Day 1 - Net Zero five years on… Are we on track?
Big Zero Lectures
The lectures are short TED-talk style sessions where a range of industry leading speakers will inspire and challenge your thinking. This year we have an amazing array of subjects covered from EVs to religion! And our headline speaker is the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore.
Sumit Bose
Welcome Session
Join our welcome session with Sumit Bose, Founder of future net zero.
Rt Hon Chris Skidmore OBE
Net Zero: 5 Years On
The man who wrote net zero into law and authored the Mission Zero report gives us his insight into the UK's efforts so far.
Julia Hailes
System Change, Not Climate Change
Julia Hailes has been at the forefront of sustainability for 40 years. The author of The Green Consumer Guide, she has dedicated her life to engaging with businesses to produce more sustainable products. She gives her assessment of what businesses have done right and wrong over the last three decades and what we need to do now to ensure actual change.
Nick Molden
How We Can Actually Achieve Net Zero Transport, Not Just Officially
This session will give an overview of different technology paths to net zero, why zero emission vehicles are a myth, the importance of cost and timing and how to avoid another Dieselgate.
Vicky Pryce
Go Zero To Get Cash
Leading economist and author Vicky Pryce explains why your ESG credibility will soon be vital when it comes to raising investment or even trading. She will guide you through the policy landscape in the short term and why your financial models and forecasts will have to include your ambitions about emissions reduction.
Michael Pollitt
Can Religion Be The Secret Weapon In The Fight To Cut Emissions?
A fascinating session from professor Michael Pollitt of Cambridge Judge Business School who has done a study into the power of religious messaging and whether we could use this globally to speed up the net zero transition.
Kate Ashworth
Local Authorities And Their Key Role In Net Zero
Join Kate Ashworth from the West Midlands Combined Authority as she explains how the role of local authorities will be paramount on the road to 2050. Kate will explore how engaging with local authorities will be vital for both businesses and the wider energy sector as we implement net zero technologies.
Tim Delport
The Future Of Heating
Tim Delport talks about where heating is heading and what that looks like and means for the domestic and commercial consumers of the country. He will cover the benefits for the transition to net zero, infrastructure aspects and responsibilities.
Simon Manley
Enhanced Rock Weathering, A Community-Based Carbon Removal Solution Helping Businesses Achieve Net Zero
All businesses planning their net zero journey should be engaging with carbon removal solutions now. If they don't, what is an opportunity today will become a problem tomorrow as high quality supply gets claimed. Enhanced rock weathering (ERW), UNDO's high value, permanent, nature-enabled approach, is ready to scale and comes with a wealth of socio-economic and agricultural benefits for rural communities. This talk will explain how ERW works and how it can be incorporated into organisations' carbon management plans.
Pathway to Net Zero
The pathway presentations cover case studies, methodologies and advice from your peers working in the energy, sustainability and ESG sector. They have faced the challenges you do and have the answers you need. There is an opportunity to ask questions in some of the sessions.
Alexandra Hammond
Tackling The Big Hairy, Scary Challenge: Supply Chain Decarbonisation In The NHS
Alexandra Hammond is leading the Carbon Footprint Plus program for the NHS. The aim is for the NHS to be the world's first net zero health service. It has the target of implementing a net zero plan across everything from patients care, hospital buildings, medicines, transport and its supply chain. Alexandra will outline the challenges and the progress made so far.
Tom Maidment
On Land And At Sea: Tackling Emissions In The Livestock Sector
Food production accounts for around 30% of global emissions and is a key part of many companies' supply chain. But this highly dispersed sector poses a unique challenge for decarbonisation as the majority of those emissions come from biological processes. In this session Tom will talk about the steps businesses can take to reduce emissions in this difficult to abate sector without impacting food security.
Rebecca Howard
Net Zero Into Action
This session is about how Coventry Building Society has involved stakeholders in determining ESG priorities, communications and initiatives. It will focus on net zero and greenhouse gas emissions but will also address travel, waste management, diversity & inclusion, social value, community initiatives and supplier payment practices. The presentation will demonstrate how effective inter-organisational collaboration enables acceleration towards a net zero future.
Vijay Chouhan
Virgin Media O2’s Pathway to Net Zero
Join Vijay Chouhan for an enlightening session as he delves into Virgin Media O2's ambitious journey towards achieving net zero emissions. Discover the innovative strategies, collaborative efforts and transformative technologies propelling Virgin Media O2 towards a sustainable future.
Fitzroy Hutchinson
The Celtic Collection: 30 Years Of Net Zero Success
Over two decades, our commitment to sustainability has been unwavering. This session will provide an overview of where we are currently and where we are looking to go. Low hanging fruit, to larger investment (BMS (linked to our booking system), LEDs, motors, pumps, heat pumps, de-gassing, biomass, hydrogen, green CHP, water management, sustainable maintenance and behavioural change creating a sustainable culture.
Bret Willers
Coventry's Net Zero Initiatives
Bret Willers dives into the innovative sustainability endeavours shaping Coventry's journey towards net zero. Explore the city's bold initiatives, collaborative partnerships and pioneering solutions driving environmental progress. From renewable energy projects to community engagement efforts, discover how Coventry is leading the charge towards a greener city and community.
Wendy Cheeseman
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's Journey To Net Zero
Join Wendy Cheeseman as she uncovers the Trust's ambitious roadmap, highlighting key milestones, challenges and pioneering solutions in our collective pursuit of a healthier, greener future.
David Medori
Bringing Net Zero To Life
888 William Hill has an aggressive target to achieve Net Zero by 2035. David, who leads the Environmental Strategy will discuss the journey he has had to date from taking ownership and being accountable for the environment, focussing on emission reduction activities and to most recently setting and writing a full transitional plan. David will articulate the challenges, risks and opportunities to date with examples of practical key initiatives that have driven emissions down. This session will illustrate a clear path and plan to Net Zero while highlighting the necessity for collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders as imperative to achieving Net Zero.
Ola Bankole
Achieving And Sustaining A Net Zero Status For Your Organisation: The Key Elements
Net zero should not be considered as a destination but rather as a journey, one that continues beyond the target year. With this in mind the posture organisations must take on carbon reductions must be one that can be sustained into the future. This session provides insights into key elements organisations need in order to sustain their net zero journey while continuing to thrive in a competitive environment.
Matteo Deidda
Lloyds Banking Group's Journey Towards 50% Reduction In Supply Chain Emissions By 2030
The session will cover Lloyds’ journey in setting a supply chain emissions reduction target and the group's approach to suppliers’ engagement via the Emerald Standard.
Fiona Edwards
Net Zero Through Workspace Design
Up to 1.2million office desks and 1.8million still fit-for-task but simply out-of-fashion task chairs go to UK landfill every year. This results in the loss of potentially useful materials and resources, creating further emissions, pollution and nature degradation. With much of this redundant furniture then replaced with new items, the outcome is further carbon emissions, waste, pollution, nature degradation and finite resource depletion.
I’d like to share how a simple focus on SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production has helped our clients reduce furniture waste, carbon and pollution. This focus has also enabled clients to evidence sustainable procurement in action, generate baseline data for future carbon reduction and achieve significant budget savings.
Using furniture resources already in place or those we are about to buy for twice as long means we can reduce embodied carbon and costs by 50%, a good first step towards Net Zero.
Ollie Rosevear
Director of Sustainability, Fullers Smith & Turner
Morgan Roberts
Don’t Go It Alone: The Support Available For Putting Net Zero Into Action
Morgan works for Sustainability West Midlands (SWM), an independent not-for-profit organisation with 22+ years of presence in the region, expertise across the sustainability sector and a strong focus on stakeholder engagement. SWM utilises these features to make the region more sustainable, fairer and greener for all. In this presentation, Morgan will be giving practical, actionable advice on using support and collaboration to action your net zero goals. She will cover guidance on collaborating and creating partnerships for driving action, tips for finding and accessing the right support for you and will provide an overview of the net zero support currently available in the region, including the benefits of signing up to the West Midlands Net Zero Business Pledge, a free initiative delivered by SWM on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Guy Bradbury
Energy Purchasing Manager, Imerys
Dr Bahareh Salehi
Dr Bahareh Salehi is a Chartered Building Physics Engineer/Consultant at Mott MacDonald, a global engineering, management and development consultancy company.
After completing her PhD in this subject and due to her knowledge and experience, she was invited to occupy a few hours a week as an Industry Lecturer at London South Bank University.
In addition to her occupations, she is an active member of the CIBSE Building Simulation Group with the aim of highlighting best practices in using computer simulation codes for building-related applications and a member of the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC)’s commercial retrofit task group to gain clarity on the most effective retrofit interventions for common office buildings found in the UK.
Haydn Young
The 24/7 Clean Energy Revolution And The Reshaping Of Renewable Energy Procurement
Initially driven from the tech sector in the US, the 24/7 clean energy concept now has a global reach within Europe, Asia and North America and boasts the backing of the United Nations and the US Government.
So, what’s the fuss about? In this session Haydn (Rutland Forums & Hudle) will outline how 24/7 could reshape the UK renewable energy market especially for REGO backed renewable power.
Net Zero Index
Just like the Index on futurenetzero.com, this content stream will cover technologies and tools for cutting emissions right now. We have presentations from an array of companies creating or using products and behaviours which can have an immediate effect on your carbon footprint.
British Gas
Bryt Energy
Engie
Inenco
Innova
JRP Solutions
Stark
Water Plus