A Life On Our Planet... Food For Thought
This week I had the pleasure of watching ‘Sir David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet’. While sat in a social distanced cinema room, I had an overwhelming feeling that more than ever we must continue to push the green economy and net zero transition into action despite the pandemic. In 2001, the 3rd UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected that during the next 100 years, higher maximum temperatures, heatwaves, an increase in the risk of forest fires, and significantly lower air quality would emerge. Fast-forward to 2020, more than 3 million acres of land were burned in California, record temperatures were reached, and air pollution skyrocketed. All of these occurrences have one thing in common: they were fuelled by climate change. I am not a scientist, but the scenes that we have all witnessed speak for themselves and the powerful visuals in Sir David Attenborough’s film reinforce that the climate crisis is here and can no longer be ignored.
It is not all doom and gloom. If we act now, we can still put it right. As a Headhunter in the climate sector, I can vouch for the amazing people, businesses and investors out there who are creating the most innovative technologies and solutions to reduce carbon. Vertical farming within cities, will help to free up more land and in countries such as the Netherlands, which is one of the most densely populated countries, farmers have become experts in getting the most out of their land, sustainably. A renewable future will allow energy to be more affordable, produce cleaner cities, and will never run out. Each of us as individuals can do our bit too. Changing our diets and thinking more responsibly about how our food is sourced, could ultimately help to free up more land. But most importantly, the nations leaders must come together and continue to form international agreements such as ‘no-take zones’ in fishing, that truly tackle climate change and re-establish the natural biodiversity systems that keep us in existence. With the UK hosting the Net Zero Festival as a virtual event this week and COP26 scheduled to be held in Glasgow in 2021, I have every faith in the leaders who are dedicating their careers to saving our planet, but we as individuals must also make changes to the way in which we live on a daily basis.
Victoria McQueen, Co-Founder of Ruston McQueen