This Working Life

System change to save our planet is not someone else’s job, it’s everyone’s job

Most of us think the fate of the living world has nothing to do with us. We couldn’t be more wrong. Our professional work is right at the heart of the climate crisis

Climate breakdown, biodiversity collapse, waste, ocean acidification, overfishing and plastic pollution: what connects this avalanche of issues is us. Picture: Getty

Paula Downey is a senior partner at Downey Youell Associates, the culture change practice, and co-creator of CultureWork and The Climate Action Sprint, see culturework.ie

The tone around our climate and biodiversity crisis is increasingly alarming. António Gutteres, the UN secretary-general, tells us “we are digging our own graves”, and that business and government leaders who say one thing but do another “are lying” about the scale and urgency of the crisis. This is not ...