Deborah Meaden warns time running out to act on climate

The wildfires in the southern Mediterranean have brought climate change to the top of the news agenda and have also whipped up a storm on social media.

People calling for climate action, like Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden, have been branded as alarmists. Meaden has publicly faced down critics on online platforms like X (formerly called Twitter) when accused of exaggerating climate change. Despite the hostility her public stance generates, it is an issue she is passionate about.

"The climate change problem is here and now," Meaden told the BBC at a recent event. People are increasingly waking up to the idea and this has big implications for businesses, she says.

"People are joining the dots," says Meaden."We can't assume we've got time to sort the planet any more. It was probably about six or seven years ago when I really woke up to the fact."

However, she is of course well known not as a scientist or social activist, but as a famous face of business. Much of the damage to the planet driving climate change is caused by big businesses, as they supply us with the necessities - and luxuries - of modern life.

They are increasingly being forced to rethink their policies, thanks to consumer pressure, says Meaden.

"Consumers have woken up to the power they have in their pockets in the past five or six years," she says.

"They are telling businesses, you need to change the way you do things. They want to make sure businesses are reducing their planetary impact.

"And businesses will - and do - listen to the consumer."

Some large companies have been caught out greenwashing - paying lip service to sustainability, but not putting it into practice - but many do genuinely want to commit to change, Meaden told Bupa's eco-Disruptive event in London, which earlier this month ran a competition for start-ups in the sustainability sector.

While consumers can influence big businesses to become more responsible through their spending power, Meaden reckons, it is actually new breeds of small, start-up companies that will bring those businesses the radical ideas they need to change their ways.

While large companies have resources and deep pockets, they don't always have the ability to focus on the kinds of new ideas that have to be experimented with, to become more sustainable, she argues.

Large, public companies can also face inertia on climate change because they are subject to the demands of their shareholders, who are focused on short-term profits.

This is where start-ups come in. They are more agile and their small teams can laser-focus on new ideas, says Meaden.

Many start-up founders with bold ideas aren't in fact trying to be the next all-conquering Facebook. From the outset, they are looking to be acquired by a larger company after they've proved their potential - making life-changing amounts of money for the founding members when they sell.

Since large companies are on the lookout for green solutions right now, they are interested to acquire start-ups that can solve their sustainability issues for them, in areas like supply chains, waste or energy consumption.

So there is a good market now for start-ups to be in this space and drive the sustainability agenda at scale, says Meaden.

Many of these kinds of start-ups were represented at the eco-Disruptive Live event.

Australian start-up Cassava Bags won the overall competition, taking prize money of £200,000.

It had developed a disposable, carrier bag that looks like it is made of plastic, but in fact dissolves in water.

The bags are made from starches processed from the root of the Cassava plant, which is grown in countries across south Asia, including Thailand. The bags dissolve in boiling water in around one minute, or over several days if left in the ocean, say the founders, though they can also withstand rain.

The start-up hopes that supermarkets will adopt their bags, though subsidies will be required to help them compete with established plastic rivals whose products are significantly cheaper.

Another firm at the event, Energym, makes exercise bikes which generate electricity that can be stored in a battery, allowing gyms to use their own electricity rather than buy it from the grid.

"I have been concerned about sustainability and climate change for a very, very long time," says Meaden, "but it was always something that was going to happen way into the future.

"But of course it isn't, it's happening now."

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