Here are 20 key takeaways from The Economist Sustainability Summit 2019 - Facing the facts, I enjoyed attending in London yesterday:

1. “Being more sustainable is being successful. Don’t do it for the planet. Do it for yourself,” states Daniel Calleja @DCallejaEC 

2. “We need a new model for collaboration; a smart joined up way for businesses policy and finance leaders to work together to achieve the systemic changes we need to build a sustainable economy.” @Polly_courtice Fouder Director of the @cisl_Cambridge

3. “Children born today will be able to witness the collapse of our food system,” according to Philip Lymbery @philip_ciwf

4. “If we want to make long-term behavioural change, evidence shows we must start small. Tackling #plasticpollution could be the first step in transforming global attitudes towards sustainability,” says Eben Schwartz.

5. The current decision-making frameworks give us the wrong answers.

6. No one organization can tackle today’s challenges alone. Which is why it’s so important to collaborate across industries, divisions, governments and NGOs to ensure a sustainable future.

7. “It takes less time to raise a kid than build a nuclear power station. So let’s focus on education,” Says James Atkins, @Vertis_EF

8. “The complexity of our challenges in the economy and plastics requires a deep systems change. We saw this with the economy as a whole but also with #recycling and #plastics in particular. Reactive incrementalism is not enough and is often messy.” @SamCarson

9. “The real global change in attitudes towards sustainability will start in cities, not countries” - Mayor of Lisbon Fernando Medina @FMedina_PCML

10. “I could just pick a few indicators from the #SDGs and say I’m doing well without changing anything to my lifestyle - that’s a recipe for #greenwashing.” says Jan Piotrowski @janppiotrowski

11. Systemic change in global economies can drive sustainability and there is a need for companies to see the business case in order to materialize the change.

12. “Human genius got us into this mess, human genius needs to get us out of this mess.” Patricia Scotland QC @PSscotlandCSG

13. "Having a target rather than a KPI has dramatically improved our carbon reductions, linking to remuneration will improve it further." Dominic Emery, VP Group Strategic Planning, BP_­plc

14. “We need to put more value in #SupplyChain … we need businesses to join us… #farmers to join us for sustainable production,” Says @Han_deGroot

15. Is #green the new black in #fashion? With less than 1% of #textiles being recycled, change will come from process #innovation not material innovation.

16. 50 million tonnes of #textiles go into #landfill every year, and textile industry recycles just 1%.

17. “Circular economics has the word “economics” in it - commercial motivations matter and they will ultimately drive the #fashion industry’s sustainability sea-change”, says @CyndiRhoades CEO and founder of Worn Again UK

18. “We need to move from a linear to a circular economy.” – Pernilla Haldin H&M @HalldinPernilla

19. He was told removing palm oil from @icelandFoods was impossible, so he did it. He now plans to remove all plastic by 2023 in a move that he hopes will further highlight the issue with the material in the supply chain. “We have used our platform to raise issues. We have some clout [in the market],” said Richard Walker @icelandrichard

20. #CircularEconomy is the keyword and is the road ahead.