Yesterday we attended the inaugural GoodStock event at Dynamic Earth. Julian was invited to speak on a panel and Marian attended alongside him. We thought you might like to hear what we got up to, so Marian has put together an overview of our day. 

What is GoodStock? 

Organised by NextGen Planners, GoodStock is designed specifically for finance professionals to discuss the issues surrounding sustainability and the climate crisis. The aim of the event is to encourage people to start the conversation with their clients about investing sustainably and to educate them on how much good their money can do. With speakers from across the spectrum of sustainability, there is the opportunity to hear an array of opinions and perspectives on how the finance sector can help fight the battle against the climate crisis. 

Who are NextGen Planners? 

NextGen Planners are a learning platform for the financial services community. They are dedicated to helping share innovative ideas and best practice with up-and-coming professionals in the field. With 25 years of experience in financial services, Julian was called upon to share his knowledge with the younger generation. He has previously contributed to webinars and a podcast so was happy to accept the offer of a panellist spot at GoodStock. 

What happened at GoodStock 2024? 

As mentioned above, this was this first time NextGen have held the event, and I hope it’s not the last. I had a very enjoyable day chatting with likeminded people and listening to very engaging talks and panels. 

When I arrived, I was given a lanyard to write my name on and on the back there was a grid (a bit like a bingo card). I was informed that the purpose of the grid was to encourage everyone to chat to one another and sign each other’s card. Then the three people with the most signatures won a prize. I thought this was a great way to encourage conversation and to get people mingling. I started filling mine in straight away and managed to speak to 3 sponsors, a delegate and a panellist all before the event officially began! 

With six panels and four keynote speeches, it was a very full agenda. We began the day with Dominika Sieradzka-MacCuirc who owns and runs a sustainable farm in Poland. She discussed the urgency of the climate crisis in relation to food and farming. She shared some startling facts such as the loss of biodiversity and loss of species is 1000 – 10,000 times higher than the natural rate and that a third of the food we produce goes to waste. But she made it clear that engaging with regeneration has the potential to help reverse climate change. 

The general theme throughout all the panels was the idea of education, connection and giving clients control and agency. Everyone’s investments are affected by the climate crisis. Your money has power and through that you can push for change. It’s important to model climate scenarios when we are planning your investments, and we need to make sure that we highlight the link between climate and the value of investments.  

Part of the keynote speech by Julia Davies really stood out to me. She stated that she’s not passionate about sustainability, she’s just a normal person. She stated that investing sustainably is not niche, it’s common sense. Why wouldn’t you care about creating a better world? We are aware of the problems facing the planet, so we need to implement the solutions. I felt that perspective resonates strongly with what we do at Ethical Futures. We’re showing that investing sustainably is accessible and is something that can help you build your future. It’s a good by product that you’re also helping the planet! 

The day ended with the announcement of the competition winners. Their prize was a selection of vegetables from Lauriston Farm. They are a 100-acre farm run by a workers co-operative. They are focussed on growing food but also building diversity and community. The farm was founded as a response to the growing challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and the lack of access to healthy, affordable food. All the ticket revenue generated by GoodStock has been donated to the farm to help them continue their work. To learn more about Lauriston Farm, click here 

To round up, I feel that GoodStock was an incredibly successful event. It was hugely inspiring to be surrounded by likeminded people who are all keen to do whatever they can to fight the climate crisis. Some people who attended were new to the idea of sustainable investment and others (like us!) were old hands. So, it was fantastic to be able to share knowledge but also discuss new ideas and new perspectives on how to move forward in this vital, and ever more urgent, sector. 

Thank you to Clemence Chatelin, Rebecca Kowalski and the team at NextGen for organising such a brilliant event. Same time next year?