The Rock Hound Representing the Jewellery Industry Worldwide at COP28
At first it sounded too good to be true but earlier this year I was invited to exhibit at COP28 in the UAE by Mary Fellows, founder of GreenWith Studio, a sustainability consultancy to luxury brands.
A little background for those who don’t know. The United Nations’ Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC parties – the Conference of the Parties (COP) – to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Starting in 2005 the conferences have also served as the "Conference of the Parties Serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol" (CMP); also parties to the convention that are not parties to the protocol can participate in protocol-related meetings as observers. From 2011 to 2015 the meetings were used to negotiate the Paris Agreement as part of the Durban platform, which created a general path towards climate.
On Monday 11th December, I took part in an illuminating panel discussion at The Extreme Hangout, talking about sustainability and circularity within the fashion industry. Speaking about my use of recycled NHS silver. There was widespread representation of the fashion industry, but not of jewellery, The Rock Hound being the only jewellery brand present on the panels or exhibiting.
Inspired by their love of adventure sports, the natural world and a passion to protect the planet, Amber Nuttall and Alistair Gosling, supported by EXTREME International, established The Extreme Hangout as a climate action events platform in 2021, with the vision to give young changemakers a voice, popularise the climate movement and inspire environmental action. Young and underrepresented communities want their voices heard and had little opportunity to participate in formal proceedings. EXTREME made it its mission to give them a seat at the table, deliver a platform where they could share their concerns and opinions.
Following a spectacular debut at COP26 in Glasgow where they quickly established themselves as a leading fringe event, The Extreme Hangout has expanded to a year-round series of Extreme Hangout Locals, run in cities, beaches and mountain locations around the world in partnership with local climate activists, Ted X event organisers, local mayors and tourism offices with the objective to connect, engage and amplify local voices and drive local action.
The Extreme Hangout ran again at COP28 in ExpoCity Dubai in the Green Zone, operating from the 3rd-12th December 2023 as a free-to-join, open-to-all area for its dynamic and inspirational youth led changemaker talks, panels, networking, workshops, fireside chats and more.
Stay tuned to hear more about the talk and the overall experience of being at such a prestigious and sometimes controversial event as COP.