Talk given at the advaya event Is Ecology Relevant? A panel discussion and Q&A with Satish Kumar, Editor of Resurgence Magazine, Craig Bennett, CEO of Friends of the Earth & Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP. Having spent most of his career as an environmental campaigner, Craig believes there is an urgent need for the “environmental movement” to evolve rapidly over the next decade if it is going to play a leadership role in helping steer humanity to a more sustainable future. The need is to re-frame modern environmentalism, so that sustainability is seen as one of the next steps in the progress of humanity, rather than – as some still see it – a “barrier to progress”. But this demands substantial changes in how organisations like Friends of the Earth perceive, frame, communicate and interact with the challenges and opportunities that will emerge in the coming years.
Craig is Chief Executive of The Wildlife Trusts. He has been described as “one of the country’s top environmental campaigners”, by The Guardian as “the very model of a modern eco-general” and, in 2021, was included in The Sunday Times Green Power List of the UK’s top 20 environmentalists.
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