The headline speaker was supermodel, author and activist Lily Cole. Her impassioned talk covered the broad spectrum of the Climate Crisis with an optimistic view on how we might improve: “At the moment, green products are usually more expensive, which is an insane false economy - the real costs are not in what we buy today, but in what we will need to pay to clean up the damage in the future.

"Alternatives like carbon pricing can help shift the balance and make consumers more aware - as you can see the damage done in the cost of goods.” Speaking about tech-based solutions, Cole said: “We already have the tech to solve the crisis - nature itself. After billions of years of R&D, nature-based solutions could solve our problems in the quickest and cheapest ways, if we can invest properly in them.”

Climate change remains the biggest long-term threat to global stability, and other key talks at the event focused on pressing modern issues, including Cryptocurrency, fast fashion, food waste, micromobility, removing plastic and greenwashing, amongst countless others.

The fashion industry has been under particular recent scrutiny, with recent figures showing clothing accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions. A panel of global fashion disruptors discussed the ongoing issues and some hopes for solutions. Deborah Lyons (Founder, Deborah Lyons) said: "To stop greenwashing, we need transparency from all sides, and for big brands to either get on board fully or stop pretending." and Orsola de Castro (Founder and Global Creative Director, Fashion Revolution) added: “The change is nestled in the DNA of the brands we haven’t heard of yet.”

Following recent debate around the impact of BitCoin on the environment, a panel of crypto experts and bitcoin sceptics discussed the topic, including Diana Biggs (CEO, Valour), who commented: “The Crypto community wants to address this issue as soon as possible – the Crypto-Climate Accord wants the industry to get to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. 76% of Crypto mining is already using renewables - it’s something that is becoming a competitive advantage.”

Other influential speakers at the event included Oscar-winning filmmaker Jimmy Chin, Iceland Foods MD Richard Walker, and social activist Nimco Ali OBE.

Patrick Keogh, Programming and Festival Director Huckletree, commented on the event: “We took inspiration from the past year; the global pandemic has taught us that nature and innovation go hand-in-hand and that institutions are slow to act. Rather than silo-ing the agenda to one sector or one institution, we need as many diverse minds collaborating and weighing in, exploding the topic, taking it to new brave areas, and creating positive outcomes that are actionable today, tomorrow not just ten years out.

"Across four stages we welcomed over 80 speakers dialling in from key cities including New York, Wyoming, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin and London, and taking part in meaningful discussion with practical takeaways.”