Enjoying a great cup of coffee in Detroit.
Amy Larkin, an award-winning entrepreneur, activist, and producer has been at the forefront of the environmental movement for decades. Her skills lie in two main areas: identifying the (often hidden) levers for transformational change; and framing and implementing strategic initiatives in ways that advance a company’s or government’s larger goals — both internally and externally.
Her 2013 book, Environmental Debt: The Hidden Costs of a Changing Global Economy revealed the links between our environmental and financial crises – both causes and solutions. From 2014-16, she served as Vice Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Climate Change.
In 2019, Amy co-founded PR3, a public-private partnership forging systemic solutions that dramatically reduce plastic production and consumption. With input from the whole value chain, PR3 drafted standards for scaling reusable packaging that are now being implemented in eight countries. When globally deployed, the move away from single use packaging can reduce the manufacturing of plastic packaging by 90% and cut associated emissions by 80%. It is a solution commensurate with the gravity of both the plastic and climate crises.
While Greenpeace Solutions Director, Amy led the collaboration with the Consumer Goods Forum, a consortium of 400 companies with $3 trillion in revenue, to eliminate HFCs. The industry’s commitment directly led to HFCs’ inclusion in the Montreal Protocol in 2016, anticipated to save .5°C degree of global warming. This work won the prestigious 2011 Roy Award from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government for public/private partnerships that protect natural resources.
Amy has spoken around the world on Climate Change and its relationship to Money, Culture, and Geopolitics. Venues range from TED Countdown and Google Talks to the International Monetary Fund and the MSCI Annual Conference, plus numerous schools (Green Schools Alliance to Harvard’s Kennedy School) and cultural and spiritual centers from the 92nd St. Y’s Yom Kippur service to the Bergen International Festival. She wrote regularly for The Guardian from 2012-2015, and has spoken on numerous media platforms.