While at lunch at the Groucho Club in March Sir John Hegarty lowered his voice and then told me a secret.
I wasn’t able to say anything….until today.
For anyone who knows John’s work, you’ll know he is a fierce, unapologetic believer in the power of ideas. He has spent decades at the top of one of the most demanding industries in the world and he still refuses to settle for the obvious answer.
So when he described what he was working on, I was really intrigued. His passion was infectious, as well as his genuine belief that a truly well-made idea can truly change things.
Tomorrow is World Environment Day, and what John has been quietly building with the UN is an answer to a question that has been bothering him for a while. Why is it just a day, when what we’re facing is the biggest threat to humanity? And how do you reach a younger audience with something that feels so vast and so distant?
His answer is a band.
A band of endangered animals called Agenda Earth, whose mantra is “every time we lose some forest, we lose some friends.”
I love this because it is John doing exactly what he encourages everyone around him to do – Be curious. Be brave. And be willing to look completely different in service of something that truly matters.
And yes, I am writing this from Brazil, where the loss of forest is not an abstract headline – it’s where it is something I see, and feel, every single day.
Please – check out agendaearth.org. Share it with someone younger than you.
And then do one more thing. Please find an organisation actively protecting what is left and contribute what you can.
The secret is out. Let’s make some noise.
