This week’s Trustees Week takes place during the first week of COP26, arguably the most important meeting in the history of mankind. The fact that COP26 is happening at all is in no small measure due to the hundreds of thousands of environmental activists, scientists, human rights advocates, and even politicians, who have grabbed the climate crisis by the horns and stubbornly refused to let go.
It is also thanks to the millions of ordinary people who have signed petitions, attended marches, and changed their own behaviours; if it were not for them perhaps the Paris Agreement would never have been realised. In light of this momentous week, it would be tempting for us to relegate Trustees Week to a nice but inconsequential event. But that would be a mistake.
What trustees share with their environmental colleagues is a relentless desire for action, underpinned by the indomitable belief that together we can create the world we all want but that we don’t currently have. Why else would hundreds of thousands of people commit their precious time, energy, and in some cases money, for no financial reward and often inconvenience? You see, trustees, just like those trying to save the planet, are all part of something bigger than themselves; part of a global movement making real change and in doing so, creating a world we can all be proud to call home.
And so, during this Trustees Week, we salute all those brave, tenacious, and unflinching souls who are pressing governments and global businesses to enact the action plans required to secure global net zero by 2050, but we also salute every trustee who is striving in his or her own way, to make the world a better place. And for those who are not trustees yet, what are you waiting for, the world needs you!
