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It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly a year since the UK’s first lockdown began, and since then we have all learned a lot – about ourselves, other people, the virus, and our own ability to adapt.

Personally, I’ve learned that I can just about balance working full time with entertaining a toddler and a one-year-old. Professionally, WRAP has learned just how resilient the UK population can be, especially when it comes to managing our food.

It is reasonable to expect that the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may have put public motivation to tackle climate change on the back burner.

Not so, according to a new survey which hit the headlines recently. From over a million respondents, across 50 countries, more than two-thirds agreed that climate change is a global emergency, requiring an urgent response.

If there is anything positive to come out of the struggles forced on us by the pandemic, it is the unprecedented opportunity to recalibrate our global food system so that it is more resilient, more fair, more friendly to the planet. And if ever there was a compelling case for why the Courtauld Commitment needs to exist it is right now - to help realise this ambition.

2020 has been a year like no other. But here at WRAP we believe there is a bright future ahead.

In November 2021 world leaders will gather in Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, popularly known as CoP 26. With less than a year to go, attention is turning to how the world can reach net zero carbon emissions, and whether this target is ambitious enough.

Perhaps more than any other industry, the clothing and textiles sector is governed by the public’s insatiable appetite for constant change – what’s this season’s colour, cut, look? But one trend that isn’t going to become ‘last year’ is the growing demand from consumers that their love of fashion doesn’t come with a costly environmental price tag.

In mid-August, Defra published an important paper, setting out its initial proposals for the legally-binding, long-term environmental targets it intends to include in the Environment Bill. These are a vital element in the UK’s transition from EU Member State to independent country, ensuring that we continue to uphold high environmental standards after we leave the European Union.

The correlation between fixing our dysfunctional, unsustainable and inequitable food system and tackling climate change is clear. In fact, it has become one of the pressing issues of our time. How are we going to feed and nourish a growing population, encourage economic development and tackle climate change at the same time?

This blog is about success and I'm proud to highlight it.

I recently read a fascinating infographic produced by Green Alliance, proposing a step change in the UK’s resource efficiency as one of five policies that could, together, plug the significant gap between our current climate policies and what is needed to deliver the Government’s new ‘net zero’ carbon target by 2050.