A climate of truth with Mike Berners-Lee and Lord Deben

Paul Skinner recently hosted a MarketingKind xChange at Citizen Good in London to explore how we can encourage greater truthfulness in public discourse on the climate emergency.

Paul interviewed Professor Mike Berners-Lee and The Rt. Hon John Gummer, Lord Deben to get their advice on what we can all do as business leaders and citizens to support meaningful action.

The top 3 take-aways from the discussion from Caroline Bates, founding partner at Citizen Good, were:

1. Insist on Truthfulness: Demand high standards of honesty from politicians. It’s our duty to challenge untruths and hold leaders accountable for climate impacts, especially at the local level. Organisations like Friends of the Earth provide resources to monitor MPs and their responses to climate issues.

2. Shift the Narrative: We need a cultural shift. Let’s redefine what it means to care for others by promoting sustainability in our social circles and professional environments. Changing this narrative can inspire collective action.

3. Leverage AI for Good: AI holds potential in solving climate challenges, but regulation is crucial. We must ensure its development aligns with our climate goals, rather than detracting from them.

Lord Deben is the founder and Chair of Sancroft International, a consultancy that advises both businesses and investors on all areas of Sustainability and ESG. Between 2012 and 2023 he was chair of the UK’s Independent Climate Change Committee. And he was also the UK’s longest serving Secretary of State for the Environment (1993-97).

Mike Berners-Lee is a leading expert in carbon metrics for organisations and the author of two books, There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years, How Bad Are Bananas? The carbon footprint of everything, and co-author of The Burning Question. Mike is a professor at Lancaster University’s Environment Centre, where his research includes carbon metrics and sustainable food systems. And he is also the founder of Small World Consulting (SWC), an associate company of Lancaster University, which works with organisations from small businesses to the biggest tech giants.

Watch the full xChange below or you can listen to the replay as a podcast here.