Reflections on Earth Day

By Vikki Slade, Associate Director for Sustainability

This Thursday, US President Joe Biden has organized a Leaders Summit to coincide not only with the 5th anniversary of the signing of the Paris Climate Accord, but with Earth Day 2021.

With five key themes, there are ways for us all to get involved. However, as an employee of a communications agency, it seems appropriate that Climate Literacy is the one that captures my imagination. As the mum of four teenagers (and a beleaguered school governor), I have seen the national curriculum shrink over the years; ripping out some of the ingenuity of teachers and some of the inspiration for children to build learning around the local environment or teaching around issues of the day.

At the same time, we have seen leadership from the young people themselves and from grassroots activists, pushing ahead and trying to educate older generations in the damage we have been doing to the world. Through the declarations of climate emergencies from companies and councils, there is finally the acknowledgement of the crisis in our natural world. But are we doing enough to educate the local government officers, members and directors of companies to make the changes needed with sufficient urgency?

Without the likes of David Attenborough, Bill Gates, Greta Thunberg and films like Seaspiracy and The Plastic Ocean, many of us would still be blind to the changes happening on our doorstep and far from home. In my eyes, Climate Literacy cannot come soon enough.

This project, which sees EarthDay.ORG call for Climate Education in every school around the world and meaningful citizen engagement, will ensure that the next generation are equipped with the knowledge and skills to build a better world and to communicate the importance in their communities.

Here at Cratus, we have joined the Race to Zero and are developing our own programme of work for and with local government and businesses around net-zero. Without those organisations that create the infrastructure and built environment having the skills and knowledge on innovation and solutions to climate and ecological issues, we are unlikely to deliver on the net-zero ambitions of communities closer to home.

Where to start this mission? In the home. Within our own company, we are finding ways to innovate in the way we work. We have begun to: map and reduce our own impact, communicate with our clients in order to help them innovate and create events and opportunities to inspire them to lead the way.

Earth Day seems like a good day to commit to make a difference, so why not get in touch and see how Cratus can help you find solutions to your sustainability issues or to share your climate friendly work with potential clients in the public and private sector.