Fresh from editing videos for the Carbon Productivity event at London’s RSA, last week we returned to UBS‘s London HQ to shoot Volans’ Breakthrough Money – focusing on the confluence of money, data and trust. (We’re into venues that can be reduced to 3-letter acronyms.)
Atlas co-founder Cathy Runciman is ready for her close up
Organised by sustainability think tank and advisory firm Volans as part of Project Breakthrough, it is part of a series of Basecamps – carefully curated convenings of influencers, innovators and thought leaders.
In the context of rapid, disruptive change to the capitalist system, and growing environmental and societal pressures for a fundamental re-think, Breakthrough Money explored how we can ensure capitalism is on a breakthrough – rather than a breakdown – trajectory. The goal? To foster collaboration between different actors to change the system from critical mess to critical mass.
Wider world glimpsed through UBS windows
Volans’ Chairman/ Chief Pollinator John Elkington kicked off with a session featuring three giants in this space: Mark Campanale, Founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative (among many other achievements, Mark has helped mainstream the notion of ‘unburnable carbon’), Nick Robins, Co-Director of the UNEP Inquiry into the Design of a Sustainable Financial System, and Tessa Tennant, whose kitchen – according to Mark and Nick – has been the birthplace of pretty much every major sustainable finance initiative in the last 30 years.
Backstage, we interviewed Tessa about the world’s largest investment banks’ need to unlock capital into climate resiliency.
And we brought man buns and sleeve tattoos to the financial district
During the Basecamp, we filmed a series of interviews with selected speakers, who included Mark Campanale, venture investor Jamie Arbib and Henrik Olsén of Rethinking Capital, Jeremy Oppenheim of SYSTEMIQ, Steve Waygood of Aviva, Omar Selim of Arabesque, Datamaran’s Marjella Alma and Sacha Romanovitch of Grant Thornton.
Sacha Romanovitch explains economic vibrancy
Volans’ Richard Johnson scrubbed up well in a suit (left), which detracted from the cameramen’s Birkenstocks (hola London heatwave). Key content of the event, including edited versions of the filmed interviews, will be published shortly.
“We need to break down complexity and speak the right language” We agree, Marjella Alma
Watch John Elkington AKA ‘The Godfather of Modern Sustainability’ break down Project Breakthrough.
AtlasAction: Use this hashtag to learn more about #BreakthroughMoney
AtlasVideo: Our interview with TransferWise founder Taavet Hinrikus, The Robin Hood of Currency Exchange
AtlasRead: Richard Roberts’ Medium piece ‘Reorienting financial flows: the $12 trillion question’
