My Blog
Seven sustainable new year’s resolutions
Civilization is faced with an existential crisis of proportions never faced before. Despite this, solutions abound, with new innovations appearing at every turn. We have the know-how, we have the technology and science on our side. We 'simply' need the...
Business models matter
Originally posted on LinkedIn Sustainable business models as the holy grail of entrepreneurship Business models are imbued within the very fabric of every enterprise, whether known or not. Often enterprises display several business models at once (think Amazon, Google...
How business can THRIVE
THRIVE will be the subject of a pre-release showcase presentation on Jan 14th/Jan 15th, 2020 at the Strongly Sustainable Business Model Group meeting held online via zoom. We encourage all to attend this free event here. If you like to participate in this project by...
Sustainable afforestation: feasible or fallacious?
If we cannot build new forests, let's turn our concrete one’s to green It is no secret that one of the largest causes of climate change is the increased concentration of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases that build up in our atmosphere. These greenhouse gases...
Container Homes are not Sustainable for the Homeless
Originally published on Linkedin Homelessness is a serious problem within our community. Numerous countries around the world are facing the same issues with the increased visibility of homelessness. For instance, the homelessness crisis in Australia increased by...
The effects of the coronavirus on marine life
Originally published on LinkedIn All countries over the world are currently facing the coronavirus crisis. The pandemic has had a significant impact on various aspects of our lives and environment, including life below water. The government restriction to...
Urban Building: From cement to living designer construction materials
Originally published on LinkedIn Most people are not aroused by cement. Yet it's the most popular material used in the world after water. And you need water and cement to make concrete among others such as sand and small stones. Cement is readily available,...
Coronavirus and long-term sustainability
Originally published on LinkedIn Coronavirus overtakes climate change as a hot topic, yet the two share similar attributes. Coronavirus is an existential threat; one aspect of well-being and long-term sustainability for all of us on this planet. In fact, I have...
The EVs you can trust: from Electric Vehicles to Electronic Voting
Originally posted on Linkedin This will be short, sweet and to the point. I will not be voting. The madness of requiring voters to vote at public booths, and in public places among public gatherings, potentially exposing voters to the coronavirus, is unfathomable....
The future of work: the 9 benefits of Telecommuting
Originally posted on LinkedIn UPDATE 15th March 2020. Whilst coronavirus is nothing to sneeze at (pardon the pun), it is forcing complete lockdowns in places like northern Italy and Spain; the City of Manila in the Philippines; and the...
The science of well-being
Originally published on Linkedin What constitutes well-being? In many ways this is a rather sensitive topic as political, religious, cultural and ethical issues come into play. What may be seen as generally 'good' by one, may be regarded as 'bad' by another. Even if...
Night-time Photovoltaic cells
Originally posted on LinkedIn Unless you have been living under a rock, most of us have heard and may even have solar technology atop our roofs at home. Indeed, the price of solar has come a long way down ever since it was first introduced in 1954 with a slim...
Brexit – the UK is no longer part of the EU: 5 key implications
Originally posted on LinkedIn I am not a man of politics. Personally I find it all too disconcerting, more problematic than useful. I would certainly like to see those in power adopt a far more pragmatic and strategic long-term vision, rather than their often...
Drought, Destruction, Death, and Denials: the politics of public affairs
Originally posted on LinkedIn Climate crisis, exports, and renewable energy Australia is facing the worst drought ever, brought on by the climate crisis. Yet not all, including our political leaders, are convinced. The Morrison government claims Australia...
The interceptor reduces ocean plastics
Originally posted on LinkedIn Continuing our innovation series, let's look at a scalable and affordable solution that globally addresses our plastics in the ocean. Whilst there are several programs afloat (pardon the pun) to clean up and remove plastics from the major...
The World Benchmarking Alliance delivers its first scorecard!
Originally posted on LinkedIn Thirteen months on and the WBA delivers its first official corporate sustainability performance scorecard: the Seafood Stewardship Index (SSI), devised in collaboration with those within the Seafood industry. Measuring the world’s thirty...
Reasoning from first principles
Originally posted on LinkedIn With upwards of three billion people dependent on seafood for their animal protein intake; making the industry accountable for its actions, by measuring and incentivising business impact towards a sustainable food system that works for...
All-in-one clean water solution
Originally posted on LinkedIn As part of our innovation series, where we look at solutions for the future, this week we examine the Zero Mass Water SOURCE hydropanels providing clean water. Founder and chief executive, Cody Friesen - a professor at Arizona State...
Radical ways to address the GHG emissions challenge through Carbon Sequestration
Originally posted on LinkedIn The damage done As the human population has increased, more than a third of the land surface and three-quarters of freshwater resources are now used to grow food. Human activity has significantly altered three-quarters of our planet's...
The history of sustainability
Business was invented to make our life better, or so we are told. What is clear is that much of our unsustainable issues are due to the disregard of business far and wide, the world over. Whilst business is the biggest culprit, it also represents our greatest source...
The sharing economy: When you have something rare or spare, why not share?
Originally posted on LinkedIn Certainly times have changed - drastically. The sharing economy is vast, with different meanings to various consumers. You can now get an unsecured personal loan directly from your peers, share the same office space with dozens of...
The Flourishing Enterprise Institute
Originally posted on LinkedIn Earlier this month we launched the Flourishing Enterprise Institute (FEI). Seven years in the making, 1600+ members strong, and 80+ monthly meetings later, it aims to be a planetary network of applied research nodes dedicated to...
Sustainable Veganism: truth or fiction?
Originally posted on LinkedIn Is veganism sustainable? Whilst conventional wisdom would have you think so, a rethink may be in order. An article published in the Washington Post details how a number of studies including one by Carnegie Mellon University, undermines...
Safer Nuclear reactors
Originally posted on LinkedIn I have been asked if Nuclear Power is considered renewable. Well - yes - it is. They do not produce carbon dioxide emissions. However, it represents a risky business, as they produce radioactive waste and thus not good for the...
Going to space to benefit humans on Earth
Originally posted on Linkedin We had the technology to go to the moon 50 years ago - this day - but with the end of the cold war, everything stopped. Why? Put simply - in my opinion - we lost the motivation. With the end of the cold war, there was no need...
The race to thrivability: going beyond simply catching up
Following a month away, facing Europe's existential heat-wave crisis, I presented at major sustainability-related conferences and held meetings with my counterparts, subject experts and knowledgeable officials in Asia and Europe. It appears the message is starting to...
TESLA moves in mysterious ways
Originally published on LinkedIn (Updated Oct 1, 2019) TESLA's latest acquisition may seem all about autonomous ride-sharing "robotaxis". In fact, being actively involved in the AI, machine and deep learning space myself, I can tell you that it is about a lot more....
Australia’s stance on Climate Change
Originally published on LinkedIn After recently returning from a twenty-year stint abroad, I have been spending the last few months "surveying the land". It appears that whilst there are some great projects on the ground, we Australians are way behind reducing our...
The irrationality, irrelevance, and irreverence of religion
Originally published on LinkedIn I am bound to irritate, shock, appall, upset and amuse some people. I feel compelled to point out the obvious as aplenty do not. Given there are over 3000 'gods' that have been conjured up by mankind in over 1000 religious...
21st Century System Value Creation: Key insights from mono-capitalism to multi-capitalism
Originally published on LinkedIn For more than half a Millennium – since Franciscan friar, Luca Pacioli’s publication of the first full account of double-entry bookkeeping in 1494 – business and investment have calculated value by focusing predominantly on a sole...
Breakeven Renewable Energy
Originally published on LinkedIn Over $1 trillion has been invested in renewables worldwide, creating around 10 million job opportunities. Renewables benefit the environment as they represent a clean and sustainable source of power. This includes solar, wind,...
The right to repair
Consumerism has certainly taken its toll on society and the environment. Take all the effort that goes into mining the raw materials for the consumer electronics industry, transport of the same - often from afar – only to eventually end up dumped. E-waste - the trash...
Death by air pollution
A recent report shows that over a million Indians die every year due to air pollution. Power plants have been encouraged to install scrubbers to curb emissions. Eighty percent of particulate matter, sulphur and nitrous oxides comes from thermal power companies....
Law enforcement in the Philippines
Up until not so long ago, I thought that this third world-come-developing country was like the wild wild west! I have come to discover that in fact the Philippines has plenty of law and law enforcers. Spend a day or two in this marvelous pleasant summer paradise, and...
Sustainability matters!
Sustainability matters! Working in the ‘sustainability’ space with medium to large enterprises over the years, I have unfortunately at times been faced with the casual response of: “this does not affect us, nor do we have any say”. This ‘why should I care’ attitude is...
Backcasting the future of sustainability
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail! It was not so long ago that the catch-cry of business was planning. As the adage goes: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. As a high achiever, this compelled me, several years ago, to become the best planner possible and...
Sri Lanka – Eco-tourism and the Temple of the dogs
Overlooking the Indian ocean, I am sitting on the balcony of the Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka, where one of the most prolific science and science-fiction writers ever, Arthur Charles Clarke (1917-2008) penned his famous series of novels. It is quite fitting as when...
China’s Chang’e probe lands on the dark side of the moon
Aiming to surpass all other previous missions and establish a lunar 'palace' on the moon, China, for the first time, successfully landed its Chang'e spacecraft on Jan 2, 2019 on the far side of the moon. China might be playing catch up, however in the decade since...
Business transitions for sustainability
Business transitions for sustainability Over the last twenty years, it has become apparent that government and business play an important and active role in achieving sustainability. In particular, understanding to what extent one’s own business is sustainable,...
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure???
I had an interesting experience recently that I would like to share. Being an ecologically friendly person into re-use and recycling, I thought I was doing the right thing. It turns out, no one was interested! This is what happened. I have just returned to Australia...