Coronavirus: 'Nature is sending us a message’, says UN environment chief
According to the UN’s environment chief, Inger Andersen, nature is sending us a message with the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing climate crisis.* Andersen said humanity was placing too many pressures on the natural world with damaging consequences, and warned that failing to take care of the planet meant not taking care of ourselves.
Leading scientists also said the Covid-19 outbreak was a “clear warning shot”, given that far more deadly diseases existed in wildlife. To prevent further outbreaks, the experts said, both global heating and the destruction of the natural world ….have to end.*
If we are to avoid the escalation of pandemics like Corona virus, and the mounting climate crisis that sits behind it, global industry needs to start operating differently - and fast.
Common Objective (CO) was founded to make it easy for businesses everywhere to operate in the most sustainable way. Because the site rewards suppliers that are operating sustainably with higher search rankings, more profile, and more customers, it is actively incentivising better practices, and creating a race to the top. CO member businesses compete to minimise their impact on the planet, and maximise benefits for people - whilst creating great products that last.
As the world reels from the impact of COVID-19, we are already seeing demand for what we do at CO starting to grow. With all physical trade events cancelled, more suppliers and buyers are looking to connect online. With $billions of orders cancelled by the world’s largest fashion brands, suppliers are urgently seeking alternative buyers in order to keep their factories running and workers employed - CO’s thriving global SME network has the potential to step in and fill this gap.
As happened after the 2008 recession, when thousands of people were made redundant and used their initiative to start their own businesses, we anticipate a spike in the number of entrepreneurs and start ups in the fashion sector - all seeking suppliers for their growing product ranges.
With the dual crises of climate change and COVID-19 both stemming from unsustainable business practices, CO offers a solution that addresses both the immediate needs of businesses to achieve their bottom line, as well as the context to the challenges faced by industry as a whole.
As we emerge from COVID -19, there is real opportunity for CO to grow rapidly, and ramp up its reach and impact in the fashion industry, and beyond.
To prepare for this, and to respond to the immediate needs of our global network, we are focusing our efforts over the next 6 months on three things:
Leveraging the CO community so that every new member adds value for the whole network
Growing and diversifying our supplier base, and
Increasing functionality for suppliers in response to their challenges imposed by COVID -19, and in readiness for a surge in SME’s interacting to trade online.
We’re crowdfunding in order to scale up our work and offering the opportunity for anyone to become a shareholder in CO, from just £10.
Becoming a shareholder in CO offers opportunities to benefit from the growth of CO as a leading solution in the wake of this crisis. At the same time, all our investors are backing a new way of doing business - and the means to reset global industry in response to the dual crises of COVID-19 and climate change.
Join the CO shareholder base on Crowdcube today, and be a part of the solution,
Tamsin Lejeune
CEO and Founder, Common Objective
“The separation of health and environmental policy is a dangerous delusion. Our health entirely depends on the climate and the other organisms we share the planet with.” Aaron Bernstein, Director of the Centre for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard*
*Coronavirus: Nature is sending us a message, The Guardian, 25.03.20