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Meet Ravi

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Let me introduce you to Ravi, a 15-year-old boy I met in the lower ranges of the Himalayas, where my family home is located. I met him during my visit to India this October, on my last day in my hometown. He is small, quiet, and utterly absorbed in his craft. Ravi left school when he was just 10 because of difficult family circumstances. Since then, he has been working as a Mehndi (henna) artist to support himself and help at home.

In his village, he isn’t always chosen for work because of his age. Older artists are often seen as more reliable, and if Ravi doesn’t get picked for the day, he doesn’t get paid. It’s a simple and stark reality. But when I saw him sitting under the soft afternoon light, a little box of cones beside him, I didn’t hesitate. I chose Ravi. And as soon as he began working, any doubts others might have had about him melted away. His artwork was precise, delicate, and imaginative…it was also freehand. In another five years, perhaps even sooner, he will be a master.

As I watched him, something small but deeply meaningful happened. At one point, he accidentally dropped his mehndi pen. Instead of quickly picking it up and carrying on, he paused. He picked up the pen gently, held it for a moment, and then touched it to his forehead; in India, this is a gesture of respect for one’s tools. You honour the tools that allow you to create, the instruments that help you earn your livelihood. You treat them not as disposable objects but as extensions of your labour, talent, and intention.

That tiny gesture stayed with me. It made me think about how disconnected many of us have become from the things that make our work possible…the tools, materials, and natural resources we use every day without much thought. We replace rather than repair. We consume rather than cherish. And we rarely, if ever, pause to express gratitude for the resources that make our lives functional, comfortable, even successful.

Respecting what we use and truly valuing it are at the heart of sustainability. If we treated the planet’s resources the way Ravi treated his pen, with care, gratitude, and awareness, perhaps our response to the climate crisis would look very different.

There is so much we can learn from young people like Ravi. About humility. About resilience. About mindful respect for our shared planet. And about remembering that even the smallest gestures can hold the biggest lessons.

 

Booked Out in India: A Whirlwind October Tour

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This October, I had the absolute joy of embarking on a whirlwind and unforgettable book tour across India. An experience that still feels a little like magic. The journey swept me from the lower ranges of the Himalayas, where the air feels sharp and ancient, all the way down to the geometric modernity of Chandigarh in Punjab, and finally into the vibrant, exhilarating capital, Delhi. By the end of it, I was well and truly booked out, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

In Delhi, I stepped into some of the city’s oldest and most iconic bookshops. Places with creaking wooden shelves, bibliophiles drifting between aisles, and that unmistakable scent of paper and ink that makes you feel as though you have stepped back in time. To my amazement, I found my book proudly displayed in front windows, often right beside the incomparable Arundhati Roy. More than once, I stopped in my tracks, overwhelmed by the surreal joy of seeing my work shoulder-to-shoulder with a literary hero.

Over the course of the tour, I signed well over 200 books, where each signature for me was a small moment of connection with its future reader. There is an energy and a hunger for Indian readers to explore the urgency and humanity of climate issues through an Indian lens. The welcome I received was beyond anything I expected; I was made to feel like a literary queen!

I owe immense gratitude to my UK publisher, LID Publishing, and my Indian publisher, Jaico Publishing House, for orchestrating this incredible adventure. Their belief in the book is what carried it through mountains, cities, and countless conversations.

And here’s the biggest revelation I took away from every bookseller, every manager, every book counter I visited in Delhi and Chandigarh: India is ready…not just ready, but eager for more books on the climate crisis that go beyond textbooks. Booksellers told me again and again that while climate literature exists, much of it is academic or technical. There are very few accessible narratives, personal explorations, or compelling stories about climate change set in or written for India. They are excited to champion my book because it fills a much-needed gap.

This tour wasn’t just a milestone. It felt like the beginning of a larger, deeper conversation, one I’m honoured to help spark.

 

Henley Literary Festival

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A fabulous Saturday afternoon spent with Henley Literary Festival in collaboration with A Greener Henley, talking about the climate crisis on 4 October at 4 pm. We had about 150 people in the room.

I was sitting on the yellow sofa alongside the brilliant Tony Juniper, CBE, British campaigner, writer, sustainability adviser, and environmentalist. Tony is currently Chair of Natural England, and hearing Tony was a treat whose warmth, wisdom, and deep understanding of our natural world truly inspired me.

 

This conversation wouldn’t have flowed or been possible without the insights and thoughtful questions from Mike Barry, former head of sustainability at Marks and Spencer. Mike focused on our books. Mine, What Will Your Legacy Be? and Tony’s, Just Earth.

People often ask, ‘What can I do about the climate crisis?’ The truth is, it starts with talking about it. Conversations like this one matter; it’s where change begins.

London Climate Action Week 2025 – #Make Science Great Again

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London Climate Action Week 2025 took place this June from 21 to 29, and it was action-packed. An annual event that aims to mobilise climate action in London and beyond, bringing together organisations, communities, and individuals to address climate change.

The week featured a wide range of events, including conferences, workshops, and collaborative discussions, focusing on practical solutions and showcasing London’s role as a global climate leader. I was pleased to be invited to the We Don’t Have Time Live Broadcast, which was a session focused on Making Science Great Again. It was a great panel lineup that included the eminent climate scientist Sir David King; Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., President & Founder, Hip Hop Caucus; Ingmar Rentzhog, CEO and Co-Founder of the We Don’t Have Time platform; and me!

Make Science Great Again is a campaign focused on defending science, amplifying its voice, and reeducating policymakers. It aims to counter disinformation, support scientists, and ensure science plays a vital role in addressing global challenges like climate change. The campaign emphasizes the importance of dialogue and collaboration to achieve these goals.

Announcing New Book, What Will YOUR Legacy Be? – Conversations With Global Game Changers About The Climate Crisis

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My third book, What Will YOUR Legacy Be? – Conversations With Global Game Changers About The Climate Crisis is out on 30 January 2025 and is already receiving strong interest. I wrote to help readers to understand some of our biggest environmental challenges and how individuals, communities, organisations, and nations are restoring our planet. The book explores different themes – from science, food to the ocean, global politics, business, to the media, arts and music, communities, and more.

What Will YOUR Legacy Be? has a collection of conversations with thirty-six global influencers, thought leaders, and change-makers about the climate crisis and sustainability. The list of personalities and game changers includes a diversity of voices from – Ingmar Rentzhog, (CEO and Founder We Don’t Have Time), Julian Lennon (Founder, The White Feather Foundation and musician), Dr Kimberley Miner (NASA climate scientist), Rachel Cartwright (naturalist), Sunita Narain (Indian environmentalist and activist), and Nemonte Nenquimo (indigenous Waorani leader). In sharing their activities, wisdom, and knowledge, I present takeaway tips to inspire readers to become “climate change aware” and help create a sustainable mindset for themselves.

The book has received great endorsements from Mark Hoda, Chairman, The Gandhi Foundation, who says,“Gandhi told us ‘to be the change that we wanted to see in the world’, and Sangeeta’s book captures the spirit of Gandhi’s statement to remind us, that everyone can do something to help the planet. It starts with us.”

It has also been endorsed by Mark Seddon, Director, Centre for UN Studies, University of Buckingham. Former Speechwriter, UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, former UN correspondent, Al Jazeera TV.

What Will YOUR Legacy Be? is a book, where the reader goes on a journey to understand the profound changes that our planet is undergoing and to think about the legacy that they would like to make for future generations.

 

 

Newspaper Front Page Stories, October 2022 With Links To The Climate Crisis

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In light of COP27 happening this week, this photo above is striking and shows the newspaper front page stories in October 2022 with links to climate change and climate risks, from the Media and Climate Observatory (MECCO) Monthly Summaries. The work of MECCO is to monitor media coverage of themes associated with climate change and global warming, as there are no comparable monitoring services for news coverage of climate change or global warming.

MECCO reports that October media coverage of climate change or global warming in newspapers around the globe dipped five percent from September 2022 and 37 percent from September 2021 levels. MECCO’s analysis also shows that coverage in international wire services decreased 15 percent, as radio coverage rose 21 percent from September 2022. Compared to the previous month, coverage decreased in the European Union (EU) (-4%), Asia (-6%), Oceania (-6%), the Middle East (-7%) and North America (-11%).

What is apparent from this data, is that when it comes to news about this topic, media outlets often struggle to gain audience attention. The climate crisis story can seem intractable, depressing, and often difficult to understand. It is also frequently politicised, with audiences polarised on the topic.

However, the following data from MECCO is insightful, showing coverage was up from the previous month in Africa (+14%), and Latin America (+19%), revealing that interest in climate change news is highest in these regions, and this is probably because the countries here have witnessed extreme weather events linked to the climate crisis. Where Chile continues to suffer from severe drought, which has made climate change ‘easy to see’, while this year every part of the African continent was affected by extreme weather events, ranging from wildfires in Algeria to catastrophic flooding in South Africa. It may be that audiences are more interested in news about the topic when they are not so polarised and can clearly see the negative effects of extreme weather where they live.

This data clearly shows that while the climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges for humanity right now, it is not always front-page news. Audiences appear to be more interested in and pay more attention to climate change news in places where the negative effects are felt more acutely. But it is too late if audiences only pay attention once disasters have already struck!

The challenge is how newsrooms continue to cover the issue in a way that draws attention to the causes and decisions that lead to disasters, not just the disasters themselves.

Are there other ways journalists can take to make climate change stories feel more relevant? Perhaps environmental documentaries are the way forward, which have wide appeal and provide clear and engaging stories. Afterall, we are the ‘age of the visual’, with video becoming increasing popular on social media. These visual narratives help audiences connect with what is a very large and sometimes abstract story – while not necessarily being ‘political’. A good example of this is the BBC’s very successful Blue Planet series with Sir David Attenborough and according to the Sunday Times, so many Chinese viewers downloaded Blue Planet II “that it temporarily slowed down the country’s internet”.

As a public relations professional, who knows only too well about the power of storytelling, I believe it all comes down to this…there is always room for better storytelling about the climate crisis.

 

Finally – PR & Media Together Are Making The Right Headlines About Climate Crisis

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There’s not a day that goes by when we don’t see a climate, environmental or sustainable story making the headlines. I think it is safe to say that these topics are now high on the daily news agenda and it is about time. I have been actively involved working on raising the profile of the issues surrounding climate change, the impact of humans on the plant and sustainability for the last two decades…and during this time it has been a hard PR slog. As till now there has been a lack of apathy with the UK media.

I recall an environmental journalist working on one of the national broadsheets in the 90’s explaining to me his challenge of convincing his news editor to run a climate change story, that I was working on at the time. He said that unless it was directly affecting people here in the UK, it wasn’t a strong story for his editor – a story about climate change in Africa wasn’t going to interest his paper. Well fast-forward to 2019, where we are all experiencing the global butterfly effects of climate change or should I say what has since been upgraded to ‘climate crisis’ and what is happening in Africa, India, Singapore or any other part of the world is now our news.

Recently, The Guardian announced that it was updating its style guide to introduce terms that more accurately describe the environmental crisis facing the world. Where instead of “climate change” the preferred terms are “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” is favoured over “global warming”, although the original terms are not banned. “We want to ensure that we are being scientifically precise, while also communicating clearly with readers on this very important issue,” said the editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner. “The phrase ‘climate change’, for example, sounds rather passive and gentle when what scientists are talking about is a catastrophe for humanity.”

This news narrative is also being driven by the private sector, as corporations have started to wake up to the long-term implications for their businesses of global warming. Companies, such as Coca-Cola, Google, Apple and Tesla are vocal about climate change and their pursuit of sustainability; and this is also changing PR.

However, some argue that this kind of media reporting creates public fear and that a ‘war on the climate crisis’ is not a positive or a balanced media response.

I say that we have wasted the last twenty years trying to put this issue on the news agenda in order to raise public awareness about the state of the climate, an issue that affects us all. We are now at a tipping point and according to the eminent, Sir David Attenborough we only have ten years to make the planetary changes that we need to survive.

At last the PR and media industry are together making the right headlines about climate crisis. It’s a start. We need consistency across all media channels. The clock is ticking.