Transforming your business can change the world.
[Applause]
i have
three good news for you regarding
climate change
but first let me introduce you to louise
my daughter yesterday was her first
birthday and between louise and me there
is a gap of
30 years one generation
and what luis doesn’t know yet is that
we
are the last generation
to save the world climate change is not
anymore something that’s going to happen
in 100 years
it is happening here today right now
the global earth temperature increased
by one degree
in 100 years this speed
has never been seen before
scientists all around the world tell us
we should not increase the global earth
temperature
by more than 1.5 degree
and should we go above two degrees and
we will be playing russian will it
with the entire humanity
honestly sometimes i feel like
i’m just in a bad movie especially right
now
but there are three good news first we
know why this is happening
it’s because of our greenhouse gas
emissions easy
two we know what to do in 10 years
we have to reduce by 50 percent our
greenhouse gas emissions
and in 30 years we have to be carbon
neutral
easy third good news
we have numbers we have statistics we
have technologies
and we have very smart people on earth
so actually the real question is
who can save the world in such a short
period of time
politics individuals
companies let’s dig into each option
first politics i truly believe we need
strong politics to tackle climate change
but there are 193 countries on earth
and politics is slow and complex
and we only have 10 years
option two individuals like you and me
we can decide to buy sustainable
products
we can decide to buy renewable energy we
can make zero waste at home
but we are more than 7 billion
people on earth not everyone has this
chance
third option companies
i believe companies are the
solution to save the world your company
can save the world and i will tell you
how in just a few minutes
think about the skills we need today
to save the world in such a short period
of time
we need audacity we need quick decisions
we need creative minds we need project
managers
we need entrepreneurs in a short period
of time
a company can take a decision that will
impact thousands
of other companies this year
zalendu announced that the 2
500 brands sold on the platform will
have to be sustainable by 2023
last year 6 000 amazon employees
went on strike for the climate
not for their salary a company can take
a decision
that will impact its whole production
process
the belgian beer leopard 7
decided they will not produce any
beer bottle that would emit more than
185 grams
of co2 it means
that the maximum distance for them to
sell a beer from belgium
is paris politics
is too slow individual action is too low
but companies decisions are quick
and impactful
i am an economist and a sustainable
entrepreneur
maybe that’s the reason why i’m a misfit
economist
i funded sustainable companies one
failed
and went bankrupt the other one worked
today my job is to help as many
businesses as possible to become
sustainable so that they can save the
world
and i would like to give you tonight
three quick steps
to make your business sustainable
tomorrow
or even tonight step one
measure measure
imagine your doctor tells you you are
too fat
and you have to lose weight or you will
die
what would you do if it was me
first thing i would do is just to jump
on the scale to know how much i wait
then i would ask the doctor how much do
i have to lose
and then i would make a plan sports diet
whatever
same story with greenhouse gas emissions
measure you know
in my daily life i hear from our
customers things like
stephanie you know in my company i’m
sure that the greenhouse gas emissions
are coming from the paper
because we use a lot of paper or
some others tell me stephanie in my
company i’m sure that the greenhouse gas
emissions are coming from the cars
because you know we have very big cars
who’s right who’s wrong
actually no one because they express
feelings not numbers
if you want to bring sustainability in
your business
measure jump on the scale whatever your
business is from being a doctor
a hairdresser a small company or
multinational
right step two use
circular economy to reduce your
emissions
did you know that if the entire economy
was 100 circular we could reduce the
greenhouse gas emissions
by more than 70 percent
70 percent so what does a
circular economy look like it’s very
easy this is a linear economy in a
linear economy
you take resources you make a product
then you dispose it
in a circular economy oh sorry
in a circular economy you do not take
resources you eat what you have
then you still make a product and at the
end of the life you do not dispose it
you put it back in the process and you
know what
circular economy is not just a beautiful
word
ecological word for economists it is
easy
to implement and profitable
in our office for example when we moved
in at the beginning of this year
we bought eighty percent of our
furniture and second hand
this is circular economy
one of our customers is a sports
retailer and here with the covet look
down
they decided to start the real circular
economy
by buying back sports items
from people’s garage to sell them back
on second hand
it took during the during the covet
lockdown
nine days to set up the process
and five months later we have the
numbers
on feelings when selling
a new product gives you an average
margin
of 20 euros selling a circular product
gives you an average margin of 55.
the more circular economy you will do
the more profit you will get
and the more the more greenhouse gas you
will save
step three you throw it
communicate communicate
last year i gave a conference about
circular economy to
business owners and
one of them came to me after the
conference to tell me how frustrated it
was
hopefully not because of my conference
but actually it was the ceo of an
accounting
and he was absolutely concerned about
climate change and he wanted to act
he was also a cycling fan
so he decided to implement a mobility
strategy for his company
what he wanted to do is to convince his
employees
to take their bike instead of their cars
to come at the office so it would write
very long emails to explain why it was
important for the planet why it was
important for the health
it would even offer a very expensive
electric bike
to the one who would make the most
kilometers in a year
results no one bite
no one bite why
what was wrong his problem
is that he wanted to convince not to
motivate
he wanted to convince not to motivate
and if you want to motivate you have to
bring attention
and if you want to bring attention you
have to know how the brain works
but before i tell you how the brain
works i have to tell you a secret
i have to tell you a secret climate
change
is boring climate change is boring
every time we hear something about it we
just feel guilty
and anxious this is boring look
this is the kind of email i receive in
the morning
stephanie we need you stephanie we can
no longer live on credit
stephanie we can still avoid the worst
tiffany 48 000 deaths
a year when i arrive at the office in
the morning
having my coffee opening my mailbox when
i see this
i just feel bad i feel anxious i feel
guilty
i don’t want to read the email
now how do you feel
better right me too i really prefer that
kind of emails
and you know what both
emails are coming from brands who are
talking
about sustainability they are both
talking about local production
they are talking about greenhouse gas
emissions
so you have to know how the brain works
you have to talk to the emotional brain
and to the rational one the emotional
brain needs
pictures he needs emotions stories
and the rational brain needs numbers
if you can talk to the emotional brain
and
to the rational one you will have the
perfect mix
to motivate your team
and your customers
i guess the ceo of the accounting firm
would have have much more better results
with that kind of picture instead of
very long emails explaining why it’s
important
so step one measure
step two use circular economy to reduce
your emissions
and step three communicate
the challenges we are facing today
are huge we are the last generation
to save the world that’s why we need
your business
your company your ideas to find the best
way to re-enchant
our economy what’s good for the planet
is good for the business
so now forget how it was
think how it could be
her future is up to us
thank you
[Applause]
you