12:00, 16 July 2024
Words by Abi Scaife, Staff Writer, London
Meaningful change is difficult without the finances to back it up; no matter how good or sustainable your idea might be. It can be frustrating, but the truth is, for purpose at scale, you need a certain amount of capital to implement the changes you want to make.
But how do sustainable entrepreneurs meet the investors who want to use their money for good? That’s where Blue Earth comes in.
Blue Earth is made up of two pillars: The Blue Earth Summit, a conference for changemakers who want to use business to influence our world for the better, and the Blue Earth Forum, which helps to connect entrepreneurs and investors to make those dreams a reality.
Smiley News caught up with Will Hayler, co-founder and CEO of Blue Earth, and Guy Hayler, co-founder and CCO of Blue Earth, to hear more about what they’re doing, and how you can get involved.
“It's a platform for other people's ideas as much as our own,” says Will, of the summit. “People return year after year to Blue Earth, and the reason they do that is because they feel a connection to the ambition that we had for a business event, which is to be more than just a profitable event.”
The Blue Earth Summit is taking place in London from 16-18th October this year, and have some fantastic speakers lined up already. Names like Andy Cato, Dominique Palmer and Douglas Lamont will be taking the stage to give their thoughts, and advice, on how business can be used to benefit our planet.
“The summit welcomes all businesses,” says Guy. “Somewhere between 5,000 to 7,000 people will be attending this year, and will include anything from the world's largest corporations as well as the young innovators that are driving innovation from the ground up.”
“Everyone comes with the mindset of ‘no one's perfect, and we can all be better’.”
The benefit of events like those run by Blue Earth is that it connects two subsets of people that, otherwise, would just be shouting into an echo chamber. There’s no point in preaching to the converted; what you need is to inspire those who are on the fence.
“Climate events happen in isolation; people that go to climate events go to climate events, and people who go to business events go to business events,” explains Will. “Blue Earth is [working] in between those two things, making sure it connects on both sides.”
Blue Earth helps to deliver business with a purpose; to scale things back to basics, to do away with archaic systems that no longer serve us, and to come up with creative solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.
“We're in a world where businesses should go back to where they were born; serving society,” says Guy. “You can't hide from the fact that we've got to protect our planet and do everything we can through business.”
Of course, there are the critics; those who say that profit is purpose enough, that businesses are doing their duty just by existing, by generating money for the economy. But Guy, Will and the team behind Blue Earth know there is more to business than that.
“When you dig into it, some of the most successful businesses in the world, they're actually just solving problems,” says Will. “And I think right now, the world's got plenty of problems.”
“The overall [goal] of Blue Earth is to transform the way the world works.”
Guy adds: “When we originally set this all up, it was of massive importance to us to make sure that if we're going to be in that purpose-led space, well, let's make damn sure we're having a positive impact.”
To that end, Blue Earth regularly measures how much money is actually being funnelled into these solutions; and has raised £120 million for purpose-led businesses so far through its events. Now, the goal is to measure the collective impact of the businesses they support, to demonstrate just how much impact is being had.
Ultimately, Blue Earth proves that to have business and climate activism separately is simply unsustainable; the two don’t just complement each other, but thrive off each other.
Will says: “If there's a problem that needs solving, who do you want to come and solve it? Who are the best, most creative and innovative minds out there? They're often entrepreneurs.”
He adds: “We're seeing people use Blue Earth as a catalyst for the change they're trying to make. Blue Earth proves the power of the impossible.”
Blue Earth shows that ideas have to be genuinely better than what was there before, not just an isolated, sustainable alternative, to have a real impact. In a world filled with stresses, difficulties and distractions, it has to be easier to do better.
“The Blue Earth mindset is putting business at the forefront of change,” says Will. “Businesses can't operate without customers, [but] businesses need to work within a wider system.”
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
The Climate Coalition. This is the UK's largest group of people dedicated to action against climate change. Find out more and support them here.
Climate Reframe. Climate Reframe is committed to supporting the climate and environment movement in its transformation towards greater justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Find out more.
Rewilding Britain. They aim to tackle the climate emergency and extinction crisis, reconnect people with the natural world and help communities thrive. Find out more here.
