A lively crowd gathered one dark, pre-Christmas evening at an independent wine bar in Finsbury Park to celebrate the soft launch of Life After Oil.
Over good wine and in a warm, informal setting, Nick Smith shared the project’s origins, its purpose, and his hopes for the official launch and the months ahead. He closed by thanking those present, emphasising that the project is shaped by their experiences and stories—and expressing his excitement for what lies ahead.
With many attendees being former oil and gas professionals, conversation naturally turned to how their own journeys might inspire others still in the industry to imagine—and pursue—new career paths.
Helena Farstad, owner of the venue OAKN4, and involved with the strategic direction of the Life After Oil project reflected: ‘I believe we need to start telling a different story. One where we perhaps are less focused on the end, but more on the beginning and middle (credit Gareth Southgate:).
Neither of us know what the end will look like, so let’s not pretend we do. We do know however that we’re too late to limit temperatures within safe levels (well below 2 degrees) so let’s firstly be honest about the fact we cannot ‘fix’ things, and then focus intensively on how we adequately prepare for this new reality and limit the harm as much as possible’.
