Planet A
Campaigning is really hard work. I honestly think it’d be easier working in an investment bank.
But as the saying goes "evil triumphs when good people do nothing". Without campaigners and changemakers, slavery and apartheid would still be legal, and only men would be allowed to vote.
Today, we're still led by an absurdly narrow group of mostly men, seemingly incapable of taking sufficient action to avert biodiversity collapse and climate catastrophe.
... so every now and then, I throw myself into a campaign in an attempt to change something for the better.
Since these things take so much emotional energy and time, I co-founded a collective called Planet A, to work together on making these things happen.
Two campaigns
So far, we've run two campaigns...
#NoBeef
This is a campaign to reduce the consumption of beef and lamb in schools and universities.
The campaign is supported by catering departments at the University of Cambridge, Goldsmiths University and Coimbra University, as well as many schools.
It is backed by academics around the world, was covered by The Times, and has been endorsed by Peter Gabriel and Paul McCartney.
#ReforestEarth
In October 2019, we put 1000 sapling trees outside the UK parliament, with 650 labelled with the names of each UK members of parliament (MPs).
Over 400 MPs collected trees, and engaged with us in conversations about the need for urgent reforesting and re-wilding. Numerous MPs pledged on camera to accelerate British reforestation.
Two months later, the British government increased UK tree-planting plans from 11 million to a billion.
In the words of Ed Miliband, former leader of the Labour Party, “I think you’ve changed the conversation, and forced politics to sit up and take notice.”
This story was covered by Reuters, EuroNews, Evening Standard and Metro.