Peer to Pastry Talk
On COP28, building tech sustainably and accreditations
What do a sustainable wealth advisor, a data and market research expert, a community gardener, a tech entrepreneur and a zero-waste shop owner have in common?
They all prioritised sustainability on a Monday morning before work and joined Wokingham’s People Planet Pastry - a relaxed and informal session designed for local businesses who are short on time but not ambition for reducing their business impact on the environment.
(Right to left) People Planet Pastry Wokingham Meetup with Andrew Le Breuilly, Rosie Deane, Maya Gheorghe, Steve Day, Henry Orunkoya, Elizabeth Corse.
With COP28, the UN’s global climate conference, now just days away from kicking off in the UAE, the sense is that business can’t wait for governments to show climate leadership. At best, we can leverage the additional media coverage to kickstart more candid conversations in our workplaces and with our customers and suppliers.
Whether inspired by their children, wanting more than just a corporate salary or witnessing the struggle of a turtle caught in plastic having her arm amputated, the reasons for business leaders to choose a better way to do business is as wide-ranging as it is motivating.
Pastry Peer Group Discussions
💡 How to build tech sustainably when there is so little choice between cloud computing options. For those who need to build tech platforms, the choice between Amazon, Microsoft or Google does not feel like a real choice - especially when balancing time-pressures and functionality requirements.
💡 How Taylor Swift had to postpone an Eras show in Rio after a fan died from suspected heat stress as a result of a wet-bulb event. This is when the temperature rises high enough that it threatens our ability to keep our bodies at a safe internal temperature. Rio, on Saturday 18th November hit a record high of the heat index which combines temperature and humidity peaked at 59.7 degrees celsius. This is as a result of a strong El Niño event (a weather phenomenon that periodically warms up the surface waters of the eastern and central tropical Pacific Ocean) coupled with this being the hottest year on record. Brazil is one of the countries where there is a greater health risk due to dangerous wet-bulb temperatures and why everyone - even Taylor Swift - is affected.
💡Who really verifies accreditations such as B Corp or the Leaping Bunny Certification? There is no doubt businesses have little choice but to ‘pay-to-play’ for all sorts of accreditations while at the same time doubting how effective they really are. One of the businesses at People Planet Pastry had gone through the B Corp Impact Assessment and on balance felt it had been a commercial advantage. A B Corp, or Benefit Corporation, is a type of business entity that is formed with the purpose of creating positive social and environmental impact, in addition to financial returns for its shareholders. There are growing concerns following the news that B Corp marketing agency Havas won the Shell account. Shell has backed down from its Net Zero commitments at a time of hyper profits so the question remains who decides whether this is a B Corp making an impact or not. The discussion brought up the use of UN Sustainable Development Goals and while no one verifies these, for smaller businesses, selecting which of the 17 goals are relevant to a business can go some way towards communicating intent, values, and focus.
💡Too few of us are communicating our climate actions. Whether it is because of a lack of time or because of the potential risk of greenwashing, few of the micro-businesses at People Planet Pastry Wokingham are shouting about the actions they are taking.
💡 Supporting Young People in the Workplace including what the best way is to support schools and young people given how little support they now receive.
Resources Driving Change
1. Sustainable Hosting with Krystal Hosting
Krystal Hosting was suggested as a resource for those curious to switch to sustainable hosting solutions.
The Curious Lounge, in Reading Berkshire, supports young people between 16 and 24 into work. They are always looking to partner with businesses looking to employ brilliant, diverse and young talent.
3. The Career & Enterprise Company
For those passionate about supporting schools with future careers, the Career & Enterprise Company is a great way to support schools.
B Corp is a thorough certification process companies of all sizes can go through to determine their environmental and social impact. It involves changing a business’ article of association to demonstrate they balance financial interests with the best interests of their employees, customers, suppliers and the environment.
5. UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The UN SDGs is a framework that businesses, including micro-businesses, can use to communicate their sustainability values and intentions. It is effectively the world’s to-do list for serving the needs of all. They were introduced in 2015 with a target date of 2030.
Carbon Fingerprinting helps explain why the internet is worse for the planet than aviation and more importantly what businesses can do about it.
Wokingham People Planet Pint COPPP28
Another opportunity is coming up which brings the community together during COP28 with Wokingham’s Conference of the People Planet Pint 28 (aka COPPP28) on December 7, 2023, at The Rose Inn.
This local meetup is for anyone who lives and/or works in Wokingham Borough or indeed Berkshire and who is curious, conscious or concerned about climate change and sustainability. It is for business leaders and owners, local residents, local council/government workers, students, consultants, those looking to switch careers, or sustainability professionals.
Commitments and our Circle of Control
While there was certainly indifference or apathy towards COP28 because of how removed, out of date and ineffective the process has been to date, the key takeaway is that business does not need to wait for governments to act.
By focusing on what is in our circle of control, in just 60mins the group identified some commitments including to:
💪 Promote People Planet Pint locally to bring more people into the conversation
💪 Engage more with schools and young people
💪 Switch website to green provider
💪 Declutter waste by giving away as much as possible
💪 Adopt UN SDGs as a first step towards more in-depth accreditations
💪 Add a dedicated page to websites outlining what Environmental, Social and Governance steps are being taken or considered.
People Planet Pastry Wokingham is a testament to the collective power of local businesses committed to making a difference. Let's continue to leverage our resources, engage in meaningful discussions, and drive positive change within our communities and beyond.
If you missed the event, be sure to join the next People Planet Pastry session on Monday, February 19, at 8am at Maya’s Refillables.
A Game of Inches
Watch what Al Pacino has to say about the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
We leave you with this collaboration between Richard Curtis and Al Pacino about being at half-time on the UN SDGs.
