Originally published in The Guardian Sustainable Business Blog.
The unseasonably wet and mild Christmas and new year period in Amsterdam was an especially reflective one for me this year. Along with the traditional Christmas pudding, I decided it was time to add humble pie to the menu. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of my resignation from the Australian diplomatic service to work full time on global environmental issues, I felt it was time my thoughts went beyond the typical annual agonisings of exercise and alcohol consumption.
My last few blogs have sought to identify some of the sustainability trends I have witnessed over the last two decades and offer some thoughts on what these may mean for action that should be taken at the Rio+20 conference in six months time. In a twist on this formula, in this piece I’d like to share a more personally challenging assessment. Specifically, what did I get right, and wrong, during this time? And what might that might mean for the coming year?