The
central remit for TVE was to make films that would inspire change. We think that businesses
have a responsibility to be able to show the world what they're doing in terms of their
sustainability initiatives. The whole ethos behind the awards is really to get people
talking, people thinking, people innovating. If we cannot sustain the planet, there won't
be any businesses. Thank you very much. I know you're all very, very busy people and
we're delighted that we've got such a wide range of judges. So inspiring change amongst
their peer groups. TVE is a company that was set up
29 years ago by the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Wildlife Fund and Central
Television which is a television company in the UK. We're a not-for-profit organisation
and our remit really is to inspire change through film. So we look at subjects that perhaps
would not be looked at on any other television station. TVE has over those years made hundreds
of films to do with the environment, climate change, education for women, social justice
issues all around the world and one of the things that we are particularly proud of is
that we operate with worldwide partners across the world and our films are distributed in
over 100 countries and seen by 1.5 billion people. TVE is very, very influential, small
is beautiful and their impact worldwide is enormous. TVE offers our African audiences
content that is inspiring, that is innovative in terms of development and the environment.
It's an opportunity to open a new window to look at our planet and listen to real voices.
They give filmmakers and people affected on the ground a chance to tell their stories
in their way so that they can create positive change. And go. Hey everyone do you know anything
about biodiversity? No. Films are an engaging way of sharing how we can protect the planet.
What's going on up here? Why is the ice melting as fast as it is?
TVE initiated the Global Sustainability Film Awards last year as a way of really encouraging
companies to look at the responsibility they have to the environment, to their local communities.
We were delighted because we had up to 17 films worldwide from people all over the world
so we had film entries coming from Latin America, from North America, from Asia, from the Middle
East and we thought that was phenomenal because it really is a debate which should be a global
debate. I think that we all have a responsibility to ensure that the legacy that we leave behind,
whether we are just individuals, but most importantly if we are big businesses and industries,
is something that others can learn from and others can take forward. Now the planet needs
to have a sustainability policy because otherwise there won't be a planet in sort of 100 years
from now. We think that businesses have a responsibility to be able to show the world
what they're doing in terms of their sustainability initiatives. This year for the Global Sustainability
Film Awards we've made a special plea for local governments to get involved. Local governments
can often work with businesses and that's what we're looking for. We're looking for
big businesses who are working with local government, big businesses that are working
with national governments and all sorts of corporations who are working with not-for-profit
organisations. So for example there are lots of community groups, local small groups who
might be doing great work but they might need finance for a particular project. We're actively
encouraging corporations who work with these small communities to say show us what you're
doing through film, show us what you're doing. And the whole ethos behind the awards is really
to get people talking, people thinking, people innovating, change and we really hope that
big businesses can learn from small businesses and the other way around. It doesn't mean
just because you're a big business, you have the best ideas. Sometimes the best ideas are
the smallest ideas of all and everyone can learn from them.
I like the fact that they're doing things where they can't do anything. There's a river
where there's water for the animals to live. And the trees contain the water. They give
shade. It's what I like about the fortress and the mountain.
Here the fortress community is like a community, like Guarda Vozte. So that if people from other
places or people from other places come here, they don't let them come in to cut or destroy
or something like that. Here we have forbidden what it is to hunt to sell, we have forbidden
to fish to sell, to consume nothing else. We know that right now we're having benefits
for ourselves and that's how we do it tomorrow.
We're looking for short, innovative, inspiring films, up to ten minutes long. So they're
short films and they can really be showing us anything that a company is doing. I mean
there are some marvellous projects that a lot of global corporations undertake, either
in the three categories that we have for the film awards, so the environment or the community
investment category or an inspiring good governance category. And there are some marvellous examples.
We think that those companies should really be bashing their drum and being able to say
this is what we're doing, we want other companies to learn from us.
I think corporate social responsibility is the term that gets bandied about. A lot of
people sort of talk about it but not very many incidences of how it works in practice
are seen and that's one of the reasons why we initiated these awards. So that companies
could show us rather than just talk to us about what they do. We think social responsibility
is really important because it's that simple thing which is to do with investing back in
what has made you great. And it's really important for businesses to understand that you can't
just carry on taking out of the environment, out of the public, out of other businesses.
You need to be able to reinvest and that's very important and that can take a measure
of different formats so it can be that you invest in your employers. You train them to
have a different way of thinking. You can invest in your local community by initiating
projects to help people who are disadvantaged, not children who don't go to school for example.
There are, we saw hundreds of examples of that kind of investment that companies do do.
I think sometimes big businesses have a bad name. What we hear is, oh, they're profits
they made, this much profit. But I think that actually big businesses also make massive
changes. So a lot of the big corporations, the global international corporations, they
have foundations. And those foundations do fantastic work. They work on all sorts of
different projects to do with developing countries, helping children who otherwise
wouldn't have an education, feeding people. Sometimes those companies only get the kind
of press which says that they're in it for themselves and they're greedy. They never
really get the kind of press that says, well actually we're putting something back. And
one of the things that we want to do in these awards is to be able to allow companies to
showcase the good things that they're doing because I think many companies do do a lot
of good. And the simple thing is that investment is good business sense. So it's really
important to be able to invest in the community and in the environment.
I'm Pajon. I'm a student at the University of New York. I'm 10 minutes away from here.
I'm a student at the University of New York. I'm a student at the University of New York.
I'm so grateful to be here with all of you and I'm grateful to see you in different
ways andvil look at your career.
And here we can do our work well, so that when the promotion is done, we can do our work well, so that we can teach the students.
I like this place a lot. I like everyone in my work.
After lunch, we sit here.
Everything is very good.
We can't go to the factory.
And especially, we have to stay at home for a long time.
And if we have protein, we sit here and think about our future.
Well, I think that good businesses understand that you have to, you know, sort of invest money to make money.
And I think that's a very simple business, sort of supposition that everyone actually works on.
So if we cannot sustain the planet, there won't be any businesses. It's as simple as that.
And in terms of corporate responsibility, if you don't look after your employees, you don't look after the local community where you're based,
then I think, you know, the businesses will find that they no longer have the support of their local community.
They no longer have a support base with their employees.
It's really important to keep people involved.
And I think, you know, that's one of the keys to good business.
So I would say that, you know, sort of, yes, it does cost money, but I think it's money well spent and well invested.
And that's one of the, you know, sort of things that we would want companies to be able to say and show.
Show that they have spent money on a community investment program, on an environmentally friendly product,
but that actually they're gaining so much more from it.
So I think, you know, the most important thing about the Grupo Bimbo submission last year and the reason why it won overall best film
was not because it was the most creative or the most imaginative film, but it really had a central message.
And that message was that this is a company who really understand that investment in the local community and in their employees is the key to their success.
And that's a fantastic message to have out there and to, you know, bring to other companies.
I think it's a very fortunate thing because I feel a lot of support, support in the work, support with my family.
For example, in my house, well, my children are very proud of me.
When they talk to their friends, well, my mom works in Bimbo, yes.
And your mom, what does she do? Well, she sells. She drives a little truck. She drives a little truck.
We don't look for that with the treatment and all this, there is greater productivity,
but the inevitable result is that when people are satisfied, it gives the best of themselves.
And it has created what many people call the Bimbo culture, which allows people not only to find the company,
the way to earn life, but also to have a contribution to their happiness.
I don't know what this little bear has, this little bear that is here, I don't know what it has,
but it gets into the soul of all the people who are in Bimbo.
What happens to the people in Bimbo who fall in love with their company so much?
Well, what happens is that there is a fair treatment, a human treatment, a treatment where they can somehow overcome,
to help them do better, to make better people, to make better citizens, to make better family parents and to make better workers.
Many companies talk about sustainability, but very few are linked to forests.
So, thanks to the Bimbo group, we are giving examples that can be easily followed by private companies.
If we achieve that the people who live in the forests get the greatest benefits,
the communities will be satisfied, they will live with dignity.
Here there is no employment, people have to leave the city to work,
but also now here, as you see here, there are farmers,
now and later, they will no longer have to go out to work in the city.
The community we are in, is waiting for us to be good citizens
and take into account the great national causes, the cause of the community.
One of the ones that really kind of stands out is that Vodafone Qatar in the Middle East, they produced a film.
I thought it was a fantastic and innovative idea and that's what we're looking for.
We're looking for businesses that can come up with creative ideas to inspire change.
Now, one of the things that came up with was that they understood that women in Qatar really live quite sheltered lives.
They live within their community, they live within a very, very feminine environment
and often they don't work, so they don't actually have any finance that comes in from themselves.
One of the things they wanted to do, a project that they're very involved with, is to develop a team of mobile sales housewives.
So basically what they got was they got housewives to sell their phones to their own network
and I just thought, it's a very simple idea, it was an absolute success
and women who otherwise would be at home with their children and not really have any access to any money or any financing,
they felt great about themselves because they were actually sort of their own bosses.
They were selling phones to each other, to their networks, to their wider networks
and they were having fun and I thought that was a great little idea.
In my life, there have been many changes in Qatar.
In the past, we lived in the cold.
Two years ago, Qatar became a modern state, but some things have changed faster than others.
Here, I'm 30 years old and I have seven children and most of the men see that women
don't want to work according to their habits.
But my wife encouraged me to work in this field, especially in sales,
in the business sector in Fidafoun.
After I was married and married, I didn't have any job or even any education.
I was a little scared at first, but Suzy was a good person.
He taught us how to be successful in the first place,
and his parents were proud of his success in our traditions and traditions.
When I finished my training in the Johara project, I felt like I was being kicked out.
And the peace I had left for the Red Cross was something we didn't have any dreams of.
And what gave us the confidence that in reality, this is work.
I was proud when I was able to sell products in the business sector from my own companies,
and from my neighbors and friends in the nearest places.
I was able quickly to reach the goal of my projects in sales,
so that the stories I took from my work made me feel the difference in the kind of life I live in.
For me, it was a transition from our old home to a bigger and more beautiful home,
and one of the most important things I had ever experienced.
I was able to provide for the families of the players I couldn't afford to provide for them before.
In addition, I was able to complete my studies,
and I took the test that my family gave me to enter the special course of my work.
It was most important for me,
and I received a message from the appropriate teachers
to teach them how to take the decisions they make, and to limit their future.
We talk about the planet and how we can sustain our environment.
We hear all about how things are changing, the climate is changing,
and we hear about whether or not there will be a planet in 200 years or in 500 years,
and I think sustainable development is all about companies practicing good governance.
It's about governing how they put back into the environment
and make their businesses sustainable,
so that they're not churning out exhaust fumes if there is an alternative way.
We live in a technological age,
and it's really important for us to be able to use technology to get over the issues to do with pollution,
the issues to do with cutting back on rainforests, that kind of thing.
It's really important for people to be responsible about all of those things,
because it's not for our generation, and it's not probably for the generation after us,
but for the generation that goes beyond that, we'll need to be able to think,
well actually, because of sustainable development, we are still here on the planet.
Atkins, who are an architectural firm, and they have projects all over the world,
they were last year involved in recreating a decimated area of London,
there was nothing there before, it was just rubbish dump and no infrastructure,
no trains coming in or whatever, so it was a massive project.
They took on the London Olympics, they wanted to create a base for the London Olympics,
they were the company that were chosen to do that,
and they created out of this devastated piece of land,
they created a beautiful Olympic stadium and a fantastic area of natural landscape beauty.
So that people can enjoy that, not only last year when the Olympics were on,
but it's something that will stay with us within that area for generations to come,
and it is now a place that people go to, to relax, to enjoy themselves, to watch nature.
Atkins, we thought that the design that they came up with was very harmonious,
because it really brought together fantastic looking buildings as a showstopper for the Olympics,
but they also were very mindful of the local environment,
and they wanted to allow the natural wildlife that's there to be able to still live there,
and for there to be an interface between people and the local environment,
and I think they achieved that very well indeed.
Alright my son, I'm Rick.
Me and my mates have been here since the year dot.
I'll tell you, we thought our time was up when Atkins' remediation team started the big cleanup.
200 buildings to flatten and many of them derelict.
But you've got to hand it to them, 98% of the rubble got recycled.
I'll bet that out.
But guess who dodged the big grind up?
Yep, me and the boys.
We were a sweet factory a hundred years back,
but Atkins saved us and now we're part of the visitor space inside the new energy centre.
Drop by for a cup of...
I can't tell you how many feet walked across me during the games.
I tried to tell them, slow down.
Think about the effort that went into getting me here.
The scientists and technicians who washed away 150 years of contamination
and graded the soil so I had somewhere safe to lie.
The flora and fauna next to me.
They didn't just magically appear, Atkins put them in.
And now I'm full of seeds, spores and pollen.
And they're all locals because Atkins took thousands of seeds from the wilderness here,
from sedges, reeds and wildflowers.
Then they got their green fingers out and tended the baby plants in a nursery
until they could be brought back home to the nice freshly cleaned soil.
End result, the ecosystem stayed local.
Everyone is interested in China.
The whole world is interested in China.
It's a massive manufacturer for the whole of the world.
It is the emerging economy and everybody wants to understand Chinese business
and the business model.
We think that it's really important for China to be involved in that global debate.
We're here together.
The world is getting smaller and smaller.
We are all needing to work together.
China needs to work with Europe.
China needs to work with North America.
It needs to work with Asia, all the other countries in Asia.
So it's really important that China is involved in the debate,
that we learn from what China is doing and that China learns from what everybody else is doing.
And that is why we really want to encourage Chinese businesses to come on board,
get onto our website, take a look at what we're doing,
look at the kind of films that you can enter and get entering.
We've always regarded the London office as a curatorial space.
We like to support emerging artists.
The UK has this fantastic talent coming out of design colleges.
So in a sense it's all on our doorstep here.
The last ten years we've been working with artists and organisations.
We wanted to produce a programme where we commissioned young, up-and-coming designers
to create installations around the office, responding to the spaces that we have using.
This is the sort of twist to it, the ways that Bloomberg generates.
We were very surprised when we had the first contact saying that
a bunch of artists wanted to come down and have a look at our rubbish.
Going out to the Bloomberg Weirhouse.
Just give them a quick overview of what we do here
and then take them through the waste streams that's on offer to them.
Give them some samples, they have a play around.
The majority of our waste is keyboards, flat panels.
They're all branded with Bloomberg so we can't resell them.
They always want the cables, they'll always want coloured cables.
We did actually have someone that wanted loads and loads of keyboards.
Instead of sending them the whole keyboards, we just got a floor hammer and just ripped them out.
I think the ability to transform your workplace, not only to make it an aesthetic inviting place
but also to stimulate you to approach things, your job in a slightly different way.
I think it's a project that has really captured people's imaginations.
Before the TVE Global Sustainability Film Awards, there really wasn't a platform.
There really wasn't an opportunity for big businesses and small businesses, local governments
and national governments to get together and showcase what they're doing through film.
That's an opportunity that TVE has provided and we want to be able to grow this opportunity.
We want to be able to develop the idea of the Global Sustainability Film Awards
so that in the years to come this becomes a gold standard.
It's something that companies aspire to. They want to be part of these awards.
They want to be recognised for what they're doing.
What we are hoping for is that as the year progresses, we will be able to share those films
with, for example, universities and places of education
so that they can actually learn from what companies are doing right now.
The next generation of business graduates don't only think of sustainability
and corporate responsibility as an optional extra.
We want to ingrain into the next generation of world leaders,
whether they're business leaders or global leaders, to be very much intrinsic to everything that they do.
It's an outwards approach. It's not really just parachuting in a couple of great policies.
It's about absolutely starting at the bottom with social responsibility
and global sustainability at the very heart of policies.
