Sally Giblin is an Eco Founder, Climate Reality Leader, and Environmentalist. Her purpose is to inspire others to take dramatic action on our climate and biodiversity crisis - the most important issue of our lifetime. She’s the CoFounder of Be The Future, which inspires parents of young children to raise heroic leaders for environmental change, drawing on storytelling, behavioural science and positivity. She’s spreading the word about environmental action through writing for media publications such as Climate Conscious, Pebble Magazine, and The Grace Tales, and speaking at events such as It’s Time: A Festival Of Climate Action.
She’s also a startup mentor for Founder Institute, the world's largest early-stage accelerator. She has also been at the forefront of many social impact initiatives over the years, with organizations such as Young UN Women and Social Good Summit. She previously Co-Founded Pure Bundle, an award-winning startup that was transforming the experience of Re Loving children’s clothing.
Katherine Ann Byam 0:03
Sally, it's such a pleasure to have you on where it is lunch. Welcome to the show.
Sally Giblin 1:46
Thank you so much for having me, Katherine.
Katherine Ann Byam 1:49
I'd like to start with a story I found about you on your LinkedIn profile about a trip you made to Sydney in early 2020. Tell us about what that experience was like for you.
Sally Giblin 2:00
Yeah, sure. So I'm an Australian living in London. And back before the pandemic, my family was going to visit everyone back in Sydney. And you know, usually going back in the summer, it's all about the beaches and blue skies, beautiful weather. But Sydney was gripped at the time by these catastrophic bushfires. And they're the worst bushfires Australia has ever had. And it was just, I think, incredibly humbling and, and really quite shocking to really kind of realise, just the fear, the loss that was happening in the country at the time, and, you know, 19 million hectares burnt 1.2 5 billion animals perished. About 33 human lives are lost. And so it was, you know, an incredibly difficult time. And I think, for me, that was really the moment that I realised that climate change is not in the future. It's happening here. And now. And you know, weather events, extreme weather events are getting more intense, more frequent around the globe. And I think, you know, many, many more people are sort of having these climate moments where they're really realising how much we do need to step up and keep taking more action and hold our leaders to account.
Katherine Ann Byam 3:15
Yeah, what was it like to sort of experience that from the eyes of people who live there?
Sally Giblin 3:22
I think I mean, growing up in Australia, I was incredibly fortunate, because it's this beautiful country with a lot of natural nature, and, you know, beautiful waterways and beaches, and I think my childhood was was very much about, you know, growing up in the outdoors, and really enjoying a lot of that beautiful space. And I think, you know, there's a, there's a term called Sal Australia, and I think it was an Australian, who coined the term and all about basically people mourning, kind of the nature and the environment that used to be that is disappearing. And so I think, you know, it really made me feel incredibly upset, it made me feel incredibly guilty as well, because we were back there to see family and friends, you know, have a wonderful time and enjoy ourselves. And I remember I kept having these conversations with people saying, I feel guilty, you know, trying to go out and kind of do those normal everyday things when something so devastating is happening to so many people around the country. So I think it's, you know, a real, real wake-up moment. Yeah,
Katherine Ann Byam 4:26
Absolutely. I know that children are central to all the activism work that you do as well. So tell me about how your son is sort of helping you navigate to this complexity?
Sally Giblin 4:37
Yeah, sure. It's a good question. So I think like many parents, you know, when I had my son, it was very much you know, something that made me step back and go, what kind of future Am I creating for him? What, how can I create that best life and, and I guess, in the context of the climate emergency, you know, there's really this, this whole challenge around, what kind of future, you know, will be there for our kids. And you know what that next generation is stepping into. And so I've very much decided to focus on how we can help inspire and nurture that next generation of children to really care for the environment and want to be leaders for environmental change. And so there's some really simple things you can do with young children.
And one of the first things is very much to inspire them to love nature. And you know, that can be as simple as playing outdoors quite a bit, having nature play activities, talking about, you know, animals and the environment. Because studies have shown that when children learn to love nature, as they're young, they often grow up to want to protect nature. And I think a second thing is, it is very much about inspiring them with stories, and games and puzzles, and all sorts of things that, you know, help them to learn about how they can care for the planet, but in a really fun engaging way. And, you know, as we all know, I think we all get drawn in as humans to storytelling. And it's such a powerful learning tool for young kids as well. And I think the third thing I'd say is around role modelling. Because, you know, children very much learn from what people around them and what the adults around them are doing. So as people start to, you know, make some changes in their own lives and understand more about this space. That's one of the best things you can do. You know, and one of the most visible things for kids is single use plastics. And so you know, things like explaining to your children if you're trying to make choices that are moving a bit more towards Reusables, and how we can do some things differently, you know, doing that with them and explaining why you're doing it. And it's quite surprising to see how that can then solidify in your child's mind. And I know during one of the many lockdowns here in the UK, I remember my son just deciding he wanted to start at about four. And he wanted to start making his little mini posters about trying to tell people about not using single use plastics and how they can hurt the fish. And I remember he listed me to make about 150, these tiny little posters he wanted to hand out. And that wasn't me, you know, telling him to do anything, he just decided, you know, after this conversation, so it's quite interesting to see where some of these very small things can actually plant something your child's mind where they can lead,
Katherine Ann Byam 7:29
oh, my goodness, four years old, and an activist already. He's gonna give Greta a run for it. So let's talk a little bit about social impact and change and what the stories that you've written. What would you like to share with my listeners about some of the journeys that you've been on through your storytelling and through your writing, that have created an impact in the work that you do?
Sally Giblin 7:56
So I think one of the things that has really stood out to me, as I've immersed myself more and more in this space, is this thrill need to try and transition from getting lost in all the doom and gloom and despair of a lot of the headlines that are out there, and really trying to immerse yourself in the positivity and the solutions and the optimism. And someone who is incredible in this space is Christina Figueiras, who led the whole effort around the Paris Agreement in 2015, you know, getting nearly every country in the world to sign up to try to catch the 1.5 degree temperature increase or two degrees at the most. And I think for her, when she first got put into that position of leadership, she remembers, you know, going to a conference and saying something, when asked a question about how are you going to do this, you said something about, well, we're not going to do it in my lifetime. And I think, you know, that was a response. She didn't even mean to say but she put it out there into the world. And I think she did a lot of soul searching after that and realised, you know, what, if I'm going to lead this effort, I need to be what she calls a stubborn optimist. And I need to be, you know, really believing and truly believing that this is possible to make this real change. And she shifted her mindset and was able to bring so many people along to do something that no one really did think possible at the time. And so I really hold that idea of, you know, not digging our heads in the sand, not pretending everything's okay at all. But really having hope and believing that, you know, we really can still do this, and project drawdown which is the world's most comprehensive view of solutions for the climate emergency. You know, really tacking on to that and and taking the view that if we, you know, people who kind of rise up for change and are able to help facilitate and take action to, you know, get our world leaders, businesses, individuals to do everything they can to To implement the solutions we already do have, we really can, you know, slam the brakes on this crisis and turn things around?
Katherine Ann Byam 10:06
Yeah, no, I like that. And what made you yourself decide to become such an activist? What moment made you drunk?
Sally Giblin 10:16
So I think I'd always been searching ever since I was a teenager, for what, something to really get behind. And it's always been so important to me to try and make something better in the world. And I think it started with a trip, I was very fortunate to take over to the Philippines when I was a teenager. And it was actually a geography tour. And, you know, I remember saying, you know, a lot of very difficult things over there, one of the things was visiting this orphanage and seeing these kids as young four or five, who'd been sniffing glue and being, you know, trapped into these terrible circumstances. And I remember just thinking, I just want to be able to do something to help. And, you know, I did a lot of volunteer work, a lot of social impact things. I did a master's in international development. It was reaching and exploring for a long time. But then I think the reason I think I've really landed on the environment, and the whole climate movement is because it is the biggest issue of our lifetime. And I think there is such an immense need to create change there. And there's so many ways people can get involved. And I think, you know, I just find such meaning in trying to be one small part of helping to try and turn the tide on this immense, you know, crisis in our lives.
Katherine Ann Byam 11:34
Yeah, it's incredible, because there's so much at stake at the moment. And there's so much that's changing at the moment across a number of different spheres, you know, and whilst, like, I'm not a scientist and not an ecologist, but for me, it's like, it's equally as an unimportant part of the story about people and what you talk, what you spoke about with people in the Philippines, and etc, and your experiences when you were growing up. And it's so important for us to recognise as well, that we need to share the wealth of this planet in a way that it's sustainable for the planet and for us. So there's so much going on, at the moment that it feels sometimes it could get scary and overwhelming. I don't know if you feel that at times.
Sally Giblin 12:20
Look, I absolutely still do. And I think it's just constantly trying to navigate these different feelings and emotions and try and, you know, keep bringing it back to where you can try and take action and where you can try and find community and do these things to sort of keep on this path. But I think it's only natural, and a lot of the climate psychologists out there do definitely say that it is a completely normal reaction, to feel some of these emotions of fear or despair or loss or overwhelm. And then it's about trying to navigate through that, and, and trying to find your path in your way. And I think, you know, taking action in a way that resonates for you, personally, is a really, really valuable way of not only trying to navigate those emotions, but also making an impact and trying to change things. And back to something you said about just the intertwining of the social and environmental issues here. Absolutely. And I was very fortunate to be part of Al Gore's Climate Reality leader programme earlier this year. And, you know, in terms of basically what the Climate Reality Project is all about, is trying to empower people to rise up and be voices for climate action and talking to the reality of the climate crisis and try and help more and more people make ripples of change. And their approach there is very much about how the climate justice and social justice movements are completely intertwined. And, you know, disproportionately the climate emergency is affecting people who are already more disadvantaged. And so there's just so much need there to address this, you know, the whole the whole thing together. And the intersexual environmentalist, they're a wonderful community on Instagram, and they, you know, really go into a lot of face issues and really doing a fabulous job of trying to pull that apart and help to kind of advance there.
Katherine Ann Byam 14:18
Yeah, absolutely. Let's kind of move our attention to cop 26. So this is coming up. There's a lot at stake. What do you expect in terms of outcomes? And what would you like to see?
Sally Giblin 14:31
Yeah, it's a great question. So, I mean, I think John Kerry, the US climate invoice, you know, he sums that up quite well when he says that the COP 26 UN summit in Glasgow in November is the last best chance to take action on the environmental crisis. And so I think there's really three main things that I really want to see happen there. Firstly, to see big, hairy audacious, you know, tar bits that are going to be followed through on by countries around the world. And I think it's all about going deeper and wider on action, as well as you know, pulling forward the time frames to really be slamming the brakes on emissions, and, you know, putting emissions into emissions into reverse in terms of, you know, carbon sinks and really pulling carbon out of the atmosphere as well. The second thing would be around helping countries that are already feeling climate impacts to adapt, because, like we were saying earlier, you know, there're many countries already feeling devastating impacts, who need, you know, support and planning to really try and address that for their people. And I think the third thing is that the richer countries of the world committed some time ago to providing $100 billion in funding a year to poorer countries to deal with the climate crisis. And that funding hasn't eventuated as yet. So it's imperative that that happens to to help those countries, you know, who are going to be feeling more of the impacts, and less able to deal with it, get that funding to them to make sure that those people are able to have the best chance,
Katherine Ann Byam 16:10
slightly geopolitical questions, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. But do you think that we can make change happen with our current nation state sort of process and mentality?
Sally Giblin 16:24
So look, it's a really good question. And I think, you know, there's such a need for systemic change to happen on so many levels, and and throughout how, you know, our societies are built, and I was listening to a fabulous podcast on this actually on force of nature the other day. And I think, you know, the nation state model can be quite troublesome in terms of that. And I think, you know, one of the things that I foresee as a real path forward is more localised mesh methods of production and consumption in terms of energy in terms of food. And so whether the nation state model is the best fit model, you know, for going forward. It's not my area of expertise. But I'm incredibly interested to see you know, whether that is something that can be evolved and changed. I'd love to know what you think about that, Katherine?
Katherine Ann Byam 17:21
I also think that it's something I would like to see evolve and change. I think localization is a big part of the story. And a lot of what digitalization has brought is this feeling that we could be everywhere, but actually, I don't think it's the right solution. So it's learning how to use the tools that we have, within the context of the constraints we have. And we haven't quite navigated that yet. And I think there's a book called tools and weapons. And it's not, it's about digitalization in general. But it made me reflect on sort of the kind of parameters that we need to have in place, you know, so where doctors have Hippocratic Oath, so whatever, you know, we need to have the same thing for people coding the systems, we need to have people taking certain sorts of decisions that are different than we did before. Knowing what we know, now knowing the constraints that we never thought we had before. So yes, I think there's a need for change. But i i Also, I'm not qualified to speak on June 4, geopolitical issues. So what's next on the agenda for you? And how can my listeners support your mission?
Sally Giblin 18:33
Yeah, sure. So I think there's probably two big things. So firstly, my co founder, Helen and I, so we're working on building up our business called be the future. And essentially, this movement is just all about trying to inspire guardians of our next generation, whether that's parents, grandparents, teachers, family members, to, I guess, nurture heroic leaders for environmental change. And there's just such a possibility with how we can help shape that future generation to really care for the planet and do things in a better, greener, fairer way for everyone. And so at the moment, we have our community, we're building up on Instagram, where we, you know, are really trying to inspire people to take action to have hope, and your leaders share real tips for real change. We are starting to record a podcast which is exciting called Hope at thrive. And that is, is really again, about you know, bringing in all sorts of different voices to help inspire people. And in the background, we were building up a collection of storybooks and puzzles and games that were released through different themes. Because I think we're big believers in storytelling and immersing ourselves and things that inspire us to really try and help kids and their guardians to really learn about this space and be inspired to make change. So that's sort of the first thing that would be the future. And then the second thing is around the Climate Reality Project. I'm involved in some stuff with cop 26. And also, you know, doing quite a bit of writing around trying to spread the word about climate optimism, and about actions people can take. And I guess, trying to help be part of changing that conversation from the doom and the gloom that that can really, you know, fair enough, encourage people to just want to switch off and try and really build in the inspiration of what the world could be and try and get more and more people involved in, you know, this incredibly important shift in society.
Katherine Ann Byam 20:38
Thank you so much for sharing that. I think this has been a really fantastic conversation. Can you tell my listeners how they can follow you and get in touch with you? Yes, sure. So
Sally Giblin 20:47
The best place is probably on Instagram, and our account is called be the future Earth.
Katherine Ann Byam 20:53
Perfect. Thanks so much for joining me, Sally.
Sally Giblin 20:55
Thank you so much for having me, Catherine. It's wonderful.