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The power of movement to halt climate change: the People’s Climate March
On April 29, 2017, I joined the People’s Climate March. People took to the streets around the world to raise a stronger sense of urgency to act against climate change. The date coincided with Donald Trump’s 100th day in office. Marching for local climate policy I joined the Amsterdam climate march, along with 8000 others.…
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The new space race for a better world
April 12 is the International Day of Human Space Flight. It marks the anniversary the first human space flight by Yuri Gargarin in 1961. What if we could repeat such a – previously deemed – incredible feat to apply our minds to help humanity thrive within the limits of our planet? We often hear astronauts talk…
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A great journey starts with a single step
Many of us are inspired by this beautiful quote by Lao Tse. Sometimes great journeys may be scary at the start, but reminding ourselves that great things do start small helps us get started in the first place. In the past years, we’ve all seen (or even experienced) drastic natural disasters, caused by climate change. Initially,…
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Shining bright: doing well by doing good
Meet Camille van Gestel, the co-founder and co-CEO of WakaWaka, a highly successful social enterprise with the mission to provide sustainable energy and light solutions for over a billion people who lack access to electricity. During the interview, he convinced me that he’s got plenty of energy himself to activate many to make this ambitious…
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Consuming with a conscience
On YouTube and Facebook, millions of people are watching and talking about Chipotle’s new infomercial, which raises many questions about factory farming. If you haven’t seen it take a look, as it is beautifully done. It blends Frank Baum’s “The Wizard of Oz“, Dr, Seuss’ “The Lorax” and Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Eating Animals“. We are…
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What’s really fueling your pension fund?
The Financial Times ran an article about the call by the Swedish Centre party for all of the country’s national pension funds to sell off their holdings in fossil fuel corporations in order to “climate proof” and protect the value of their investments. It is important to see this position come up from within a…
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Netherlands’ Sustainability Queen calls for visionary leadership and guts
On the third Tuesday in September, the Dutch government traditionally presents the new plans for the year ahead. The (new) King will read the “troonrede”, a speech from the throne written by the ministers to present the plans to the parliament (the senate and the house of representatives). After this speech, the Minister of Finance…
