Recent years and events have seen an increase in information about climate change being shared. More and more people are *talking* about sustainability, best practices, the future etc.

Is this a good thing? Yes and no. Mostly, by now, I would say no. Talk is cheap.

"most of us like talking about this subject until it actually affects us!"

While there are many people who choose to talk about sustainability in life or business, very few people move the needle. In fact, most of us like talking about this subject until it actually affects us!

We like talking about how bad things have gotten, how something has to be done. Sometimes we even point out to who has to do something. But it's never us. Whenever a change has to happen, it should always start with somebody else.

Want to...

• reduce paper usage in the company? Don't start with my department. Start with another one!
• change food menu availability at the office? Other companies should do that first, not ours!
• reduce our environment impact? More people should take the tram or the bike. But not us. No no. We are comfortable in our car.

In fact, we have people talking and writing about sustainability as the future, but they themselves, on a personal level, are doing the exact opposite. A person might be talking about the environment and how we must take care of it and how business will pay attention to it, but the same exact person will have a negative impact on the environment by:

• changing their phone every 6 months;
• purchasing used cars every couple of years with big engines having too much power;
• travelling short distances with a car instead of walking or using the public transport;
• travelling long distances in car or airplane;
• ordering stuff online stuff that isn't actually needed;

and many other decisions, big or small that sum up and matter.

So if you are wondering why, for years, there's been talk about environment issues yet almost nothing happened, that's why. It took a global pandemic to shut down things and for people in China to see the blue sky again.

What is there to be done? Hold people accountable!

Whenever a CEO, business person, journalist, blogger, influencer etc talks or posts about this topic, inquire about his choices. What steps did he or she actually made? And will continue to make. Don't stop at a press release. Go for it!