Below is a transcription of the speech given by Adam Woodhall at the Climate Justice Demo in front of the Tate Modern museum.  You can watch it here.

"This is a really important day in taking climate action in the world, but I’m going to start off with something that might surprise you a little bit in what I’m saying because fossil fuels are great.  And no, I’m not a fan of the Donald.  

The reason why I say that is because actually if it wasn’t for fossil fuels we wouldn’t have the society that we have at the moment.  This phone that I’m holding in my hand, the Boris bike that I cycled today, the kettle that was powered by the energies from fossil fuels mainly, all of them due to fossil fuels.

So they are really important.  They have been crucial to getting us to this point that we are now.  But they’re not right for our future.  We’ve got to go on a transition and today what I’m going to talk to you about is how maybe we take that transition from disproportionate use of fossil fuels to a low carbon future. 

I like the society I live in. This phone’s pretty cool.  Cycling around on the Boris bike’s great.  Being able to go into that fabulous museum behind you is brilliant.  So it’s how do we keep that and also have much less fossil fuels because that magnificent building behind you was actually obviously a power station.  It was fuelled by oil.  In fact, at its peak it would use 16,000 tonnes of oil a day and it was going for over 100 years nearly.  

Ten years ago I launched myself into the world of sustainability, and it’s been an amazing roller coaster journey.

In 2006 there were some things I already knew—for example, that sustainability is good for people, profit and planet—but over the years, I’ve learnt many things, just 10 of which are below.

These highlight aspects of my personal story and the wider narrative as I, and sustainability, have developed.

Employee engagement is a buzzword that has been around for a long time, but what does it actually mean, and what are the benefits to organisations? There are many ways an organisation can engage its employees.  This article explores both the theory and practice, especially in relation to the social side of sustainability. I’ll highlight two best practice examples from this vast galaxy of programs, initiatives, and missions, one from either side of the Atlantic, one a niche NGO and the other a high profile brand.

Whilst there are hundreds of definitions of this field, a particularly well- rounded one comes from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).  Engagement is: “being positively present during the performance of work by willingly contributing intellectual effort, experiencing positive emotions and meaningful connections to other”.  They make a useful distinction between emotional engagement (driven by a desire to do more for an organisation) and transactional engagement (drive to earn a living and progress).