50% reduction by 2030, 1.5 degrees, $100bn per year, 16% rise by 2030…

We are all aware of the numbers, but Simon Mundy has spent two years travelling across the world to translate those numerical figures into a beautiful woven story of the human figures battling against disaster, relentlessly innovating, fighting to survive, and profiting from opportunity as they respond to the very real effects of climate change.

He will be joined by Paul van Zyl to bring to life the stories of the diverse cast of characters locked in our generation’s critical struggle – from the communities hit by extreme physical shifts, to the business leaders grappling with the implications for the world economy.

It’s a story of risk, resilience, and rewards that depicts how green energy initiatives in China are driving a hazardous mining rush in Congo, how an Israeli fake meat start-up is helping to save the Amazon, and how Greenland’s melting sea ice is putting its people at the centre of a global power struggle.

Join Simon and Paul to hear the stories that will turn the statistics you constantly hear into the human stories you won’t forget.

Simon Mundy is the Editor of Moral Money, the Financial Times’ platform on socially responsible business, sustainable finance, impact investing, ESG trends, and the SDGs. He also covers environmental and sustainability issues for the wider Financial Times. Born in the UK, Simon began his reporting career in Johannesburg, where he covered Southern Africa for the FT before a period writing on the London financial sector. He then spent seven years in Asia, heading the FT bureaux in Seoul and Mumbai – before two years travelling across six continents to research Race for Tomorrow, a book about the global fight to respond to climate change.

Paul Van Zyl is a Co-Founder of The Conduit and its Chief Creative Officer. The Conduit serves as a home for a diverse community of people passionate about social change. Having grown up in apartheid South Africa, Paul trained as a human rights lawyer and went on to serve as the Executive Secretary of South Africa’s post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission. He then co-founded the International Centre for Transitional Justice, an organisation that works in over 40 countries that have endured massive human rights violations under repression and in conflict. Paul is also a Co-Founder and CEO of Maiyet, an ethical luxury fashion brand that cultivates traditional design and culture by partnering with global artisans. He has received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, was chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and served on its Global Agenda Council on Fragile States, and is a London Tech Week Changemaker. He holds a law degree from University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, an LLM in international law from University of Leiden, an LLM from New York University, and an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Santa Clara School of Law.

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