Progress Over Perfection – The Natural Capitalist’s 2025 Mindset

Let me start with some honesty: I am a pretty flawed human being. If you were to call me a hypocrite when it comes to climate action, you’d have a fair point.

Setting aside the non-environmental aspects of my life (on which my wife could probably write a book), even as an environmentalist, I’m far from perfect. I eat meat—and, if I’m being truthful, I think more about how it affects my health than the planet. I fly and travel sometimes because I love exploring the world, meeting new people, and broadening my horizons. I want to save the planet and see it at the same time. I’m getting better at recycling. Food waste still sometimes happens in my household. We have a biggish house and two cars (although one is electric, which counts for something, I hope).

My lifestyle doesn’t always reflect an ideal environmental footprint, and I’m sort of okay with that. Here’s why: while my personal habits may not be perfect, the work I’m involved in is creating meaningful, measurable change.

Through Ecologi, we’ve funded over 87 million trees and hundreds of climate impact projects since 2019, investing over £30 million in solutions to the climate crisis. With Biodiversity Units UK, we’re helping more than 50 UK habitat banks rewild and restore biodiversity—aiming to increase that number to 200 by the end of this year. And through The Wild Company, we’re partnering with landowners to establish 10,000 acres of new habitat banks within the next three years.

No one is perfect—not me, not you. But that’s okay, I think...

For 2025, I’m championing progress over perfection. It’s about taking small, consistent steps forward. You don’t run a marathon by leaping into 26 miles on day one. You start with 1k, then 2k, and build from there.

Let’s stop beating ourselves up for what we can’t do and focus on what we can do. Every step forward counts. Progress is the only path to a better planet, and if we embrace the imperfect journey, I believe we’ll get there.

Perfection is overrated. Progress, on the other hand, is everything. What steps will you take in 2025?