31 October 2022
Outgoing Chair Julie Hill reflects on achievements and challenges for the climate action movement during her eight years with WRAP.
This is an article which first appeared in Business Green.
Listening to the news at the moment, I have a strong sense of déjà vu. There is an energy and cost of living crisis, and significant food inflation. Issues are coming to the fore that many of us in the resource field were thinking about a decade ago, such as the consequences of wholescale electrification of the economy, critical raw materials, investment in green infrastructure, greater energy security through improving the built environment.
A more circular economy has the potential now, as it did then, to make a huge contribution on all these fronts. The fact that we are still having the same conversations is a reminder that, however expert we all are in the climate conversation, we must reinforce our messages to the right people at the right time.
I do fear that the message about the climate salience of action on resources and consumption is not getting through to the wider world. This is all too evident in the funding available to those of us promulgating the circular economy compared to the huge amounts of institutional and philanthropic money being poured into renewable energy routes to mitigation.
Telling that story is the task I am handing on to my successor as I complete my eight-year term as chair of climate action NGO, WRAP. With my colleague Marcus Gover also leaving as CEO after a stellar 15 years, it's unsurprising that we have been in reflective mood - looking back at successes, and the challenges ahead.
What has emerged for us are key themes for how we, as part of the climate movement, can and must intersect with governments, businesses, and all planetary stakeholders, if we are to have a chance of achieving net zero.
Greater diversity
We've come a long way since WRAP was seen as a ‘bins' organisation. Actively seeking diversity - in our funding, the people who work for us, and in the places we work, has enabled us to grow our offering, our knowledge base, and our reach. Our success in this has been a great source of pride, but there is much more to do.
Working in partnership
Our commitment to the voluntary agreement model with businesses has borne fruit. Bringing diverse commercial interests together in pursuit of collective environmental goals has yielded transformative results in the food, plastics and textiles sectors, beyond those available through regulation alone.
That said, governments around the world need to shape the policies that will enable whole system change and promoting that complementarity will continue to be important.
We've also actively sought collaboration with key international bodies such as UNEP, WWF and WRI. Through these partnerships we've been able to influence on an international stage and take our voluntary agreement model to larger group of countries.
Knowledge is power
Making informed choices, whether it's by a keen recycler or a multinational business, is more important than ever.
Providing the evidence to support and nudge the right kind of change is essential. We have been careful when diversifying not to lose the institutional memory and evidence bank that few others can match, and which is the source of WRAP's authority. I'm sure my successor will be aware that authority takes time to build and can be quickly lost - it must be continually asserted, cultivated, and earned through ways of behaving, and results on the ground.
From dream to reality
When I applied to become WRAP chair, I described it as my ‘dream job' and the reality has lived up to that vision. This is because I have had the privilege of working with a committed, generous, and hugely competent board of trustees, as well as all the expert people in team WRAP.
The challenge of the climate emergency is increasingly transparent to businesses, governments, and NGOs globally. Building a world where climate change is no longer a problem is not an impossible dream, but it does require working at pace.
I will be handing over to a new chair content that together team WRAP has forged a stronger place in the world than when I started; and that the work will accelerate.