Here at mark-making*, we’re all about the greater good – which is why we do whatever we can, whenever and wherever we can, to leave positive impressions behind us. For all this endeavour, though, our focus is never on ourselves alone. We’re every bit as passionate about championing the pro-planet work of others.

We applaud organisations that share our belief that business should only ever be a force for good (we really do mean it). Sometimes, in fact, we’re so bowled over by the actions of our peers that we go a step further, with an active show of support.

Introducing the ‘Terra Carta’

One of these more recent occasions has been for something called the Terra Carta – a phenomenally ambitious initiative for greater good, founded and driven by His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales, as part of his Sustainable Markets Initiative.

In a nutshell, the Terra Carta is an official charter that puts sustainability at the very heart of the private sector. It provides a roadmap to 2030 for businesses to move towards a sustainable future. Or, as The Prince would put it…

“The ‘Terra Carta’ offers the basis of a recovery plan that puts Nature, People and Planet at the heart of global value creation – one that will harness the precious, irreplaceable power of Nature combined with the transformative innovation and resources of the private sector.”

The whole ethos of the initiative has a more than decent amount in common with mark-making*s own vision for a better future. So much so, that we felt compelled to show some solidarity. Several months later, we’re incredibly proud to say that, after sharing our own sustainability blueprint with their powers that be, we’ve been accepted and acknowledged as an official supporter of the Terra Carta.

A progressive movement, 800 years in the making

In terms of the story behind the charter, its name (as you’ll have twigged already if you listened in year 7 history) is derived from the historic Magna Carta, which inspired a belief in the fundamental rights and liberties of people over 800 years ago. Moving forward eight centuries, the modern-day Terra Carta aims to reunite people and planet, by giving these same fundamental rights and value to nature.

Without a shadow of a doubt, humanity has made incredible progress since ye olde days of King John and his pals – particularly over the past century or so. But the cost of this progress has caused destruction on an epic scale to the planet that sustains us. By wielding the might of industry, The Terra Carta aims to permanently change this course.

Its global business proposition outlines ten key areas for action (including around a hundred specifics), all of which culminates in supporters like us abiding by a set of principles that includes:

• Acknowledging that the restoration of the natural world is of common benefit to all humankind, irrespective of borders
• Recognising that ensuring the integrity of all ecosystems requires climate, oceans, desertification and biodiversity to be addressed as one common system
• Taking into account the value of diversity, recognising it as a strength that gives resilience to communities, systems and organisations
• Recognising the importance of ‘local’ – traditions, languages and cultures along with products, jobs and sustainability – and how these ‘locals’ connect and support each other
• Acknowledging that nature underpins the prosperity, wellbeing and future of all people and the planet we share

Support that feels like a natural fit

Nature, with its constant evolution, has always provided the solutions to pretty much every problem we’ve faced. Ancient civilisations and indigenous peoples have embraced its majesty, tapping into the powers of its patterns, cycles and geometry to inform their science, technology, design and engineering. It’s been the root cause for all we’ve achieved as a species – and it continues to be so.

But, here in 2022, we’re at a tipping point. Mass extinctions (the vast majority of which are caused by us) are wiping out nature’s gifts to us all. The need to act looms large like never before. And it’s this urgency that’s behind mark-making*s decision to affiliate ourselves with the Terra Carta.

On our own, our little agency can’t drive the global change that’s needed. But we’ll always support the causes that can.

The Terra Carta stands for what we stand for. We believe in it. And as we actively help to pursue its goals, we’re looking forward to leaving some goodmarks* of our own along the way.