Lifting Lives, Cool Biz, AI, Renewables & Gardening

Giles Gibbons

Good Business - Sustainability | Strategy | Impact

June 13, 2025

1. Lifting lives

In “How to put Britain back on the opportunity escalator” Andy Haldane, Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts and former Chief Economist at the Bank of England invites us to imagine the UK in 2029 as a country transformed by government, business and communities working together to create better opportunities for young people.

At the heart of this imagined future is the Lifting Lives (LL) programme, a bold blueprint for improving living standards and tackling barriers to opportunity. If the vision was realised, this programme would overturn many of the obstacles which currently hold people back.

One of these obstacles is digital exclusion which remains very real now, with 40% of young people lacking broadband and a computer at home. The LL programme addresses this by giving every child a computer, and AI-enabled tutor and broadband access, levelling the digital playing field overnight. Who provides it? A coalition of technology companies working with the government.

The LL programme also envisages funding for school careers advisory services in every school, with local businesses providing a structured programme of volunteers, talks and work experience for every 14 to 18-year-old. It sees business-led partnerships creating career pathways and apprenticeships tailored to meet local skills needs, while football clubs sponsor youth clubs and leisure centres to use sport as a vehicle for community connection and social mobility.

Throughout the ideas proposed we see business playing a leading role, helping to realise young people’s potential, and working with government to create lasting change.

Of course this isn’t all just the stuff of future scenario visions. Business is already embedded in social change. To take just one example, see our client nexfibre’s partnership with the charity UK Youth which is bringing full-fibre broadband to 1,000 youth centres across the UK via VMO2.

But in a world where pessimism can feel like the default, it’s refreshing and exciting to think of what could happen if this was unleashed at full throttle into the future.

2. Not just any business, a "Cool Biz"

Good Business has rebranded! Not really, but we do love the innovative “Cool Biz” initiative in Japan.  “Cool Biz” was pioneered by the then-environment minister, Yuriko Koike, 20 years ago to coincide with the Kyoto Protocol. The policy stated that government buildings could not cool their buildings to lower than 28C, and stated that to cool off, office workers should adopt a casual dress policy over the hot summer months.

This seemingly unassuming policy was immediately successful with estimated savings of nearly half a million tonnes of carbon in the first year, with savings tripling the following year as businesses started to adopt the practice. While the policy slogan “No jacket, no necktie” addresses male dress codes, the change has been reportedly embraced by women who had been used to cold office temperatures adapted to male workers.

The success of this win-win-win seems obvious, but it should be noted that there was strong marketing to roll out the policy, including role modelling by business leaders and public figures, who showed their support in a fashion show wearing acceptable Cool Biz outfits. In fact, 96% of the Japanese public had heard of Cool Biz within the first year. Now 20 years on the practice is still going strong, but many don’t see it as an environmental initiative. It is merely a social norm.

A few of us here at Good Business are guilty of having “office jumpers” when the aircon is on in the summer. In future, we will think a bit more about the temperature control before wrapping up in the summertime!

3. AI for good

Two weeks ago, we reflected on the dangers of AI going unchecked. Remember that viral summer reading list full of books that don’t even exist? This week, we’re turning the spotlight on some of the truly positive ways AI is changing lives.

Artificial intelligence is proving to be an invaluable force for good in supporting people with disabilities. A recent example comes from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in South Africa, which has introduced Envision Smart AI Glasses for visually impaired students. These innovative glasses use AI to read printed and digital text aloud, recognize faces, help navigate environments, and provide real-time descriptions of surroundings, all through discreet audio feedback. For visually impaired students, the glasses have been transformative, restoring independence and helping them participate more fully in academic life.

AI is also making a difference for deaf children through Huawei’s StorySign app. By combining AI and augmented reality, StorySign translates the text of children’s books into sign language, using an animated character to sign passages as children scan pages with their device. This opens up the world of books to deaf children, helping them develop literacy skills in a way that is both accessible and engaging. And for blind users, Huawei’s Facing Emotions app analyzes facial expressions and turns them into simple sounds, helping users “hear” the emotions of people they’re talking to.

These examples show that AI’s greatest value lies in addressing real human needs by empowering people and removing barriers, rather than replacing creativity or chasing abstract dreams of transcendence. Used wisely, AI becomes a tool for inclusion and dignity, not just automation.

4. Round-the-clock renewables

When the sun is shining and the wind is blowing, electricity is both green and cheap.But this isn’t always the case. As a result, the emissions intensity of electricity can vary quite considerably through time and location (you can see the live tracking for the UK here).

But the typical approach for calculating emissions takes a business’s annual consumption and applies it to an annual emissions intensity figure. Estimates show that this can over- or under-estimate emissions by up to 35%, compared to real-time measurement. We also know we need to match electricity production with consumption in order to move away from fossil fuels.

This is exactly what The Climate Group has set out to address with its 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition. It was launched at New York Climate Week last year and recently published its technical guidance, which aims to support businesses to commit to carbon-free electricity use and deliver upon those claims.

A big part of the challenge is being able to measure emissions at this level of detail, and this is an import focus of the coalition. It relies on utility companies providing more detailed information, but some do already support this, such as Octopus’ Electric Match service for businesses, which matches and tracks consumption directly to generation.

We think this development is an important one. Good progress has been made, increasing the share of renewable electricity, and this has been a key part of corporates’ progress on emissions targets. But the coalition and its guidance support companies taking the next step by incentivising the full range of actions to accelerate the energy system’s transition to net zero. If you’re interested, you can get involved here and if you would like to put this into practice, you know where we are.

5. Unearthed: The power of gardening

Whether you have a green thumb or are a serial houseplant killer, the British Library’s latest exhibition, Unearthed: The Power of Gardening, has something for everyone. Taking visitors on a journey through the history of plants and gardens in Britain, the exhibition explores and celebrates how they’ve shaped our individual wellbeing, our communities and our natural world.

From the power of being able to grow your own food to the legacy of global plant acquisition in Britain and the impact our gardens have on biodiversity, the exhibition displays artefacts and tells stories spanning from the 11th century to modern times that reflect how something as everyday as a garden has the power to shape lives and landscapes.

What’s more, with the impact of gardening on the planet being a big part of the exhibition, the British Library has fittingly used the exhibition as an opportunity to pilot more sustainable exhibiting practices. This means minimising transport of loan objects by borrowing more locally, reusing display equipment from previous exhibitions, and measuring the carbon emissions of an exhibition for the first time to better understand where the impacts lie, to name just a few initiatives.

So, if you’re looking for an inspiring day out this summer, head down to the British Library now. Unearthed runs until Sunday 10th August.