On 1st November, with torrential rain lashing down outside, we were treated to a sustainability masterclass, by Will Day. It was a talk that was packed with ‘fall-off-your-chair’ style facts. Did you know, for instance, that the average power drill is used for around 17 minutes in its entire lifetime? Or that it is predicted that there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050? 

The first half of Will’s talk hit us straight between the eyes as he underlined the urgency and magnitude of the environmental challenge we face, including climate change and biodiversity loss, closely followed by social challenges, such as societal unrest and disease, that tend to follow in its wake. Will went on to explore the systems of food and energy production, through an environmental, social and economic lens, which brought home the complexity and interconnectedness of many of the economic systems that shape our world today.

The second half turned our attention and our imagination to the opportunities that these challenges present for today’s best minds, as we build our world of tomorrow. It is time to wave farewell to the expression “but that’s how we have always done it”, and usher in the mouth-watering array of opportunities that now exist for our upcoming students and professionals, be they engineers or ecologists, economists or entrepreneurs. For our current Tonbridgian students and OTs, this could provide a generation of exhilarating and purposeful opportunity.

Will is currently Sustainability Advisor at PWC and a Fellow at Cambridge University’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership. His illustrious career is too long to detail in full, but as former chair of BBC's ‘Children in Need’, CEO of Care International and general advisor to the United Nations Development Programme, there is no-one better qualified to hear from. We thank Will for his purposeful talk.

Emma Hunt
PAS Committee Member