The Davos Detox
Snowball fight at Davos - Reed Paget of Belu Water UK and Garth Japhet of Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, South Africa.
I am staying at the Schatzalp Hotel "four minutes above Davos" reads the belated advertisement, when you reach the top via funicular. The air up here is so clean and thin, my toothpaste explodes with the tiniest squeeze. My nose and throat are completely transformed - perhaps I was an alpaca in a previous life, or maybe I just need more oxygen.
I am exhausted by a lot of blah blah blah - speculation on whether the slide in the US economy will affect the whole world. Some say no because China and India can offset the slide with the strength of their domestic demand. But aren't all the world economies rather overblown everywhere? I realise that reading a good quality newspaper can be more insightful than listening to VIPs talk because of the things they don't want to say.
After a few days' grind of this kind, I find a gem and treat myself to a dinner laid on by Alice Waters, the chef of Chez Panisse, and authority on Slow Food. I find myself in a room full of American foodies. The meal is amazing - although saying a little prayer for the lamb and the sheep that are on my carnivorous friends' plates is a bit much. She has been busy in the kitchen with the team all afternoon preparing local food it took a task force to forage for from the surrounding farms. Well done, World Economic Forum for recognizing the importance of food, and the problems associated with its globalisation. Environmental and cultural issues are discussed with great passion by most, although some have just come along because they LOVE the food. I ate delicious breads and cheeses and polenta with a veggie ratatouille. By re-employing the dozens of security guards as food foragers, Alice Waters could bring local and sustainable food to the whole of the Davos conference. I am sure all would be much more receptive to talking and thinking about sustainability. Maybe I'll write a letter.
Dressing for Davos
If dressing in Fair Trade wasn't challenging enough in the 'business casual' environment of Davos, then add to that it is minus ten outside - you need snow boots and stockings. I am dressed in my organic cotton print dress - which is green in colour - to prove the point that i am green inside and out! (Perhaps to the irritation of those business types without much of a sense of humour - or used to seeing women, rather than hearing from them!)
I joined a lovely bunch of people today as a panellist to discuss 'The Sustainable Consumer' at Davos - bright things included Jeff Swartz, President of Timberland and Richard Lloyd of Consumers International, facilitated by the sharp and brilliant Dan Ariely, Professor at MIT - Media Laboratory. The theme? Why do 60% of consumers claim they would pay more for items sold by a socially responsible company - but in reality sustainability often loses out to price, convenience and habit at the point of purchase?
Data was given to profile green consumer trends in the US and the UK - apparently we are happy to pay 13% more for a sustainable equivalent product. We talked about the huge journey made by consumers in the last 10 years to learn about coffee, energy, clothing, how eggs and meat are produced, not to mention diamonds and even though we are do not feel adequately equipped to make all the right shopping decisions in the supermarket with two kids hanging at our arms - we are in a much more aware state than we were. Today £33 billion or 5% of the £600 billion household spend in the UK is ethical. We are making incredible progress but how can it be scaled up more quickly?
What about creating an empowering environment for sustainable consumption- consumer education, help with scaling-up green businesses so that their products are more accessible to the consumer? Surely you could create a Fair Trade coffee market share phenomenon with Fair Trade fashion? Why is there no money out there to help it scale up?
Also we need an empowering legislative environment. A start has been made with CORE and the Trade Justice Movement holding UK businesses accountable through the Companies Act - really beginning to raise the bar and ensure that all we buy is made to basic minimum ethical standards and that there is some redress for communities that suffer under the heavy hand of business? This needs to happen throughout the world to make businesses accountable and sustainable. It also means that green businesses could compete on a level playing field - and win!
More coming tomorrow…
