Happy New Year One And All

In 2016, the United Nations will elect a new Secretary-General (the first female Sec-Gen?) and the United States will elect a new President (the first female POTUS?). Scotland, Wales and London will elect legislatures and governments. The United Kingdom may or may not be voting for Brexit from, or Bremaining in, the European Union.

You can still vote for the Sustainable Personality of the Year – every vote counts with our transferable vote system. And the 2016 Guide to Sustainable Funds will be published on Wednesday.

All eyes will turn to Rio for the 31st Olympics in August and 15th Paralympics in September. Russia athletes may or may not attend, which may have an impact on voting attitudes in September’s Russian State Duma elections.

We will mark 75 years since Pearl Harbour in December, 100 years since the Battle of the Somme in July, 350 years since the Great Fire of London in September, 400 years since Shakespeare’s death in April, 500 years since Thomas More’s Utopia in December, 800 years since the death of ‘Bad’ King John in October, 900 years of the modern book (the Chinese) and 950 years since the Battle of Hastings in October, 1066 and all that…

In 2016, Microsoft will turn 41 and Apple 40. Google will be 18, Wikipedia 15, LinkedIn 14, Facebook 12, Twitter 10, AirBnb eight, Uber seven and Blue & Green six. Despite the many upstarts and insurgents Berrow’s Worcester Journal, the UK’s oldest newspaper still in circulation, will turn a venerable ~326 while 83% of the UK population will read a newspaper on one platform or another.

Good Money Week will roll round again in October and COP 22 is expected to be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from November 7-18.

There’ll probably be a fair amount going on in sustainability, climate change, sustainable investment, renewable energy, ethical spending and responsible tourism – but we’ll keep you posted on all of that!