Jo Royle is a British environmental leader, trans-ocean skipper, and founder of Common Seas, an organisation tackling plastic pollution at its source. She co-designed and skippered Plastiki, a 60-foot catamaran built from reclaimed plastic bottles, across the Pacific Ocean to raise global awareness of plastic pollution. Over her career, Jo has worked with 22 governments to reduce plastic waste, led pioneering research that uncovered the first evidence of microplastics in human blood, and co-led the Global Ocean Legacy campaign, securing protection for over 4.4 million km² of ocean – including Pitcairn, one of the world’s most remote marine reserves. She also helped launch the international Plastic Pact with King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) International Sustainability Unit, now spanning 19 countries and more than 900 member organisations. Her work has been featured by the BBC, National Geographic, Vogue, and TEDx, and she is the recipient of the Geddes Environmental Medal. Today, Jo focuses on ventures supporting resilient coastal communities and advancing the rights of nature.

TOP TIPS

1. See Nature as Infrastructure

Healthy oceans, soils and ecosystems underpin supply chains, workforce wellbeing and long-term economic stability. Nature is not a “nice to have” – it is critical infrastructure. Treat it accordingly.

2. Design for Resilience, Not Just Efficiency

Systems optimised only for speed and yield become fragile. Living systems build strength through diversity, recovery time and cooperation. Organisations that design for resilience will outperform those that design only for growth.

3. Fix the Design Flaw

We built many of our economic systems as if we were separate from nature. We are not. When we ignore ecological limits, the consequences show up in human health, instability and risk.

4. Redesign as a part of nature – because separation was the flaw.

Think Regenerative Regenerative systems circulate value, respect limits, build redundancy and reward care. This is not idealism. It is applied intelligence – informed by nearly four billion years of research and development.

5. Lead Where You Stand

Everyone has a role:

Citizen: Spend time in nature – we protect what we experience.
Corporate: Give nature a voice on your Board. Governance shapes behaviour.
Investor: Direct capital toward long-term ecological resilience.
Policy: Support clear regulation – strong signals accelerate innovation.

6. Imagine the Legacy

We designed the systems we live within. We can redesign them. The ocean is already signalling. The question is whether leadership is ready to respond.

Written by Jo Royle

Please note, the views expressed by the original article author are theirs alone and do not necessarily represent those of Washingtondowling Associates Ltd or The SHE Show and therefore we take no responsibility for the content or accuracy of this post.