Alastair Wynn: We need to know who we are, what we stand for, where we want to go and why we want to get there
Softcat's Business Transformation Director Alastair Wynn (picture at COP28 in Dubai) stresses the importance of leaving nobody behind when it comes to sustainability
OK, so I may have borrowed the headline quote from (former UN secretary-general) Ban Ki-Moon, but it is absolutely applicable to the channel's sustainability journey - we need solidarity to make it work. We are all in this together whether we like it or not, and we all need to take action, collaborate, listen and learn from one another.
I was lucky enough to attend COP28 in Dubai in December, and it left me with mixed emotions - excitement, optimism, pride mixed with frustration, doubt, and concerns for the amount of work to be done to guarantee the future of our planet.
The COP event itself had doubled in size, with c100,000 attendees compared to c50,000 the year before, and it reinforces how vital sustainability is on a global level.
Every country finally committed to making changes over fossil fuels - it's great to see collective agreement at last.
It was also very apparent to see and hear sustainability coming through in everything we do - a new climate economy, supply chains, accounting, to name a few.
Strategic decisions will start to be impacted by changes to customer demand and expectation; sustainable, governed supply chains; accounting changes to manage carbon impact like money; ethics, risk, compliance, opportunity and more (the imminent retirement of TCFD and migration to ISSB highlights broader legislative maturity).
It struck me how much of an energy imbalance we have globally - renewable energy wasted, regional challenges, weather challenges and poverty across the world - some can't afford to turn energy on, some can't even access it, all meanwhile new and emerging renewable sources are not able to be fully utilised.
AI was everywhere, again - AI to drive action with data, machine learning, impact analysis, scenario planning and modelling; all driving greater efficiency in what we do, how we get there and when and why.
We have reached a global tipping point, the 1.5 degree target is on life support (as Conservative MP Alok Sharma said at COP28), and climate change needs attention and focus from us all.
Fifty per cent of the world will be going through elections in 2024; does it change anything? Absolutely not, long-term climate change plans outlast any political change, and we need to act now.
Tech has a big part to play with products, solutions, services, data, innovation and there's a big opportunity attached to that, but no one can do it alone. We need to come together, show solidarity, listen, learn, collaborate and celebrate achievements, progress and milestones - that's why Softcat is fully behind CRN's Sustainability Summit on 8 February in London.
I'm proud to be part of it and I encourage others to do so to, to avoid being left behind.
After all as I said at the beginning… We need to know who we are, what we stand for, where we want to go and why we want to get there.
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