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How do we bring an end to the environmental “blah, blah, blah”?

October 27, 2021

Photo by Jacek Dylag on Unsplash

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jameswyatt

When I was a young man playing rugby, I was in an environment where I felt (rightly or wrongly) that it was only socially acceptable to be straight, so I pretended! It may not have been particularly healthy for my personal wellbeing, but it didn't take long to learn what to say and how to behave in order to convince those around me. And it worked pretty well! So much so that when one of my teammates later met my boyfriend at a wedding, he famously said to the bride and groom that I "couldn't possibly be gay because he played rugby with me for years!"

So why is this little anecdote so relevant to COP 26? Well… because if a shy, introverted gay boy can pull off being straight, then it is not exactly hard for politicians with their armies of speech writers, advisers and spin doctors to pretend to be green. And that is what many of them are doing!

It is clear that this is hugely aggravating to many people. Prince William was moved to say that:

"We can't have more clever speak, clever words but not enough action."

And Greta Thunberg did a wonderful speech at the Youth4Climate conference in Milan, knocking the hollow "blah, blah, blah" statements that are rolled out as politicians compete with each other to say things that sound incredibly grand but mean absolutely nothing. She added that:

"Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises."

These comments reflect the overwhelming sense of frustration at our politicians' willingness to make promises that turn into nothing, to say one thing to a green summit and then something different to their voters, or to just ignore the science and to avoid the debate.

But is it really the fault of our political leaders? We have created an environment where only one opinion is socially acceptable, and it is therefore absolutely no surprise they are pretending! Rather than blame the leaders for their "blah, blah, blah" statements, we need to realise that that is purely a reflection of the one-dimensional echo chamber that we have created.

In an article about the summit, Andrew Rawnsley wrote that:

"A key role of the host is to charm and cajole other governments to do dramatically better at cutting their output of greenhouse gases."

How depressing! Is cajoling really the answer? If we actually want to solve the problems that we are facing and to find solutions, then shouldn't we be facilitating some deep and honest conversations? If countries or leader are not convinced by the forecasts of doom, then shouldn't we be trying to understand why? If leaders don't believe that their voters are ready to make any big sacrifices, then don't we need to explore the reasons for this? If countries want to prioritise their economic growth over the environmental impact, then shouldn't we listen to why they are making that choice?

These are the conversations that I want to hear, because these doubts and concerns reflect the opinion in broader society. We may not want to admit it, but huge numbers think the forecasts of doom are overstated, are not prepared to give up things or make major changes to their lifestyle, or just think that there are bigger problems facing them in their day-to-day lives. We are not going to solve our global problems if we close our eyes and ears to this broad church of opinion. We are not going to solve problems if the cynics are not engaged, or worse still, not even at the table. And we are not going to solve problems if saying the right thing is valued more highly than speaking the truth.

So rather than lambast those who make hollow statements, it is down to the rest of us to create the atmosphere where pretending does not seem like the best strategy. We should encourage honesty, allow all opinions to be voiced and actively listen to both sides of the argument. We should shift the focus away from those who already believe to those who are less convinced, taking the time to discuss, digest, analyse and understand their concerns and reservations and trying to find ways to overcome them. This is the only way we are going to deliver on the big commitments that are so needed.

If we can get this balance into COP 26, changing its focus from a round of political grandstanding into a summit of honest conversation and problem solving, then maybe we have a chance of making something happen. I am an absolute believer in the power of discussion to solve the most complex problems and there is no doubt that we can unleash that power on to the issues of climate change. But it needs an authentic conversation and an intellectual debate, and at present, that is sadly lacking. We don't currently have these discussions as everything goes one way, with the consequence that half the great minds are focused on telling the non-believers how stupid they are and the other half are focused on building their defences. Let's use COP 26 to change that and get all of the great minds focused on solving the problem. This means abandoning the temptation to just criticise the doubters and to cajole people into pretending that they care, and triggering the start of honest debate, where we listen to both sides and leverage the power of diverse opinions to come up with the best answers.

James Wyatt

Author of The Art of Discussion

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Can tech help female entrepreneurs break the bias?

Women founders continue to come up against common challenges and biases
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

Written by Kelly Devine, Division President UK & Ireland, Mastercard

Starting a business may have historically been perceived as a man’s game, but this couldn’t be further from reality. Research shows women are actually more likely than men to actively choose to start their own business – often motivated by the desire to be their own boss or to have a better work-life balance and spend more time with their family.

The recently published Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurship 2021 found that in the category of 'Aspiration Driven Entrepreneurship’ – capturing those who actively choose to start their own business – women in the UK surpass men: 60% vs 56%. And Mastercard research from February 2022 found 10% of female business owners started their business in the past two years compared to 6% of men – meaning women were 67% more likely to have started a business during the pandemic.

Yet, there are common challenges that women founders continue to come up against - not least the gender imbalance in the household and long-held biases which are still prevalent.

In the UK, women are almost three times more likely to be balancing care and home commitments than men, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic as the additional barriers of school closures and lockdowns meant that the care time of dependents rose significantly on a day-to-day level for women. In addition, women were less likely to have access to a home office, greatly impacting the work they were able to accomplish when working from home was the only option.

It's also widely known that female business owners are still more likely to struggle to access funding for their business ideas. According to Dealroom, all-women founding teams received just 1.4% of the €23.7bn invested into UK start-ups in 2021, while all-male leadership teams have taken almost 90% of the available capital.

Without financial support, and when juggling significant time pressures both at home and at work, how can women grow their companies and #BreaktheBias (as this year’s International Women’s Day termed it)? What tools or support can save them time and money, and give them the headspace they need to focus on building their business?

With female owned businesses collectively estimating revenue growth of £120 billion over the next five years, solving this problem is bigger than supporting women – it’s about supporting the national economy.

Using tech to level the playing field

There are clearly societal issues at play that need to be resolved. But when we look at the rise in technology businesses during the pandemic, we can plainly see an alternative source of support critical for business growth: digital tools.

A third of female business owners say new technologies will be crucial to the success of their business in the future and one in five say it is the most important thing for business growth.

With new technology comes new ways to pay, create, and work. And yet there are barriers that prevent business owners accessing this technology. Women are significantly more likely to say they want to use more digital tools but don’t know what is best for their business and also more concerned about the security of digital tools.

When technology is adopted by businesses – whether using online accounting solutions or messenger services for communicating with staff – it saves them time, allows them to maintain and grow their customer base, and ultimately increases cost savings and profit.

By drastically improving the training and support that is available to women-owned business to access and utilise technology we will allow these businesses to grow and succeed. And we know there is demand for it.

Research done by the IFC and Dalberg shows that female entrepreneurs are more likely to invest time and money in business development. This includes product development, customer base expansion, and digital tools and training and there are plenty of services available offering this type of support – many of them for free.

One such programme is Strive UK – an initiative of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth – which aims to reach 650,000 micro and small business owners across the UK and empower them with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy through free guidance, helpful tools and one-to-one mentoring.

Working together with small business experts – Enterprise Nation, Be the Business and Digital Boost – we hope to ensure hundreds of thousands of UK female business owners have the tools they need to succeed and reach their ambitious goals. Because this ambition remains strong in the UK, with female business owners largely optimistic about the future despite the multitude of challenges they are facing. Four in ten say they will grow their business in the next five years – compared to only a third of male business owners – and they’re also 35% less likely than men to say they plan to downsize or close the business.

But if we do not empower female entrepreneurs to access the tools and technology they need to grow, there is a risk this optimism could be misplaced. Support programmes that provide business owners with guidance and mentorship can help ensure this isn’t the case, allowing female entrepreneurs to not only survive but thrive in the months and years ahead.