Rebels with a cause... and a new tagline "remember we are all just fertilizer"
- Tom
- Jun 12
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 13
Clubbers new and old were united in a haze of bold ideas (and language), magical storytelling and espresso martinis. If you could bottle up the energy in the room and distribute it to every corner of the land we'd be able to solve the climate crises at double-speed (and we'd all have a mighty fine Cork accents by the end of it).
"170 people packed into Climate Cocktail Club Cork to prove one thing: real climate activism happens in boardrooms, labs, and startups — not just on the streets." Paul Murphy
"To find inspiration and comfort in the face of the climate crisis, look no further than the Climate Cocktail Club. A coming together of thought leaders, innovators and educators that continues to provide hope for a better future." Fiona Kelleher
Hosted by the boundless optimist Dr Tara Shine, Climate Rebels was a celebration of those tearing up the rulebook to drive real change for people and the planet. From concept creatives and radical entrepreneurs to leaders pushing the limits of what's possible, the event spotlighted the individuals reshaping our local, national and international climate and nature future. Who were these disruptors challenging business-as-usual, and what did we learn from their defiant optimism?
Opening on the exploration (literally) of Tara's journey as a scientist, UNFCCC negotiator, advisor to the Mary Robinson Foundation and The Elders, and co-founder now CEO of Change by Degrees, we got a glimpse of what real leadership on climate, action and justice really looks like. Now based out of Kinsale, Tara leads a radical bunch of educators and enablers who curate and create knowledge tools to unlock effective decision making in businesses and organisations on sustainability and climate. Tara captained the CCC ship through the night and no doubt was easier than a late night COP negotiation.
"We won’t make business sustainable until we engage every employee. Sustainability is a team sport, and we aim to give every person on the planet sustainability as a superpower." Tara Shine
Our feature creative session was led by Marilyn Lennon and Sean Taylor, who showcased their work on the KinShip project developing a variety of socially engaged cultural initiatives at Tramore Valley Park since 2022. A deep rooted exploration of social cohesion, cultural significance and environmental values provided through the focus of place, enabled a magical insight into what our relationship with climate, nature and spaces could be. Tramore Valley Park was once the city's landfill and before that a thriving wetland habitat, this juxtaposition over time provided a sense of circularity that was captured in everyone's takeaway quote of the night "remember we are all just fertilizer". Well said and we'll pick up that circularity theme later with MyGug.
Part 1 closed with a crafted fireside chat with Val Cummins Chief Impact Officer at Simply Blue Group, exploring her journey through research, advocacy and business, all with a deep salty strand of oceans. Val expertly navigated her 25 years of passion and profession in the ocean sphere through the lens of relationships, exploration and innovation. From saving up to take her first voyage on a sailing ship to 20+ years research as an academic, and now leading the narrative and action on scaling offshore renewable energy across Ireland. Val explored the crucial and unrepresented role of women in business and climate action.
"The whole experience felt like a warm hug. In the midst of the uncertainly and bad news – it was great to be in a room with people that shared joy, hope, laughs and real action" Tara Shine
Part 2 opened with our rebel stories - showcasing two amazing scaling impact-first organisations. First, Tom Cotter CEO OCEANR took to the stage, outlining his bold blend of ocean, outdoor sports and apparel. Tom steered us through his journey as an entrepreneur and now B Corp certified business (like Change by Degrees and Climeaction), explaining the difficult choices that are to be made between environmental impacts and producing high quality products, between doing the right thing and being told you're not doing the right thing. A dozen hard fought lessons were shared by Tom - so come back to watch the video.
Fiona Kelleher CEO of MyGug circled back to the circularity theme rounding the square for us and looping us in on her frankly insanely amazing micro biodigesters. I really mean it, food waste in, energy and fertiliser out (yep we're talking death=life again). MyGug offers solutions for home, work and institutions converting food waste into bio-gas for use in cooking again, whilst the digestate (fluid) is a supercharger for all plant life. Its simple ideas like this, executed with confidence and class that really shift the needle - proper Rebel.
We closed out the night with our expert panel, welcoming Paul Murphy (CEO Climeaction), Madeline McKeever (Founder Brown Envelope Seeds) and Killian O'Connor (MD Zartis). Climeaction provided a real rebel case study, as on of Ireland's most impactful climate consultancy, they really work fast and hard to scale back negative emissions and nurture positive investment decisions. They have a radical call to action, aiming to identify 3% of carbon emissions in each country they operate in, within 3 years, to target reduction actions. With over 500 clients to date working across more than 25 countries, they have the mustard to get it done (you'll like that Linda... see below). Paul was particularly bold in his framing of who a "climate activist" can be, which is everyone. A sentiment warmly welcomed by the audience. Madeline provided a unique insight into a life of horticulture, growing and resilience through seed saving and education. A lasting statement was when she explored how rural life in the past was governed by different metrics - particularly the measure of a cow - said in light, it was a nice touch to how what we measure and focus on today, may be out of sync with what nature and society needs. A sentiment we share too at CCC and partners BE IMPACTFUL, where carbon dioxide is not the only measure of success always, but changing behaviours and mindsets, can have equally important effects. Killian - our former CCC Chapter Lead for Cork - spoke of a (busy) life between family, energy and innovation. His role at Zartis allows connection and exploration of ideas and solutions with a host leaders from across countries, sectors and mindsets. A connection to and beyond Cork was important, but reflecting on how the region is scaling more than its fair share of climate and impact led organisations. Killian provided a fair position in the role of AI in climate and sustainability, sharing its positive attributes and ensuring we don't fall fowl of the narrative around power consumption. Sometimes over simplified to serve certain perspectives.
The event was wrapped up with closing remarks from Tara and a call to action, with Tom Popple introducing the future events across Ireland and beyond.
"Just fucking do it - #JFD." Paul Murphy
(well said Paul... blog closed... enjoy the photos, videos to come shortly!).
Huge thank you to all the partners of the Climate Cocktail Club, without their sponsorship and support these events would not happen.
Official Cocktail Partner: Diageo
Lead Partner: Climeaction
Brand Partner: THINKHOUSE
Delivery Partner: ERINN Innovation
Supporting Partners: KPMG Ireland, BE IMPACTFUL, B Lab Ireland, Change by Degrees
The Climate Cocktail Club operates on a voluntary basis and needs the support of partners to ensure the events are a success - please support our future events and become a sponsor.
See you next time.
Tom
Climate Cocktail Club
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