Rathbones Review Summer 2021
Article last updated 19 February 2023.
Convened by the United Nations and the governments of the UK and France, the global Climate Ambition Summit 2020 took place last December. UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched the event by warning that current efforts to address the threat of environmental catastrophe could yet prove inadequate, despite the targets enshrined in various far-reaching accords and agendas.
Britain seems better positioned than most nations in potentially defying this sombre outlook. The era of coal is almost at an end in the UK, and our use of renewable energy has grown fivefold in just a decade. So can we achieve a net-zero economy by 2050, per our official commitment, or might we even get there sooner? As we explain in our lead story, the road ahead is likely to be difficult — but by no means impossible.
Of course, this journey will involve significant innovation and disruption. These two phenomena have become central to so many aspects of our lives, particularly in the face of COVID-19. Ours is an age of arguably unprecedented novel thinking and technological transformation, as we explore in articles examining the cutting edge in sectors as diverse as dairy farming, sport, waste management, social media, 3D printing and music.
We also consider how new ideas come about, looking at the fascinating role that sleep can play in fuelling creativity. In addition, we revisit the upheaval caused by decimalisation to see if the experience offers any lessons for the challenges of today and those still to come.
Elsewhere, again with the future very much in mind, we offer useful insights into passing wealth on to the next generation. Finally, we reflect on the positive change that has occurred in another sphere, the world of the Rathbones Folio Prize.
As ever, we hope that you enjoy all the articles. We appreciate your feedback, so please do not hesitate to get in touch with any comments — or, indeed, suggestions for topics we might tackle in forthcoming editions.
