Our final event in our series of fringe events last week at COP26, in partnership with The Resilience Shift and Wood, was Wednesday’s Business Leaders Roundtable Dinner Discussion on Climate Resilience Leadership: The New Competitive Advantage.
We were delighted to welcome our guest speaker for the evening, Lieutenant General (Retd) Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE, author of the Ministry of Defence’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach. Lt. Gen. Nugee led a discussion on the actions and key skills required from business leaders to drive rapid and effective change within their organisations. It was an informative and stimulating evening under Chatham House Rule.
Here are the key headlines:
The emotional argument on climate change is not winning
Advancing the cogent case for change requires the economic, prosperity and even capability argument to convince boardrooms to take the action we need to see.
It’s time to move
The military knows the importance of action when under attack. Standing still leads to nowhere – but doing something, anything can change the dynamics in vital ways. Now is our time to take action in our battle against climate change.
To drive forward a climate resilience agenda within your organisation, you need to:
- Get the narrative right – and use the language your business or institution understands.
- Build in a degree of threat, making clear the potential consequences of inaction.
- Demonstrate the capabilities, capacities and opportunities that will lead to a better, cheaper, and more efficient organisation whilst saving the planet.
We’d like to extend our thanks to Lieutenant General (Retd) Richard Nugee CB CVO CBE for his time and insights during this rich and rewarding discussion. We’d also like to thank our Ambassador, Wood, for generously hosting us during our fringe series at this year’s COP.
