At the Society for the Environment's 5th Annual Reception on 30th June, we were honoured to be joined by guest speaker Tony Juniper. For the last 25 years Tony has worked for change towards a more sustainable society at local, national and international levels and is one of the UK's best known environmentalists.
Tony took us back in time to December 1968, when the ‘Earthrise’ images taken by the crew of Apollo 8 sparked a new relationship with nature by raising awareness of the earth’s fragility. For the next 20-30 years policies and technology achieved success: reduced industrial pollution, cleaner air and rivers, reduction in acid rain and elimination of CFC’s.
At the same time, economic and population growth brought overuse of the earth’s natural resources, a rise in CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere and a general decline of ecosystems through neglect and increased consumption patterns. Tony told us he believes we need to change our dialogue if we are to avoid disaster and that environmental professionals require new skills sets to be able to communicate in a compelling way in order to gain the commitment and buy-in needed from politicians and individuals.
