Green.org sat down with Seb Roberts, the CEO of Gophr, a same day sustainable courier company that is taking over the UK.
Tell us a little bit about you and your background:
I was born in Venezuela and did most of my growing up in Ireland with stints in France. I studied for a BA Arts at university, then got into the music industry before moving into the creative/marketing agency space. From there, I made the move into logistics… to be honest it doesn’t make much sense to me either but I learnt a lot along the way.
What is a fun fact about you?
I’m not entirely sure how fun this is, and it doesn’t reflect particularly well on my sustainability credentials but I have a fairly unhealthy interest in footwear. I own about 90+ pairs of trainers that I’ve collected over the last 15 years. I recently looked up a pair I own and they’re worth 10 times what I paid for them. Now I’m terrified to wear them. Would’ve been better off investing in something else!
Why do you think climate change and sustainability is such an important topic today?
Because it feels like we’re right on the edge of tilting our climate into an irreversible death spiral. My partner and I are about to have our first child and you can’t help but wonder if bringing a child into this world is irresponsible given everything that’s happened during the last 10 years. On the other hand, I do feel optimistic that we can find solutions. Maybe not before we tip into very dangerous territory but I believe we can find solutions when we all pull together. Unfortunately, I think it will take a serious and imminent global threat for world leaders to finally get serious about climate change and sustainability.
What do you envision your industry looking like 10 years from now?
I believe we’ll need some kind of universal protocol in order to ensure logistics (at a macro level) works in a far more efficient way. Because of the amount of supplier fragmentation in the space there are still way too many wasted journeys with underutilised capacity. EVs are a little bit of a distraction when compared to that.
What can the average person do to make a difference?
Buy local, seasonal food. Buy clothes second hand. Reduce plastic usage. Cycle or walk everywhere you can. Use public transport and if you can’t, use an EV. Never fly anywhere. This is a lot to ask, and I’m far from being at this level but I’m trying to get closer every day.
