discussions that took place after the presentations and panel discussions. Just one week on, we are already seeing the fruits of this in action – brands, people, charities and media working together to provide solutions, support, finance, publicity and advice on how to make these solutions work.

Seeing this all happen in one room in live time was awesome. It just goes to show that if you get enough passionate, innovative people in the same room, you can make genuine progress. Watch this space!

The report has been developed specifically to make practical recommendations on how to help people act on their sustainable intentions and boost sustainable consumer and business behaviour using technological solutions across the UK and beyond.

In addition to specific recommendations, the report also: 

• Provides insights into consumer attitudes towards sustainability 
• Identifies key sustainability barriers facing consumers
• Highlights the prevalence and number of people impacted by the ‘intention-action gap’ 
• Provides insights into consumer attitudes towards technological support when attempting to make more sustainable decisions  
• Provides inspiration for organisations to reach out and collaborate with others and solve sustainability problems together
• Provides analysis on the role technology can play in improving sustainable behaviour

Key recommendations, as laid out in the report’s Executive Summary, include: 

• Help people understand the costs (financial and ecological) of their consumption
  • Technology can be a great driver to help people understand both the short and long term costs of their consumption.
  • At the point of purchasing a fast fashion item (for example), consumers could be shown the comparative cost of purchasing a similar sustainable item, and the long term cost of replacing the fast fashion item again and again, both to your pocket and to the planet. With access to each item’s sustainability rating, consumers have valuable information at their fingertips about their carbon footprint.
  • Utilise technology to change these behaviours:  
    • Big data 
    • Geolocation
    • AI 
    • Machine Learning Algorithms

• Boosting motivation
  • Showing a positive response to an action is a great driver for behaviour change.
  • A huge obstacle for sustainable living is that the individual may never experience the positive response that their action has on the environment. Not eating meat for a week does not have a direct impact on the individual’s experience of climate. However, technology can be a great driver for showing the virtual impact of one’s actions.

• Convenience
  • Convenience is a major factor that stops people actually following through on their sustainable intentions. People are often time poor, and have a multitude of other priorities that, in the moment, get in the way. Technology has been proven to be highly effective in reducing friction at the point of action -notably across shopping and financial transactions. 
  • Utilise technology to change these specific behaviours:
    • Big data 
    • Geolocation
    • Open API
    • Labelling

We are already receiving lots of positive feedback and plenty of questions in light of the findings, so make sure you join the party! Let us know what you think!

This report is a continuation of our Ignite program, so keep an eye out for more events, research and reports from us in the months ahead. Throughout the rest of 2021 and 2022, we will be launching many more initiatives and research findings, so make sure you follow us on our journey. And if your company, NGO, or if you personally would like to get involved and collaborate with us, please don’t hesitate to shout us a holla!