Last week, I was sitting in the audience at London Climate Action Week, and my pulse was galloping like a racehorse.
I was attending a powerful panel discussion hosted by Environment Bank and Barclays: The Business Case for Nature: A Leadership Breakfast on Risk and Opportunity.
The speakers were insightful, thoughtful – clearly experts in their fields. Each audience question was sharp, intellectually rich, and grounded in data or policy.
And there I was – heart pounding, palms slightly sweaty – knowing I wanted to ask something...different.
Not more logic. Not more frameworks. But something a little riskier. Something closer to the heart.
When the microphone reached me, I stood up (still hoping no one could hear my pulse thundering in my ears) and said:
“We have all the logical reasons we need to make the right decisions for nature. We have our brains with us. Perhaps we are just missing our heart.
My question for anyone on the panel who feels called to answer is: What is your personal relationship with nature?
And I don’t want to hear any logical explanations. I want to know what’s in your heart!”
For a moment there was a pause. And then something shifted.
The responses that followed were beautiful. Honest. Vulnerable. They reminded me that under all our titles and expertise, we are still humans who feel – who grieve the loss of green spaces, who light up at the memory of a wild river or a silent forest. The panelists embraced the question with generosity and courage, and something about the energy in the room softened.
Emma Toovey’s started with a childhood story:
“We were kids. Out with our school. On a beach, measuring the diameter of limpet. Suddenly it started raining – pouring, actually. We were soaked through in seconds, hiding behind boulders, laughing, wet and cold and completely alive. And I loved it.”
The response left me thinking: Maybe it’s that simple. Maybe what we need most – in climate talks, biodiversity policy, rewilding strategy, nature finance – is to make space for our relationship with nature. Not just as professionals or decision-makers, but as people.
We already have the data. We already have the logic. Maybe what we’re missing is the heart.
So here’s a small invitation from me to you:
Next time you're in a conversation about nature – whether at a boardroom table, a community meeting, or over coffee with a friend – ask the question:
“What is your relationship with nature?”
Not the professional one. The personal one.
Let’s make space for stories, for feelings, for that quiet knowing that nature is not just something “out there,” but something we’re all deeply connected to.
Thank you to Luke Bigwood, the Environment Bank team, and Barclays for creating a space where these questions could emerge. And thank you to the incredible panelists who so openly embraced that moment.
