This paradox is something I will be facing across the Atlantic. I have secured a place at the Harvard Summer School to study the module ‘Sustainability and Impact Investments’ but I have to make the transatlantic journey there first. To learn this how I can turn capital into conservation I have to burn jet fuel at 35,000 feet which feels contradictory. But stopping travel altogether does not save the planet but learning the method of renewability at a world-renewed university? That might.
I am not here to look away.
I am here to learn this craft, the craft of quiet, powerful art of moving money from where it harms to where it heals. My module will not just be a course but a compass that will guide my future. Somewhere between carbon offset and community bond lies the answer to a question that has haunted me childhood: how do we protect a world that is already burning, without asking the least fortunate to stay home?
Growing up in Wales, sustainability felt like a series of small sacrifices. Recycle this. Turn it off. But I am planning for Harvard to teach me something bolder, which is, sacrifice is not the only story. When capital is directed well, it can regenerate. Whether that is through rebuilding coastlines or solar grids, communities can be lifted from the consequences of the climate they might have not even caused.
My journey to Harvard will be done through a direct flight and accompanied with only hand luggage. The effort does not end there as I will use public transport and lift-share schemes to navigate myself through the area. This continues my commitment to not shrinking my potential but lengthening my impact.
I came to Harvard to learn a different skill: dollars into dignity and pounds into prosperity. Although the journey will be lengthy and staying at home would be easier, staying at home has never changed anything.
So no, I cannot fly without a cost. But I can leave having learned how to reimburse the environment and develop infrastructure into investment again and again. That is the craft I will go to Harvard for and the change I will carry home
