Saturday - 9th November

Feels surreal to be walking my dogs in woods near my home in the UK, knowing in a few hours I’ll head to Heathrow and fly to COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The only direct flight to Baku is filled with multiple nationalities all travelling for COP and is a small taster of what is to come. Busy, jostling and multi-lingual conversations buzzing around me.

Sunday

After a short overnight flight (five hours direct with Azerbaijan Airlines). I arrive at a global melting pot by the baggage carousel. The irony is that we have to fly, some for over 24 hours, to fight for our global financial and political system to change in the face of climate crisis.

Like many the hunt for veggie and plant-based food begins. Restaurant tips are shared, and translation apps burn hot, and I am reminded that eating like this, in many parts of the world, is a privilege and not the norm. In fact, feeding the world is one of topics World Animal Protection is here to talk about. Transitioning our food systems, to prevent animal cruelty, protect the environment (climate and wildlife habitat), ensure food security and support for local production systems.

It was a day of limited sleep, a search for decent coffee and collection of my badge that will let me into my first COP.

Before dinner, I prep with the team; redrafting speeches, walking through the most vital messages we need to be heard and want to land with government delegations and those I am meeting with.

Monday

We are up and on the electric bus whizzing to the Olympic stadium. Azerbaijan has gone to town on getting this right - roads are clear, the national flag is attached to every possible nook and cranny.

First up are interviews with national Azerbaijani media, plus clips for our social media - we want to lay out our wishes for this COP. We know the media space is crowded and Peter, our media manager on the ground, is on hand with cameras, tripods, microphones, and his trusty laptop. This is tactical - we must be fast off the mark to hit the news agenda as food systems is still an emerging issue here.

I am one of the keynote speakers at the China Pavilion on “Women in Sustainable Development” hosted by Zhao Yingming, the vice minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and head of China’s COP delegation. It is my chance to showcase some of the amazing organisations we partner with in places like Brazil, where women are the guardians of the ecosystem, leading the way in humane and sustainable food systems. It’s not lost on me how important women’s role in climate adaption and animal protection is, after all I am the first female CEO in nearly 75 years of World Animal Protection.

Serena, our external affairs manager from the China team, is fast to translate my speech into Mandarin and send it to the media team in Beijing. Before I know it, my name is trending on Baidu, China’s equivalent to Google.

Tuesday

Before dashing to the airport, I launch World Animal Protection’s brief paper on Humane, Sustainable and Equitable Food Systems, with Canadian-Iranian climate activist and emerging influencer, Nika Moeini. We discuss farming, our personal journeys into animal protection, and the urgent need to reduce intensive animal farming while improving conditions for those that are farmed—for the sake of our health, animals, and the planet.

Tuesday evening into Wednesday are a blur of travel and time differences; my visit to our China office begins in earnest on Thursday.

Thursday to Monday

In Beijing, this is a familiarisation visit. I am just four months into my new role as Global CEO and China is one of my first country office visits. We are striving for change to the way animals are farmed in China, which will have a significant impact.

China is home to over half the world’s pig population, and there is an urgent need to reduce this number—for climate, food security, and of course for animal welfare.

In the time I am here, I work with the team to increase my knowledge and understanding of how we campaign and achieve impact in China. I am not completely unknown to the team as I worked as the UK Country Director for several years prior, but for many this is the first in person chance we have had to get to know each other.

The media team in the China office do a sterling job, and I am interviewed by many of the leading media with an estimated audience reach of 210million. I could not be happier that our messages are being heard.

In a culture that values relationships, I have also been pleased to dedicate in-depth, quality time to key figures from our sponsor agency (a requirement for INGOs in China) and the Foreign Environment Cooperation Organisation.

This trip also gives me time to reflect on my first four months as CEO. As a leading animal welfare organisation, so much of our work is in collaboration and for me as CEO I am always looking for connections, looking to build our impact. Sometimes this is hard to see or capture when I am working from my spare room with long days on online calls.

I feel fortunate to have spent face-to-face time with so many of the wonderful World Animal Protection team this week. It has grounded me in our shared passion of a world where animals live free of suffering.

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