“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Did the tree really notice me? Last summer I stood high-up in the shady branches of a giant African Baobab in Botswana, feeling so small in the presence of something so grand and old. 150 years ago English missionaries would leave messages for each other in this exact tree. Rightly or wrongly, they had a bold vision and great ambition to change the world, but what do I have? I have the opportunities of a world that is getting smaller every day. I have visited 50 countries, which is 48 more than my parents. Next year when I'm helping a multinational retailer think through its sourcing strategy I can choose to buy flowers from Kenya and create jobs in a poor country. Or I can buy flowers from Holland and put less harmful plane emissions in to the environment. I want to take responsibility for making trade-offs where there is no clear right or wrong answer, after all I am accountable for my children's world. The earth may appear grand and old but it will feel the impact of the decisions I make. Will the world really notice me? I have the privilege to make it.
— Simon Belsham