SLP, LCW, AI, Herpes & Enky

1. Taking it on board

The Sustainability Leaders Panel, which we run in partnership with our friends at Echo Research and Mishcon de Reya LLP, provides a forum to explore and share the highs, and lows, of managing sustainability in large companies. Twice a year, we invite senior sustainability leaders working in-house to share their experiences via the panel. 

This week, we were delighted to welcome members of the panel who were in town for London Climate Week to a breakfast event hosted by Rathbones Group Plc where we looked at the findings from the latest wave of research (which you can read here), which focused on the way in which boards are engaging with sustainability.

The good news is that, despite the headwinds, boards’ engagement for sustainability remains undimmed. Our panellists tell us that the measured and thoughtful work of making progress on material sustainability issues continues: Notably, just 12% of respondents told us that they expect their board’s level of ambition around sustainability will decrease in the year ahead, with 37% saying they expect it to increase. Even while boards are facing significant short-term pressures and in many cases rethinking what and how they communicate, particularly in the DEI space, there is clearly still appetite to learn more, innovate and make closer connections between sustainability and value creation.

At the event, the discussions were wide ranging, touching on how to balance action and communication in a world where the political climate is becoming more hostile, the value in making allies of colleagues in risk and audit, and seeing regulation as a carrot as well as a stick. The main point of consensus was the necessity of meeting boards on their terms, using language that resonates intellectually, emotionally and practically, and emphasising the role sustainability can play in building business resilience, managing risk and creating long term value. Sustainability can often seem complex, dry or abstract. In reality, it’s none of those things – it’s vital, engaging and speaks to things that matter to all of us. Including boards.

If you would be interested in joining the panel, or would like to discuss the findings in more detail, do get in touch!

2. London's Green Scene Live  

If Glastonbury was the only big festival in your June calendar, you might have just missed a big one. Billed as ‘the largest city-wide climate festival in Europe’, London Climate Action Week (LCAW) has seen the city play host this week to a vibrant mix of high-level policy discussion, corporate conversations, grassroots innovation, and everything in between.  

This year, LCAW feels even more significant given a shift in the global landscape. Historically, New York Climate Week in September has been a key moment in the climate calendar – but that platform is becoming less assured amid shifting political tides in the US. LCAW, by contrast, has emerged as a confident counterweight: open, accessible, and increasingly impactful. 

We’ve been out and about soaking it all in, from panel discussions on climate finance to round tables on supply chain decarbonisation. A few particularly exciting announcements that caught our eye are:

– The UK Government announced a consultation on climate-related transition plans, as part of its efforts to “make the UK the sustainable finance capital of the world”  

– A new SME sustainability data standard is live, thanks to B4NZ. It aims to make emissions reporting more consistent, credible, and manageable for small businesses – a notoriously tricky area to crack.  

–  Carbon Commons was launched, a project to develop an open-source dataset of emissions factors to improve the comparability of supply chain carbon accounting

There’s always a risk that climate weeks become more about the stage than the substance. But LCAW 2025 has shown real progress, with practical tools and clear-eyed calls to action. In a world that doesn’t need more hot air, this week delivered some much-needed fresh thinking.

3. AI's new power gap

A recent New York Times article analysis highlights a striking new ‘AI Divide”: while 68% of the world’s population now uses the internet - a dramatic increase from just 33% in 2012 - the next digital revolution is leaving most countries behind. Only 32 nations have the advanced data centres needed to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence. The United States, China, and the EU host over half of these, while more than 150 countries, including nearly all of Africa and South America, have none. 

This new “AI divide” is already shaping global power. American and Chinese companies control over 90% of the world’s AI computing hubs, and the most advanced AI systems - like ChatGPT - work best in English and Chinese. Meanwhile, countries without this infrastructure struggle to retain talent, foster innovation, or even conduct modern scientific research. In Argentina, top students leave for better-equipped countries. In Kenya, startups must rent expensive computing time from overseas. 

Historically, technology gaps have closed over time: cheap smartphones and expanding internet once helped level the playing field. But with AI, the stakes - and costs - seem much higher. Just one new data centre in Texas is set to cost $60 billion, and the vital microchips are tightly controlled by a handful of companies. 

Will the AI divide narrow as previous gaps did? Or will it entrench a new era of technological inequality? The answer may define the next decade.

4. Herpes, but make it Kiwi

Let’s be honest, herpes isn’t exactly the easiest topic to talk about. It’s awkward, uncomfortable, and often surrounded by silence. But in New Zealand, they tried something different: Jokes. 

With the mock-tourism campaign “Make New Zealand the Best Place in the World to Have Herpes,”  the Herpes Foundation tackled stigma head-on, not with shame or statistics, but with humour and celebrity pride. Think rugby legend Sir Graham Henry and ex-health chief Sir Ashley Bloomfield inviting Kiwis to take a “destigmatisation course”, making the topic feel less awkward, even a bit proud. 

And it worked. In one week, the course got over 10,000 hours of views, five million views on social media, and pushed New Zealand from 9th to 6th place on the global Herpes Stigma Index, a leaderboard ranking ten countries by levels of public stigma around the virus. 

It’s a good reminder: if we want people to engage, especially on sensitive topics, we need to make it feel safe. Familiar. Even fun. Because shame shuts people down. But humour? It opens the door. 

That’s exactly what we do with SKY Girls, too. Across Africa, it helps teenage girls navigate serious issues, like smoking, peer pressure, HIV, or money. But instead of heavy messaging, SKY Girls starts with what girls love: music, fashion, friendships. It’s about making serious issues feel relatable, cool, and part of their world, not apart from it.

Herpes jokes don’t sound like a public health solution. But sometimes, a laugh is what it takes to change the conversation. And with it, change behaviours too. 

5. Furniture for the future 

You’ve heard of fast fashion but have you heard of fast furniture? Millions of tonnes of furniture are discarded each year after just a few years of use. Enky is on a mission to change that. 

Enky | Furniture Solutions offers an innovative, circular alternative to fast furniture: Furniture as a service (Faas) for homes and workspaces. Rather than buying furniture that’s likely to be thrown away, Enky offers a high-quality furniture subscription service, with flexibility to swap, upgrade or purchase these items later.  

Enky take responsibility for the full lifecycle of their furniture, extending their lifespan by refurbishing, repairing and recirculating their pieces after use. This reduces the need for new manufacturing and waste sent to landfill, saving raw materials, energy and emissions. They are also opening second-hand repair shops to further support furniture reuse and reduce landfill.  

When using Enky’s subscription model you can sit comfortably on the sofa in your home or desk in your office knowing you made a flexible, affordable and sustainable choice.