That was the over-arching theme as leaders from across the business spectrum as well as civic leaders gathered for the Bristol 2015 European Green Capital Business Summit.
The event focused on the challenges, as well as the huge opportunities, of an era where the world is changing faster than ever before – from climate change to changing markets, from limited resources to massive urban growth.
Ignoring our responsibilities was not an option, delegates heard. This was vividly highlighted by Dr Eddie O’Connor, recognised as a world leader in the renewable energy industry. Inaction, he said, would guarantee that “we humans face catastrophic and irreversible climate change”. 
Dr O’Connor, CEO of Mainstream Renewable Power, described himself as a former “sinner – a big one”, a reference to a career that included being the boss of an organisation extracting turf from Ireland’s peatlands for burning in power stations.
Then he “saw the light” and became one of the pioneers in the development of wind and solar energy.
He told the summit, staged at the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads: “I like being part of the future, being ahead of the curve and making good profits for doing what is right.
“The transition from a high to a low carbon economy requires the biggest-ever investment in infrastructure, in the way we manufacture, distribute and consume. It is not just an unprecedented challenge; it is also an unparalleled business opportunity for those of you with vision, foresight and courage.”
He said that the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) later this year would augment and universalise the momentum towards a zero carbon economy.
“And it’s virtually certain the solution will be putting a price on carbon, a proper price that internalises all its social costs,” he said. “I say – ‘Let the polluter pay’.”
He added that in cities, zero energy buildings must become the norm and even become net producers of energy. “Think of the potential of photovoltaic roof tiles that turn solar radiation into electric, that would then power everything within the building while heating it and cooling it – and all done in real time with smart appliances and smart grids,” he said
“In short, we are moving towards the era of complete interconnected renewable systems, in energy and manufacturing – an era where we redesign everything we do and the way we live.
“Probably the most exciting aspect of this vision is the city of the future, in which everything is connected to everything else through the internet – the ‘internet of things’ as it is called.”
The summit heard examples from executives of international businesses about how they are tackling sustainability issues:
Kingfisher plc: Its DIY subsidiary B&Q used to sell 10m bedding plants a year grown in peat. That no longer happens, explained Richard Gillies, group sustainability director. As part of the company’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint, an environmentally-friendly production method had been introduced, producing a cleaner product that grew better, created less waste and therefore was easier to get rid of.
He suggested that increasingly customers would recognise businesses that are seen to be “doing the right thing”.
Often, however, a significant challenge for many organisations was finding someone to present the initial business case for change. “But once sustainability is firmly embedded and colleagues have been encouraged to go on the journey, it actually gets quite exciting and interesting,” he added.
Jon Dee, host of Sky News Business Channel’s ‘Smart Money’ programme, explained how in his home country of Australia, McDonalds had switched from regularly-failing fluorescent tubes to LED lighting for their famous golden arches logo.
“This change in the most famous corporate symbol in the world has saved 60 to 70 % in energy use, plus big savings in maintenance,” he said.
He said it was clear that many businesses still wasted vast amounts of money by ignoring “no-brainer” ways of reducing energy bills through failing to follow steps that “are easy to do and which have a great rate of return”.
In his own business in Australia, solar-powered panels on the roof had been linked to solar batteries. “Now, any electricity we don’t use isn’t directed into the grid – it goes into the batteries within the office and means that, when the sun goes down, we are still powered by solar power”, he said. “During the busiest and most expensive time for energy consumption in the evening we are literally taking the entire business off the grid. We don’t pay a single cent.”
Following heavy investment in renewables, Swedish furniture giant IKEA is targeting 2020 as the year the company will self-generate power used in all its stores.
“Already,” explained its head of sustainability Joanna Yarrow, “we have 700,000 solar panels on roofs, 314 wind turbines around the world and, in the UK, provide 52% of our energy needs.
“We do it for basic business reasons, insulating ourselves against price rises and unpredictability of the future – and actually we also make money by doing it.”
The logistics giant DHL is replanning its delivery strategy to avoid the most congested hours of the day. Roger Burns, its vice-president of public sector, explained that, to avoid excess noise at night, quieter vehicles were being introduced with, for example, rubber protectors on roller shutters, automatic cut-out of the cabin radio as the driver opens the door, and new sensor technology making drivers more aware of cyclists.
At the end of the summit, Mayor of Bristol George Ferguson declared that he had been inspired by the event. “The message we got from the Youth Summit, at the start of Bristol’s European Green Capital year, was that young people want businesses to engage in their futures. And absolutely everything we have talked about today has been of relevance in that respect,” he said.
Being European Green Capital had been a brilliant example of collaboration, in the way it had brought together 800 organisations from all sectors, proving how partnership working across the city “is a really important part of selling the way we implement the values we espouse.
“I think the fact we are incredibly challenged means that we must be more entrepreneurial in our thinking – here, for example, we are already developing our own energy company, connecting waste to energy. We have to grab the opportunities which – in turn – means looking for very different ways of running and financing a city.”
