Vicky Smith’s Post

10 Insights from 2 days at Innovation Zero, the 'UK's largest sustainability conference'... 1) Gratitude: For living in London, being able to access global-level, free events like this, with some serious brains & speakers from scientists to engineers to policy advisors & activists (kudos Clover Hogan for challenging the sponsorship by BP on the main stage) 2) Overwhelmingly Corporate £s (BP sponsor at entry 1st impression!), but improved. Last year, its inaugural, a green-wash out: Government-sponsored, suited snakeoil salesmen in a hall of variously-named money-for-old-rope offsets, pretending otherwise. This year, still suits, plus a few hoodies... tho still the only one in Veja trainers (even the average London tube carriage fares better). 3) "Investment goes where returns are, not where it's needed" - a mindset shift is required, here from a talk on AI & governance for sustainability, but pretty representative of all. 4) R&D: needs more investment. It's costly investigating eg. the bottom of the ocean, returns aren't forthcoming, nor grants. Same for so much sustainability. 5) Tourism: Completely missing from the programme, despite being 10% global GDP & jobs, 8%/+ emissions. Only aviation - 40% tourism emissions - included, not the other 60%. And yet sustainable tourism offered as a positive solution (to investment, grant, livelihoods, support) in nearly all the sessions I attended (Blue economy, biodiversity, energy, finance, conservation, NBS, capacity building) & of course plays significant role in infrastructure, water, agriculture, built environment... ie. all the topics of the event. Tourism needs to be there. Happy to help advise! 6) Tourism: suggested multiple times as a holistic solution, touching people & places, communities & conservation & commerce: Did I mention it wasn't even on the programme? 7) Aviation: good update on SAF vs electric/hydrogen. The future is optimistic but too long: we're not doing anywhere near enough. Issue is supply: investment, feedstock & scaling. SAF as a short term is only 1% of planes' fuel. 8) Investment too concerned with short-term ROI: Risk-averse of cost vs returns when the real risk is to the planet of doing nothing. Need fast short term solutions delivering positive impacts, and holistic solutions to uplift ecosystems, even if not financial returns (yet)... too much investing in the past, in what are already stranded assets. 9) Conservation: the best investment. In carbon, soil, land, species, blue...but takes time - & a need to shift the whole system - economy, legals, mindsets... 10) Cost: too much focus; not on benefits or true costs. Said pretty much everyone on a stage, surrounded by corporates and investors in short-term ROI. Fair play to Innovation Zero for bringing together the brains, corporates, money & politicians to start conversations & collaborations... Let's see it even better next year, with regenerative tourism included as a solution for sustainable development :)