Talanoa Stories: IKEA Group, Unilever, BT and Mahindra on taking bold climate action
We Mean Business coalition
Leading businesses travelled to the UN Climate Conference in Bonn this May to share their stories of bold climate action as part of the Talanoa Dialogue.
The ongoing exchange, which follows a tradition of non-confrontational storytelling from COP President Frank Bainimarama of Fiji, is intended to take stock of climate efforts and share experiences and lessons learned along the way.
Companies sharing their stories of progress included consumer goods company Unilever, UK telecommunications giant BT, furniture maker IKEA Group and Indian industrial conglomerate Mahindra Group.
The stories they told show how they are pursuing low-carbon growth strategies, often with significant cost savings along the way, which should build confidence for national governments to move further and faster.
Read their stories here:
Unilever’s Thomas Lingard on what we can learn from James Bond
Thomas Lingard, Global Climate Advocacy & Sustainability Strategy Director at Unilever, shared his passion for James Bond films and the parallels with business action on climate change.
IKEA Group’s Karol Gobczyński on the low-carbon journey so far
Karol Gobczyński, Climate & Energy Manager at IKEA Group, shared his experience of growing up with his electrician father in a small town in the borderland between Poland and Lithuania.
BT’s Gabrielle Giner turning ambition into action
Gabrielle Giner, Head of Sustainable Business Policy at BT, talked about being inspired to increase the ambition of the UK telecommunications company’s climate targets.
Mahindra’s Anirban Ghosh on driving positive change
Anirban Ghosh, Chief Sustainability Officer at Mahindra Group, shared his experience of planting more than 10 million trees while helping communities along the way.