It took place from the 4th to the 7th of November, in Portugal, and for the fourth consecutive year, the WebSummit, one of the most important technological summits today for those connected to startups, innovation and entrepreneurship.
More than 70 participants from 163 countries and over 2 startups they came to Lisbon to share their ideas and their business in an event that aims to look to the present, anticipating the future.
Since the first edition I wanted to visit the WebSummit, but, for one reason or another, he had never succeeded.
This year, I accepted the invitation of two Algarve entrepreneurs who attended with their startup Sprint CV (which will still give a lot to talk about…) and I set out to discover what is considered by many to be a great “vanity fair”.
As I only had one day available, I scanned the program, the panel of speakers on the center stage, and between debates about marketing, challenges of the digital age, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics, advertising, Branding, the future of mobility, I found one day with a topic that interested me greatly: the Environment from the perspective of “Is it too late to save the World?"
I confess. when I arrived at the FIL premises I was amazed by all the apparatus. It seemed to be in another country. First, only English was spoken and then, the multiculturalism was evident in each corridor, where you could almost feel the simmering of ideas.
After walking through innovations, robots and even having the opportunity to do my pitch, I made my way to the Altice Arena. The astonishment was inevitable before the gigantic stage, too small for the crowd that filled practically every seat in the Arena.
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary from 2010 to 2016, currently on Mission 2020 (a global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2020), and Kate Brandt, who leads the Sustainability portfolio in operations, products and supply chain. Google's global suppliers were the speakers he intended to hear, in a brainstorm moderated by Cheng Lei of the China Global Television Network (CGTN) and former CNBC China correspondent.
The motto of the debate was clearly politicized: with the United States of America's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, and with climate scientists issuing increasingly pessimistic predictions about the climate crisis, the question was whether now would be too late to change course . If we could avert a catastrophe, how to do it?
In less than 30 minutes, the speakers proved to be quite incisive in their speech and in their appeal to all those present: in order to change course and bring a light of hope at the end of the tunnel, we all have to reduce it by 50% in the 10-year period, our ecological footprint. We all have to decarbonize our lifestyle.
It is a fact: fossil energy, as useful as it has been – without it, we would not be where we are today – has already proven that it cannot end poverty or solve other problems in today's societies.
Just look at the example of access to electricity, which remains a mirage in many countries. On the other hand, in India and China, thanks to the use of solar energy, many families have begun to feel the comfort of a home with electricity and amenities that, for us in the West, are almost commonplace.
One of the speakers even quipped, "Fossil energy, thank you so much for everything you've done for us, but it's time to go into retirement!"
The Earth will survive one way or another – it has been said more than once. It is not the Earth that is at stake. It is the future of humanity. How we will manage to live and survive on a Planet in turmoil, with high temperatures, rising sea levels, droughts and increasingly unpredictable atmospheric phenomena.
The solution to save ourselves from ourselves – they said – involves the use of technologies in the service of energy efficiency, Policies and Finances focused on the Environment and Sustainability, with strong politicians, capable of facing up to economic interests, supported by a base of people informed, true active citizens.
Many adults today feel sensitive because there are children and young people protesting in the streets, because their work as politicians, as governments, as managers, has been poorly performed.
The role of individuals as part of the solution involves contesting, but also monitoring their energy consumption, water consumption, food waste, recycling – values that will last and save us.
Thanks to Kate Brandt, I found out that the Google Sustainability, which, among other tools, provides the Your Plan, Your Planet a tool online through which we can learn how to reduce our food waste, our consumption of water, energy and how we can reuse products, thus reducing consumerism.
Our actions may be just another drop of water in the ocean, but the ocean is just that: many drops of water.
As for Donald Trump, I was more reassured after this lecture, as I learned that 60% of companies in the United States of America are still on their way. carbon free and besides, Trump won't stay in power forever…
We have little time, but we still have some time to change course and be able to say, one day, that we were on the brink of the abyss, but we managed to save ourselves. We have to act. Now. There is (even) no time to waste.
Thank you WebSummit for the important moment dedicated to the Environment and the preservation of Planet Earth, even though, soon afterwards, on the same stage, the Marketing trends in 2020 were discussed, with representatives from Lamborghini, Forbes, Burguer King and Weber Shandwick…
Author: Analita Alves dos Santos is a Mother concerned with environmental issues
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