Inside C&TH’s Party For Its Power People…
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2 weeks ago
Here's what happened at Journey To Zero 2024
C&TH hosted the best and brightest in climate change work at its inaugural Future Icons events on Monday 4 November. Here’s what happened inside Journey To Zero 2024.
Journey To Zero 2024 – What Happened At The Event?
You could have heard a pin drop. It was the story of the bumblebee that everyone was talking about afterwards – and shedding a tear to. To put the climate in the context of something people can relate to – rather than talking about net zero and sometimes obfuscating terms that can feel intangible – is the way to achieve cut through.
And so it was that John Gummer, Lord Deben, former chair of the government’s independent climate change committee, addressed the audience with a soul-stirring speech at Country & Town House’s third Journey to Zero event on 4 November 2024 at the ballroom in the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, which was decked out with wild flower arrangements by Minnow and Wolf.
This year, under its umbrella, C&TH launched the Future Icons Awards and the Future Icons Power People, sponsored by Polestar, plus Skydiamond and Yves Delorme.
Who Was There?
We were joined for an exquisite evening of responsible joy and to celebrate the launch of Future Icons Power People by trailblazing names who are helping to make our world a cooler, fairer, more equitable place. These included Clover Hogan, Tiffanie Darke, Joycelyn Longdon, Henry Dimbleby, Sian Sutherland, Raymond Blanc, Carole Bamford, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, Amber Nuttall, Amy Powney, Toris Tsui, Patrick Grant, Diana Verde Nieto, Marine Tanguy, Dominique Palmer and many more.
The theme was centred on the importance of finding joy among the challenge, pain and passion that is inevitably coupled with fighting for a better world, choosing, in the words of Clover Hogan, ‘to be on the side of those who chose to do something’. But underlying the action, it is just as important to remember to carve out the joy – because that is how you bring people with you. As Laura Clarke, CEO of Clientearth, said, ‘We need to not always be earnest, and to be able to live (and find joy) in the moment. Not to be the downer at the dinner party or the parent putting the weight of the world on our children’s shoulders.’
Tiffanie Darke also hosted a panel talk, ‘Ambition and Reality: Closing the Climate Gap’. She interviewed Laura Clarke, CEO of ClientEarth, Joycelyn Longdon and Ludovic du Plessis, three leaders using law, academia and business to close the climate gap. As Laura said, ‘It’s not enough to be right, you have to bring people with you along the way, which is why she, as a diplomat, is just the right person to be leading an organisation that uses law as a tool of radical progression.’ Joycelyn’s work shows that we won’t change the system unless we reconnect with the natural world around us. And Ludovic’s regenerative organic house Champagne Telmont is a metaphor for how we can still enjoy quality and have fun on this difficult journey to zero – as long as it’s done right.
After an outstanding vegan dinner – and more than one or two glasses of Telmont – Lord Deben gave his speech that moved, stirred, inspired and impassioned the audience.
As one of the only glossy magazines in the UK to really champion what it means to be joyfully responsible, Journey to Zero 2024 and Future Icons is just one of the ways in which we can communicate with, collaborate with and connect with this incredible community of trailblazers – and tell their stories.
What Did Our Guests Say?
- ‘What an evening and inspiring group of people you brought together. The food and wine was delicious and I thought the panel was great, an all-star cast with genuinely interesting things to say. John Gummer was brilliant and for many, the most-memorable moment in a while!’ James Rae, founder of Good Company
- ‘So many great leaders and changemakers in the same room and a genius like Lord Deben… I drink to that, Lucy. Again bravo for all your effort. Let’s change the planet bottle by bottle.’ Ludovic du Plessis, Telmont Champagne
- ‘Goosebump inducing speech Lucy! Incredible and thoughtful details, Liz and Cam! Amazing panel. Incredible guests. Everything! The game-changing energy in that room was palpable! Wish we could bottle it and sprinkle liberally!’ Claudia Simms-Abrams, consultant
- ‘Hand on heart that was one of the best sustainability events I have ever attended!’ Aisling Connaughton, co-founder of Cyd Connects
- ‘The inspirational, moving and impassioned speech by John Gummer, Lord Deben was a call to arms, and to joyful optimism that we can leverage policy, advocacy and business to solve the biggest environmental problems facing the world today.’ Nick Torday, Bower Collective
- ‘The most incredible evening, the most inspiring speeches surrounded by people who are making our world fairer.’ Marine Tanguy, founder of MTArt Agency
- ‘Thank you Country & Town House for naming me one of 2025’s Future Icons Power List recipients. It was such a joy to join changemakers, new and old, for such a spectacular evening celebrating sustainability.’ Tori Tsui, activist and author
What Is Journey To Zero?
Journey to Zero is Country & Town House’s sustainability event and initiative that celebrates the companies, brands, businesses, people and products driving change for the better – focusing on joyful responsibility, ethical products, and forward-thinking practices. Its mission is to shine a spotlight on these change-makers and tell new stories for a different, more planet-friendly future, while keeping quality, innovation, design excellence and craft at its heart.
This year, it launched the Future Icons Awards and the Future Icons Power People.
The brand awards recognise those companies that are showing us a blueprint for how business can be done not only responsibly, with regard to carbon footprint, supply chains, raw materials, circularity etc but with innovation, craft, design and excellence at their core too – because unless they offer captures imaginations and gives buyers an amazing experience, they will be short-lived. Find out all the winners here.
The Future Icons Power People list is a C&TH editorial curation of people we have worked with, profiled, interviewed, campaigned with or for, noticed in our stream and who we keep an eye on even if from afar. We had help with suggestions from our sustainability consultants Cyd Connects as well as nominations from the brands who entered our Future Icons brand awards.
