Monday 06-11-2017 - 10:28

In October, I was given the amazing opportunity to travel to Bogota, Colombia to attend the 2017 One Young World conference as GCU’s and Scotlands representative, bringing together young leaders from all 196 countries to come up with solutions to the greatest issues facing our planet and it’s future.

 

I have the opportunity to speak to some of the worlds most inspiring leaders, such as Kofi Annan & Justin Trudeau, and celebrities like Cher, Tinie Tempah, Emma Watson, Sir Bob Geldof and many many more all  using their reach to help tackle social injustice across the world.

Coming to Bogotá and being surrounded by so many inspirational People all changing the world in their own little ways has been genuinely transformational for me, from seeing Bruce Dickinson (Yes, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson) talking about his projects in creating zero-carbon alternatives to air travel, to our very own Chancellor, Professor Muhammed Yunus inspiring a generation to take action in creating a world with zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions.

As a result, I now feel inspired to start a social business and work harder to build a better world built on the values I believe in.

 

From speaking to the President & 2016 Nobel Prize Winner, Juan Manuel Santos I learned that Colombia is going through the most incredible time in its history, a 50+ year war coming to an end through the peace process, for the first time, children growing up on the streets of Bogota, or Medellin or La Cartagena won't grow up to the sound of gunfire, death and destruction. They will grow up in peace and this is their opportunity to build a country that can take its place on the international stage and right now they are a beacon of hope for the entire world and we all have so much we could learn from them.

 

Bogota gets a bad press, but walking around the streets and talking to the people, they are so much more than our media makes them out to be, for most of the world they only think of Narcos and Pablo Escobar but 10% of the entire planets wildlife are in Colombia, it is the fastest growing economy in the Americas, and are on track to become a truly amazing country in the next decade, they are an amazing people with so much to offer the world and if you have the opportunities, go there, experience it!

One of the most important things we as a species need to undersand is that we aren't a collection of nations and races and cultures, constantly warring and fighting for dominant access to resources, we have to start building an economic system that isn't based on profit for shareholders but one where businesses exist to solve a social problem, where there is zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions. 

It is possible, it is achievable within our lifetime, but we ALL need to start to do our bit and solve the lack of ethical leadership that plagues our societies.

YOU have the power to do this, stand up, take action and build the world you want to see!
 

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 40th anniversary of the first ever photograph of Earth from space.
 

The first ever photograph of Earth from space is called "Earthrise" and it's significance is that for the first time in human history, it showed that we aren't a collection of different nations on a map, we are all one people hurtling through infinity towards a common destiny on this little rock that sustains us all.

This planet has given us more than we could ever imagine, but now it's our turn to repay that debt and come to its aid in its darkest hour.
 

We only have One Planet
 

One Home
 

One Young World