He really ignited a sense of purpose and excitement amongst the audience. This was exactly what we were hoping for.
HSBC
Andy Pag is a former BBC journalist who for 20 years has been attempting unorthodox forms of sustainable travel. From the chocolate powered lorry he drove to Timbuktu in Mali (the world’s first carbon negative expedition), to gliding on thermal winds above the Himalayas. Also, to circumnavigating the world in a scrapyard bus fuelled only with used cooking oil he scavenged from restaurant bins along the way. He organised the ‘Grease to Greece’ rally for cars fuelled on restaurant scraps.
To his surprise many of his experiments proved both successful and also sustainable. With over 10 years experience addressing events, he now gives virtual talks live from the sailboat he lives and travels aboard, giving an honest critique of his amazing journeys, and sharing the lessons he’s learned the hard way from trying to behave sustainably in a world powered by carbon fuels, and where success is often tied to consumption.
The entertaining and inspiring tales from the road which he shares and the conclusions he draws are thought-provoking. Not only for individuals but also for businesses wrestling with the accelerating need to address their sustainability footprint. Andy Pag’s talks frame the challenges of sustainability in a refreshing non-confrontational way and also invite debate and new thinking among audiences.
In order to support organisers in reducing their event’s CO2 footprint, Andy Pag does not use air-travel to attend talks and seminars. The majority of his talks are now conducted virtually, live from onboard his sailing expedition. His boat is equipped with broadband satellite internet, so book Andy now to join the crew!
In 2015, Andy won silver for best documentary in the prestigious PPI Radio Awards.
Andy has now equipped his sailing boat boat with broadband satellite internet. He continues to deliver talks, seminars and keynote speeches live. In 2022 he and his wife started a journey to navigate around the world. This is a very different experience for clients, who get invited onboard wherever he is in the world. He has received very positive feedback from his clients since starting the journey. The remote live link also adds a buzz to events.
The sailing voyage is the latest in a long line of sustainably powered journeys which Andy has been experimenting with and also talking about for over a decade. He talks about the successes and failures of the journeys and use that to help audiences frame the challenges they face as individuals and also as organisations.
A truly engaging and entertaining keynote speaker, Andy talks with passion about:
- Reality of sustainability
- Staying Motivated in Tough Times
- It’s not easy being green.
- Teamwork and engaging with Communities across Cultures
- Embracing Change
- Travel & Transport
- Science, technology & engineering
Andy is an engineer and award-winning investigative journalist. His spirit of adventure led to twelve years of heading up vehicle based expeditions to remote part of Africa and the Sahara Desert. He was inspired to change the elements of his life that were unsustainable. Andy experimented with alternative ways of powering his overland journeys. Today Andy’s entertaining virtual talks are delivered from on board his sailing boat. They explore how each experimental eco adventure has taken him closer to understanding exactly what sustainability really means and ever more clues on how to achieve it.
Andy’s talks are tailored for each event but often include:
Sustainability
Is it possible to find a practical way to travel sustainably? Andy Pag shares the successes and also the failures of his entertaining eco adventures with a thought provoking and uplifting undercurrent. From turning four tonnes of waste chocolate into fuel for a expedition across the Sahara Desert, to starting a fire under his vehicle to melt frozen cooking oil in the back streets of Tehran, the lessons haven’t always been easy.
Facing a Challenge & Tough Times
Locked up in an Indian prison over a bureaucratic mix-up, he was facing ten years in jail. He ended up sleeping on a cold stone floor sandwiched between a murderer and a squat toilet. Andy Pag’s two year journey around the world wasn’t going to plan. Mechanical breakdowns of his truck fuelled on chip fat dogged the expedition. It almost came to an end when he ran out of fuel in a country where they don’t eat fries. Andy shares the upsides of the downs in a funny and lively talk that reveals his insights into staying motivated and also, in finding the silver lining.
Teamwork & Community (Engaging with the World)
After years of searching for sustainable ways to travel, eco experimenter Andy Pag embarked on a journey so ambitious, it was bound to end in disaster.
Strangely, it didn’t. Andy puts the unexpected success of his drive around the world fuelled by used cooking oil down to the enthusiasm of people for helping out a stranger. He shares tales of generosity and also friendship. Andy draws surprising conclusions about the power of Community and embracing difference. His talks are supported by wonderful images from his travels and film footage where appropriate.
Andy Pag has a wide range of adventures and experiences to draw upon when tailoring his talks. This includes being shot at by Senegalese bandits. Also, being presented with Farrero Roche by the British Ambassador in Athens.