Businesses need to look after their people and the planet as much as their shareholders, according to broadcaster and entrepreneur Mary Portas.
Opening the two-day Yorkshire Sustainability Festival (YSF), hosted by the University of Leeds, Ms Portas said money, fame and power had been at the heart of society for too long. While she supports wealth creation, she said it had to happen in a ‘kinder’ way.
The focus on the first day of the event was the circular economy, where products are designed for reuse or recycling rather than used or discarded and taken to landfill.
Ms Portas said: “We have gone from the industrial revolution to the technological revolution and we are now in the green revolution.”
Known as the Queen of the High Street, Ms Portas added: “In the 1980s we moved away from the community and we have to get back to the community. We need to promote the ‘kindness economy’.
Businesses are there for the wellbeing of shareholders but that is very limiting. You shouldn’t just look after the shareholders at the risk of harming people and the planet.
“I believe in creating wealth but it is all about how we create that wealth,” she said. Ms Portas added that she deplored the fact that some chief executives earnt as much as 400 times more than the person at the bottom rung of the ladder in their organisation.
“Businesses are there for the wellbeing of shareholders but that is very limiting. You shouldn’t just look after the shareholders at the risk of harming people and the planet. It is that attitude that harmed people at the Post Office.”
She advised companies that people do not have to be secondary to growth and to consider new ways of working that would bring about a fairer and more sustainable society for us all.
Following Ms Portas’ opening address, a series of workshops was held examining how economies can withstand the many challenges expected from climate change and technological evolution.
The Manufacturing Panel was chaired by David Loseby, Professor of Research Impact at Leeds University Business School (LUBS).
Professor Loseby, who believes that Yorkshire is at the heart of the green revolution in the UK, posed questions to the panel about the opportunities this transition presents, how we ensure the workforce is equipped with the necessary green industrial skills, and policy changes required to progress the adoption of sustainable practices.
As an anchor institution in Leeds, we have a civic responsibility towards our city and that entails collaborating with other key organisations to help deliver the social, economic and environmental goals we all aspire to.
The second day of the conference was opened by the Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin, who emphasised how vital sustainable infrastructure is to the life of the city and how important it was to be a region of learning so young people acquire the necessary skills for a sustainable future.
She was followed by Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds, who said: “As an anchor institution in Leeds, we have a civic responsibility towards our city and that entails collaborating with other key organisations to help deliver the social, economic and environmental goals we all aspire to.”
Key speakers at the Yorkshire Sustainability Festival (from left) Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire; Kevin McCloud, presenter of Grand Designs; Kate Hutchinson, Founder of the YSF; Professor Nick Plant, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research and Innovation at the University of Leeds.
Professor Plant said it was a moment in time to be brave to drive an economy that was both vibrant and sustainable.
He spoke of the University’s Priestley Centre for Climate Futures which brings together 400 researchers from a wide variety of specialisms such as engineering, finance, law and atmospheric sciences, who through collaboration and interdisciplinary working help harness expertise in climate research to develop innovations, deliver education and inform policy for a fair, resilient, and decarbonised world.
Professor David Healy, Director of Geosolutions Leeds, at the University of Leeds, took part in an energy panel discussion and emphasised how central geosciences are to our low-carbon transition. He highlighted the current geothermal drilling taking place on the University campus to quantify the viability of this source for heating University buildings.
Other keynote speakers at the conference included broadcaster Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs, who gave examples from all over Europe of sustainable housing developments and their importance in building communities not just physically but socially.
Kate Hutchinson, Founder and Director of the Yorkshire Sustainability Festival, thanked the University of Leeds along with the Yorkshire and Humber and Leeds Climate Commission for sponsoring the festival at Cloth Hall Court in Leeds city centre.
“This conference would never have happened without the support of these organisations and other key leaders in the region who believe in what we are trying to do,” she said.
“Collaboration and the sharing of expertise and knowledge is the way forward to forge a sustainable future for Leeds and the whole of Yorkshire. We are hoping the festival will be even bigger and better next year.”