Rotary's position in the environmental sector was firmly cemented while at COP28 by having our first Rotary pavilion at any conference in our history .

This builds on the community led action that our clubs internationally are engaging in, cultivating our strength in our 7th area of focus: Protecting the environment. Not only this, but also the incredible work of ESRAG to decarbonise Rotary clubs, encourage pollinators, get solar panels going, among mannnyy other things.

Moving forward, hopefully you'll agree when I say that we are still near the start of Rotary's international involvement with climate issues and so further investment of time and resources in to upskilling our clubs and empowering them to make larger changes in their communities.

One emerging trend is the introduction of the International Sustainability Standards, which will run alongside the International Accounting Standards, making sustainability information a key part of financial decision making for investors.

Although technical and detailed, if our clubs and members were able to develop a high level understanding of what this means the impact would be profound.

Businesses we have connection to could begin to prepare for adoption of the new standards, making them more competitive in the long run while making them better for the planet.

Investments that Rotary and Rotary members collectively make could begin to be informed by this new set of information, and create more impact while doing so.

And we, as an international organisation, could help with the community-led adoption of these standards.

Channeling more financial resources towards businesses that are more sustainable.

Money will flow differently.

Personally I think this will be one of the most impactful changes in the climate challenge, and I want to be able to help Rotary and our networks be ready for it. It will require shifts in business models, supply chain alterations, and upskilling of the workforce - all of which Rotary can be decidedly involved with.

I'm personally incredibly passionate about this cause (as you may have seen in my recent ESRAG article on the same topic) and believe wholeheartedly that Rotary and ESRAG can be a pivotal community partner to enable the implementation of this momentous change.

That's why I started this fundraiser to enable a small Rotary delegation attend the IFRS Sustainability Symposium in New York on the 22nd of Feb 2024. The topics covered include how to get ready to apply the standards and investor perspectives on how better information improves access to capital as well as many other discussions.

The £10,000 target intends to allow 5 attendees, led by Rob Sisson (the author of the ESRAG article and the creator of this fund raiser - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robsisson/), including 2 other Rotaracters, and 2 Rotarians.

This is budgeting £2000 per person, which will cover the price of the ticket (which is currently $890 with an early bird discount, so it's anticipated that it will be closer to $1000 when we are able purchase them as it will be late Jan), travel, accomodation, and a food budget.

Empowering Rotary to upskill and prepare for new standards which will impact every business in the world, just as the accounting standards currently do, will ensure we are a more relevant organisation that can provide robust support to local companies transition to a more sustainable world. And in doing so, we might just recruit some new members!