Like many dog owners, I take my pooch out for a daily walk, come rain or shine. Many days I enjoy the scenery, the sunshine, the wildlife and the peace – but, like everybody else, I often find my mind wandering when it’s free to roam.
During today’s staying-alert oriented walk I found myself reflecting on photos that appeared in my newsfeed over recent weeks of what cities and landmarks looked like before and during lockdown. Hopefully you know what I’m referring to – those pictures which contrasted scenes captured during old normal bustling times and how they looked just a few days later, sometimes appearing to have become silent and eery, and, at others, peaceful or energised. A number of examples contrasted volumes of people, from dense to (almost) none. Others showed a previously prevalent haze which had cleared to reveal blue sky or clean water.
I think the first example I saw was of a scene of the canals of Venice. I’ve no idea whether the contrasting scene actually went from hazy to clear due to an absence of pollution, perhaps the first was just taken on a foggy day, but there is much evidence that during lockdown, across the world, air pollution decreased. So my thought process on today’s dog walk led to the conclusion that our world has the capacity to repair itself and that we should do what we can to give it the chance to do so as we move forward.
Air pollution is an invisible assailant. We don’t have daily briefings from Downing Street on how many people it’s impacted on any given day – and I’m not suggesting we should. However, there is much talk of what people would like to see as we look to find a new normal. I know many have been quick to highlight, rightly in my opinion, that our approach should focus on being better.
An article in The Times on 9 May revealed that China, post lockdown, with factories open and looking to gets its economy back on track, had higher pollution levels than it had at the same time last year. I also recently read an article from Carbon Brief highlighting that a number of leading economists believe that investment in green technology is not only good for the environment but could also offer the best economic returns for government spending.
I’ve recently been working with and advising Footprint Zero, a business focused on utilising existing assets such as commercial roofs to deploy solar technology which in turn will produce clean, green energy. I like the reason the company exists and the passion the team have for reducing carbon emissions and delivering great client service. As somebody who has spent the majority of the last decade in renewable generation and as an experienced CFO, I believe in the client-focused options the business offers, enabling them at one end to save money on electricity and at the other to invest in a greener future, at a solid rate of return.
I believe that there will be a number of businesses, both old and new, that will help us build a better new normal. I hope Footprint Zero will be one of them. Implementing their strategy will contribute to a world in which one of the positive side-effects of lockdown becomes a permanent feature of a new world.