(NIJMEGEN)
Bertrand Piccard co-piloted a plane around the world that was powered only by the sun: shifting paradigms is very much his schtick.
So when he has some ideas to share on how public authorities can better spend their money to accelerate sustainable business ecosystems they will be worth, not just listening to, but acting on. Speaking at this week’s EcoProcura 2018, the leading international event on all things sustainable, strategic, circular and innovation procurement, Dr Piccard, Chairman and Initiator of the Solar Impulse Foundation, has challenged ‘procurers to become today’s pioneers and explorers’.
“It is not easy to do things differently. Today the challenge is not technology. It is psychology,” said Piccard.
Innovators Magazine is media partners with EcoProcura, currently taking place in the European Green Capital Nijmegen, and our Engagement Editor, Carlotta De Toni grabbed a picture with Dr Piccard. The picture in the background is that epic flight, made without using fuel: the tech was there – it just needed the psychology.
On harnessing the financial purchasing power of public authorities, Roald Lapperre, Director-General for the Environment and International Affairs, Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management, The Netherlands, said: “I want to use this enormous purchasing power to influence the market to achieve climate goals. My national objective is to reduce carbon emissions by one megatonne a year by 2022. That’s more than three times the energy used by all the households in the city of Nijmegen.”
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