Can sustainability and investment events help solve the climate crisis? Discover CleanTech asks Emily Vernall, keynote speaker at the upcoming Reset Connect London, the UK’s largest sustainability ecosystem and green investment event:
What kind of role do events like Reset Connect play in solving the climate crisis? Climate change is an undeniably complex, multi-faceted phenomenon which means that siloed thinking between sectors is one of the biggest challenges and hindrances to generating effective solutions. Collaborative and cross-sectoral events like Reset Connect London are crucial spaces to bridge the gap between activists, business leaders, government, and the funders. They create opportunities to collaborate, learn, debate, and from this we can generate interdependent, cohesive solutions that counter sectoral tunnel vision. 102
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Issue 03
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June 2022
These events also are vital points of momentum. When the battle against climate inaction feels unending and futile, the energy and innovation that is sparked from gatherings of diverse, ambitious changemakers can provide a reminder that change can happen. How does this kind of solution orientated event balance with a focus on the severity of the climate challenges? If there is one thing I have learnt in my time in the environmental and climate advocacy space, it is that we need more reasons to be hopeful. Whilst there is no denying the severity of the climate emergency, the
widespread media focus on doomism can be debilitating and hinder both action and accountability. The world is full of untold stories and understated, untapped solutions for innovative change. Studies have shown that overly negative and apocalyptic narratives of climate change can simply encourage guilt, eco-anxiety, and defensiveness whilst successful theories of change focus on positive visions of the future that are underpinned by a strong social mandate and broad-based community engagement. I believe that unless we focus on the world we have to gain – a place that is inclusive,