Blue Earth Summit

“No time for doom and gloom. We don’t need permission. We’re here to build what comes next. It’s game on.” Will Hayler, Co-founder and CEO. 

London, October 20, 2025: Blue Earth Summit 2025 has concluded its most impactful edition yet, shattering attendance records and energizing a global community around climate action. Over 7,000 attendees and 400+ speakers convened at the historic Woolwich Arsenal venues, transforming them into a vibrant festival of ideas, innovation, and inspiration. The three-day summit culminated in a high-stakes finale of the BE100 start-up competition, an audience-driven pitch showdown that crowned three fund-backed winners poised to scale climate solutions.

In a live Grand Final decided by audience vote, the top six start-ups went head-to-head on the main stage for a share of the new £600k+ BE100 Fund. When the votes were cast, three ventures emerged victorious, each representing a category of growth:

• Start Winner: Segura - Founded by Jose Castro, improving global water quality through easy, affordable testing. 
• Grow Winner: RAFT Energy - Led by Alex van Klaveren, turning waste into energy to help biogas plants maximise returns.
• Scale Winner: Low Carbon Materials - Co-founded by Natasha Boulding, creating next-gen low-carbon materials to decarbonise construction at scale.

All three winners earned investment from Blue Earth’s inaugural BE100 Fund, backed by Blue Earth Ventures and partners, which has already raised over £600,000 to support early-stage climate innovators.

Beyond the competition, Blue Earth Summit 2025 itself reached new heights. The record turnout with attendees ranging from startup founders and investors to policymakers, athletes, artists, and activists, all rallying under the Summit’s rallying call to “Inspire. Connect. Act.” The energy was unmistakable.

“In a world where sustainability can feel tiresome and glum, Blue Earth Summit aims to show the more hopeful, optimistic, and innovative side of business and community,” noted author and entrepreneur Mark Shayler, capturing the event’s uniquely upbeat atmosphere. From dawn to dusk, the venue buzzed with spontaneous conversations, deal-making, and unlikely collaborations. 10,000+ meetings were logged through the Summit app, with countless more sparked informally in courtyards and coffee lines.

Each evening, the Summit came alive “After Dark” with a festival-style program of music, art and connection. As the sun set, string lights glowed and live bands and DJs kicked off, turning the courtyards into an outdoor celebration. Attendees grabbed craft beers and gathered for outdoor film screenings and campfire-style talks under the stars. Bastille frontman Dan Smith gave a special sunset session in the courtyard, sharing stories from his recent voyage to the Sargasso Sea with Greenpeace. “Coming straight from the rehearsal studio to the open ocean was a revelation,” Smith said of his sailing expedition. “It taught me that music and art can amplify the message of climate action in ways science alone can’t - by making people feel the urgency.”

Powerful Calls to Action from Public Figures

The speaker lineup was the Summit’s most star-studded and diverse to date. Renowned voices from across sectors took the stage, from UN Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh, and investor Deborah Meaden, to musician Dan Smith and former Downing Street strategist Alastair Campbell. They were joined by changemakers like Sir Tim Smit (co-founder of the Eden Project), Sir Chris Boardman (Olympic cyclist and Sport England Chair), chef Thomasina Miers, Olympic legend Sir Steve Redgrave, model-activist Arizona Muse, and communications leader Gail Gallie, each bringing a unique perspective but echoing a common theme: urgent, collective action.

In a riveting address, Lewis Pugh issued a stark climate warning drawn from his frontline experiences as an endurance swimmer. “There’s nothing more eerie than swimming across open sea where there once was a solid glacier. It’s a stark reminder of how fast this world is changing,” said Pugh, describing the collapse of ice he witnessed in West Greenland. The UN Ocean Patron urged governments and businesses to treat the climate crisis “like the emergency it is”, emphasising that the window for action is vanishing as quickly as the Arctic ice.

Former UK government communications chief Alastair Campbell struck a defiant tone of optimism. Reflecting on efforts from youth mentorship to mental health, Campbell argued that mindset is key to tackling big challenges. “We’ve got to get to a mindset that says there’s nothing we can’t do,” he implored the audience. In a candid conversation with Eden Project’s Sir Tim Smit, aptly titled “Hope Not Hate”, Campbell championed the power of hope and policy to drive change, calling on leaders to support young people and reject cynicism. Smit agreed, stressing that “communities and muscular localism” can deliver solutions faster than top-down politics if given the chance.

Prominent entrepreneur and Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden used the Summit stage to reframe climate action as a tremendous commercial opportunity. “Business goes where politics can’t,” Meaden asserted, arguing that companies must lead where governments stall. She noted that consumers are demanding sustainable innovation, and the businesses that respond will reap rewards. “The climate crisis is the biggest business opportunity of our lifetimes,” Meaden said. “If you’re not part of the solution, you’ll be left behind.” Her message, that profit and purpose now go hand in hand, resonated strongly in a gathering filled with startups and investors. 

Sports icons at the Summit made impassioned pleas to protect the planet that athletes depend on. Sir Chris Boardman, Olympic cycling gold medallist turned active travel advocate, warned that climate change threatens the very future of sports and outdoor activity. “Environmental sustainability and sports participation are two sides of the same coin - without the former, we will lose the latter,” Boardman said bluntly. Citing extreme weather that has already washed-out youth games and races, he announced new funding to help grassroots sports adapt to climate impacts. 

Fellow Olympian Sir Steve Redgrave, now a clean-water campaigner, drew lessons from his athletic career. “When training for the Olympics, we had a vision set seven years out. In policy we’re still thinking short-term,” Redgrave observed. He called for “cross-party support and long-term thinking” to restore polluted rivers and waterways for future generations, going beyond quick wins and election cycles to achieve legacy goals.

On the Summit’s food and fashion stages, innovators pushed for system overhaul in daily industries. Thomasina Miers, award-winning chef and co-founder of Wahaca, decried the scourge of ultra-processed foods and unsustainable supply chains. “We have to change how we grow and eat food - it’s not just about taste, it’s about our planetary health,” Miers urged, advocating for regenerative agriculture and better support for farmers. In the same vein, model-activist Arizona Muse connected the dots between soil and style. “All fashion is born in soil,” Muse reminded attendees, noting that every fabric from cotton to leather comes from the Earth. By investing in organic and biodynamic farming, she argued, the fashion industry “can go from climate problem to climate solution”, turning regenerative practices into couture’s new cutting edge.

A Movement Transformed and Moving Forward

As Blue Earth Summit 2025 drew to a close, the overwhelming sentiment was one of hopeful urgency. Over three days, what began as a conference evolved into a movement, a high-energy meeting of minds unafraid to confront hard truths and bold ideas. The Summit’s Co-Founder and CEO Will Hayler reflected on the momentum, noting that the people in the room represented a powerful engine for change. “A century of evolution is converging into a decade of revolution. It’s game on,” Hayler said in his opening address, and by the end of the week that spirit had only grown stronger.

With a new cohort of start-ups funded, thousands of connections made, and high-profile champions lending their voices, Blue Earth Summit 2025 made a resounding statement: the time for action is now, and everyone has a role to play. Attendees left with not just business cards, but renewed determination, carrying the Summit’s infectious energy into boardrooms, communities, policy forums, and personal lives. 

Blue Earth Summit 2025 was powered by visionary partners united in their commitment to drive system change. 1% for the Planet led as Headline Partner, amplifying the call for business to become a force for good by connecting companies directly to verified environmental causes and grassroots action. The Crown Estate, Aqua Libra, Joelson, Ebay, BNP Paribas and Casenove Capital, joined as Presenting Partners, championing innovation and stewardship across land, ocean, and resources, reflecting the Summit’s mission to align enterprise with regeneration. Together, these partners 

mbodied the collaborative spirit that defines Blue Earth: where capital, creativity, and community converge to shape a more sustainable future

In the words of Alastair Campbell, “there’s nothing we can’t do”.  A fitting conclusion to an event that proved, decisively, that when we unite passion with purpose, another world is indeed possible.