Brian Cox & Hogan Lovells: Is the Earth Worth Saving?

In a thought-provoking lecture hosted by British legal firm Hogan Lovells as part of its annual ESG GameChangers Summit, renowned astrophysicist Professor Brian Cox challenged his audience to consider the true value of our planet in the vast expanse of the universe.

The event, situated in Hogan Lovells' London headquarters, saw experts from a variety of industries discuss topics such as the value of free market economics, climate action and the role of ESG in supply chain sustainability.

Brian's keynote speech kicked the whole event off by attempting to contextualise the purpose of ESG in its broadest and most noble terms possible: saving the planet.

Brian brought a simple question to the audience of engaged executives. He asked a prosaic question - is the Earth worth saving? - and answered it poetically, using his vast knowledge of the universe and all its complex workings.

His emotive presentation offered audience members a busload of perspective for considering ethical business practices, couching the importance of ESG in a humbling yet profound picture of humanity's place in the cosmos.

The scale of the cosmos

Brian began his lecture by acknowledging the overwhelming scale of the universe, citing staggering statistics that put the Earth's physical insignificance into stark perspective.

"There are two trillion galaxies in the observable universe, each containing hundreds of billions of stars. In our own Milky Way galaxy alone, there are an estimated 20 billion potentially Earth-like planets."

All in all, there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the Earth. Yet, despite this cosmic vastness and the incomprehensible range of possibilities it brings, Brian posited that the Earth may be more precious than one might initially assume.

The origins of life

Delving into the origins of life on Earth, Brian noted that the planet's ability to sustain complex biology for billions of years is nothing short of remarkable.

"Life began on Earth around four billion years ago, which is just a few hundred million years after the planet formed," he said. "This suggests that the conditions for life to emerge may be relatively common, given the right circumstances."

However, he cautioned that the transition from single-celled organisms to the complex life forms we see today is a much rarer occurrence. He spoke at length about the celestial bodies in our very solar system that have water sources, suggesting that life could develop in these places. It's the ability to nurture these simple lifeforms into complex ones that is the unique thing.

The evolution of complexity

So, how exactly did complex life develop on our (cosmically) tiny planetary home?

"The history of life on Earth is predominantly a history of single-celled organisms," says Brian. "It's only in the last 600 million to one billion years that we've seen the emergence of multicellular life, and only in the last few hundred thousand years that life has become complex enough to build civilizations and engage in scientific exploration."

In the grand scheme of things, intelligent life has existed for a very short period of time on Earth. This slow progression, Brian argued, may indicate that the Earth could be an anomaly in the universe, a place so perfectly lifegiving in every conceivable way, that organisms have had the time and space to develop into incredibly complex beings.

This, Brian previously posited at COP26 in Glasgow, is part of the 'Goldilocks Theory', a theory in which scientists suggest conditions on Earth are "just right", compared to other similar planets.

Earth's unique position

Citing the work of his colleagues, Brian shared a sobering perspective.

"One of my friends who works in this area said that with the knowledge we have, the average number of civilisations per galaxy is likely zero," he said.

He also recounted an anecdote of a conversation he'd had with a fellow scientist about the photographs of deep space taken by the James Webb Space Telescope. Brian's friend described these incredible images as "a photograph, at best, of slime," referring to the primitive forms of life that are likely supported by the occasional planet or moon.

The intended implication of these particular anecdotes are that the Earth's ability to foster intelligent life may be an exceptional, if not unique, phenomenon.

This possibility, according to Brian, imbues our planet with a profound significance that transcends its physical attributes. "If this is the only place in the Milky Way galaxy where anything thinks, where there are collections of atoms that can investigate atoms and consider the nature of the universe, then this place might be more valuable than you could possibly imagine."

The ESG imperative

With this in mind, the tone for the rest of the Hogan Lovells event was set.

Rita Hunter, Regulatory Partner and Co-Head of Sustainable Finance and Investment at Hogan Lovells, came to the stage to thank Professor Brian Cox, saying: "I think you've definitely managed to make us feel very insignificant and significant at the same time, so thank you for that rollercoaster."

The event continued thereafter with a real urgency for finding ESG solutions that can benefit the planet in the looming context of climate change.

Speaking after the summit, Adrian Walker, Global Board Member, Partner & Head of ESG at Hogan Lovells, said: “We were all blown away by Professor Cox. The message is obvious in some ways, but he put into context the galactic wonder of our existence. I share his call to action for all business and state leaders to not mess it up.”

Adrian wanted to emphasise the importance of collaboration, an imperative established by Brian's keynote. "At Hogan Lovells we want to inspire and “light a candle” for our clients and friends (including other law firms) as to how they could be game-changers and have impact, whether working by themselves or (even better) working together. How can we all use our collective talent to build a better world by working together to deliver market-changing solutions?" he said.

'The destruction of meaning'

Brian closed out his keynote with a fascinating story, recounting his time spent speaking to world leaders at COP26 in Glasgow. As an esteemed guest of the conference, he spoke in front of politicians from across the globe on the subject of climate change.

During this time, he discussed the idea of meaning. Meaning, he argued, is a property of complex biological organisms. A rock, for example, has no conception of meaning.

So, if life on Earth were to end due to climate catastrophe, it is likely that all meaning in our galaxy would be eradicated.

He presented this idea to presidents and prime ministers, saying: "You are the leaders. You are in charge of this place. So if you destroy this place through deliberate action or inaction, then each of you will be personally responsible or may be personally responsible for destroying meaning in a galaxy of 400 billion sons forever. Now go and discuss that and have a nice meeting."

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