WORLD FORUM ON ENTERPRISE AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Oxford University

26 September 2023

INDO
Photographs by Hussain Aga Khan

World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment
Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Oxford University

26 September 2023
St Hilda's College, Oxford

Thank you so much for having me here today.

I’d especially like to thank Cameron, who invited me after seeing me butcher a speech last year.

My dog had died, travel plans changed, we arrived at the hotel at 10 pm and I barely had time to rehearse.
Visibly shaky and terrified onstage I realized I might just be intimidated by scientists and policymakers.
And economists!

With unthinkable floods, horrific fires, melting ice and sea level rise, bleached coral, failed crops, the extinction rate skyrocketing -- and more looming in the background… the exhibition you’ll see outside is a little more cheerful.

A breath of fresh air, kaleidoscope of color and form, this is a celebration of life on our planet.

Entitled INDO, this collection of images stemmed from 2 trips to Raja Ampat in Indonesia.

Sometimes referred to as “the last paradise”, Located in West Papua province, Raja is one of the 3 most biodiverse places under the waves in the world.

In that regard, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are superlative. At one resort alone they have identified 2200 species of fish and over 600 species of coral.

Every scene here is in Technicolor -- every sight a gift. Fancy Corals, fish, graceful mantas and beautiful invertebrates reign supreme.

Evolution is more than visible in certain species – such as the wobbegong, a type of carpet shark, that would look just as good on your drawing room floor as on the reef.
Bumphead parrotfish, outlandish-looking creatures, the males of which compete by headbutting each other.
Leaf scorpionfish that are wafer thin, come in green, yellow or purple, and spend their lives sitting on their pectoral fins… swaying side to side in the current.

Thousands upon thousands of magnificent species living in fantabulous ecosystems that have so far been pristine.

But the health and purity of Raja Ampat are no longer guaranteed.

My dive buddy and I witnessed hundreds of pounds of plastic waste on the surface in the south.

The resort I mentioned earlier, one of the best in the world, with its own foundation, witnessed two significant bleaching events last year… And more are sure to come.

No place on Earth is truly safe anymore… Not even the farthest flung tropical havens on the other side of the world.

No ecosystem is invulnerable. No species immune to changes in climate, habitat or food source.
​And few creatures thrive and flourish in heaps of trash.
Maybe cockroaches and raccoons.

So while I certainly hope you enjoy the show and revel in the beauty of it all… I also hope you might keep in mind that we’ve lost half our coral reefs since the ‘50s, we’re likely to lose another 90% within the next two decades, and it seems we will massively overshoot the 1.5 degree warming limit we’ve set ourselves.

Floods in Pakistan, fires in Hawaii, Australia, Canada and even Norway have become the new normal and we will only reverse or slow these awful trends if policymakers, scientists… in fact every one of us … contribute as best they can to bring about significant and lasting change.

We have the science and technology… And brilliant minds (gesture to the audience)

As a conservation photographer, my job is to showcase our natural wonders and make pleas on their behalf.
Aside from working on my footprint and conservation through my organization Focused On Nature, I can only do so much.

But I know and see many who can do much more.

I sincerely hope and ask that all of you will do just that.

I have faith in you and thank you for your work and your time.