Conquering Food Waste as a City - The City of Milan

Another Earthshot prize-winner and fantastic Exemplar for tackling food waste at scale is the City of Milan. This is such an inspirational project - and shows that with the right planning and everyone pulling in the same direction, new systems can be created that serve the many and solve myriad food waste problems at the same time.

A third of all food produced globally is wasted. Each discarded food item uses precious resources and heaps pressure on agriculture. The global food system generates between 25-30% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions suffer from food insecurity.

The City of Milan’s Food Waste Hubs tackle two problems in one. Launched in 2019 with the aim of halving waste by 2030, each hub recovers food mainly from supermarkets and companies’ canteens and gives it to NGOs who distribute it to the neediest citizens.

Milan is the first major city to enforce a city-wide food waste policy encompassing public agencies, food banks, charities, NGOs, universities and private businesses. And it is working. Today the city has three Food Waste Hubs, each recovering about 130 tonnes of food per year or 350 kg per day, an estimated 260,000 meals equivalent.

Milan has created a blueprint that can be scaled throughout the world. If more follow Milan’s lead, cities may become one of our greatest assets in humanity’s progress toward a waste free world.

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Saving our Rain Forests - The Republic of Costa Rica

Leadership is powerful when it brings whole communities and indeed countries together. The Republic of Costa Rica was recently awarded the first Earthshot prize for Protecting and Restoring Nature. Their systems rethinking approach, focusing on benefits for their people and the planet - showcases that change can most definitely happen - and at significant scale. They also have shown the positive impact to people and planet, working collaboratively with nature as we should be. Surely this provides a blueprint for other countries to not only be inspired but to take practical and necessary action.

Forests are home to half our plants and animals and three quarters of our birds. They suck carbon from the air and return the oxygen we breathe. Yet in 2020 more trees were felled than ever before, causing 10% of global warming.

In the 1990s, the vast forests of Costa Rica were devastated, half their former size. But the people of Costa Rica and their Ministry for Environment had a plan to save them. Its programmes paid citizens to protect forests, plant trees, and restore ecosystems.

The results were extraordinary. Costa Rica’s forests doubled in size. Flora and fauna thrived which led to a boom in ecotourism, contributing $4 billion to the economy.

The government is now taking the approach to urban areas. It believes 30% of the world’s land and oceans could be protected this way too. Winning The Earthshot Prize would help it share knowledge and practices globally, especially in the Global South. Costa Rica’s motto is “pura vida” or “pure life”. Those words could soon echo across the world.

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Leadership - Crystal Doors

This is what sustainability leadership looks like - not only sorting your own house out (and quite brilliantly), but their MD, Richard Hagan - has also spent months advising other businesses.

Having explored their website - they've documented their strategy, progress and recognition, policies, climate disclosure, community focus, alignment with SDGs - and have created a 'show and tell' knowledge hub to support others to inspire and support in replicating their approach.

Transparent, committed, generous - truly inspirational leadership. 🙌

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Leadership - IllyCaffe

Inspiration from Massimiliano Pogliani CEO illycaffè. Another example of great leadership in sustainability - and the practicalities and necessity of engaging key stakeholders in process...brands have the power and responsibility to educate their customers to support not only awareness but necessary behaviour change.

🙌 - When business A sneezes, community B catches a cold, supplier C trips up and river D cops it. Closing the artificial space that businesses have placed between themselves and all other interests is vital for the future of both capitalism and the planet.

🙌 - The second reason why consumers’ interest in sustainability is important is that the success of a firm’s work in this field depends on the extent to which it engages them. That’s because the so-called use phase is where a brand leaves much of its environmental footprint. Take Illy, for instance. The company plans to become carbon neutral in time for its centenary in 2033, which will require it to adopt several energy-efficiency measures. Yet, if millions of its customers were still in the habit of boiling a full kettle to make a single cup of coffee at that point, that would render Illy’s efforts largely meaningless.

🙌 - With this risk in mind, the brand recently started a consumer-focused marketing campaign called ‘One makes the difference’. The idea this conveys is that anyone can advance the sustainability cause.

The increasing concern among consumers for sustainability issues is “very positive”, he says. “We have a responsibility to amplify this and become part of a growing movement.”

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