From Businessman to Business Activist

Ben Tolhurst is one of our Business Declares Directors, who has 25 years of corporate experience. In an interview with Robert Eccles in Forbes, Ben explains why he shifted from working in the corporate world to encouraging and inspiring businesses to accelerate action on their climate plans to address the climate, ecological and social emergency with Business Declares.

Ben also discusses our collaborative business network and how we share sustainability best practice amongst businesses, as well as our advocacy and campaigning to galvanise the voice of business to get political action on the climate, ecological and social crisis.

Overall, Ben’s 3 key pieces of advice for business are to:

1. Recognise the role of business as a force for good. Every person needs to communicate, raise awareness, and educate their stakeholders about the climate crisis as the context for the decisions they make.

2. Take meaningful action. This covers rapid decarbonization, as well as focusing on what can be done to address the biodiversity crisis.

3. Speak up and speak out! Don’t be cautious. Keep speaking out about the urgency of the climate crisis to your colleagues, friends, and business networks. We must galvanize the voice of business to get political action.