"Don't Look Up"

Reflections from a Technologist on Science, Sustainability, and the Corporate Blind Spot.

Attending Stand Up for Science at ChangeNOW 2025 felt like stepping into a room where the world was being spoken about with the urgency it truly deserves. Surrounded by scientists, technologists, and sustainability leaders, I was reminded how critical it is, not just to invent and innovate, but to be heard, to break through the noise of misinformation, and to persist in the face of institutional inertia.

As someone who’s spent over four decades in technology, much of it working with organisations navigating digital transformation, I’ve seen firsthand how difficult it is to shift systems that are built to protect the status quo. Bureaucracy, short-term targets, internal politics, and the dreaded “we know better” culture are constant hurdles.

You try to show how adopting more sustainable systems or ethical tech practices could benefit everyone, not just ethically but economically too, but are often met with a kind of glazed-over disinterest, or worse, defensive posturing.

What strikes me most is how this mirrors our global paralysis around the climate crisis.

In the film Don’t Look Up, we watch as scientists desperately try to warn humanity about an incoming asteroid, only to be ignored, mocked, or hijacked for political gain. It’s satire, yes, but it stings because it’s familiar.

The same syndrome plays out in boardrooms and budget meetings every day. When I highlight the hidden costs of ignoring infrastructure upgrades, choosing energy-inefficient cloud services, or pushing unsustainable practices for short-term profits, we often hear, “Not now,” “Too expensive,” or “Let’s revisit this next quarter.”

But deferred action has a price, and it's usually much higher later.

What became clear to me during the panel at ChangeNOW is that standing up for science doesn’t only apply to climate activists or researchers. It applies to all of us in technology too, especially those working inside organisations with influence.

We must keep speaking up, even when it’s uncomfortable. We must connect the dots between ethical tech, environmental sustainability, and long-term economic resilience.

And we must challenge the myth that quick fixes or cost-cutting today won’t come back as major operational or planetary costs tomorrow.

I believe there’s another way, and it starts by building cultures where scientific thinking, innovation, and sustainability are not just encouraged, but expected, and these cultures can demonstrate economic viability. If you want a real-world case study, look at Uruguay and its energy strategy…

That’s what inspired me most about Stand Up for Science. It wasn’t just a call to defend science, it was a call to action, for technologists, decision-makers, and everyone shaping the future to... look up.