Agenda
Keynote address from our Hosts and a special guest to welcome you to second day of Net Zero Festival
Kick starting our "Net Zero Festival Acts" on Day 2 , we will be featuring Climate Diplomacy and International Politics at the centre of the playlist.
"And we thought 2020 was a bad year...? 2022 really does seems to be showing us that it's the 2020 "too". Seems to be the sentence that we are repeating ourselves in a loop. Considering the level of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in the world we live in... who even knows what our world will look like by September and beyond. Our panellists will discuss what we can expect from climate diplomacy during this unprecedented age of VUCA.
With the prices of everyday goods going up, including spiralling energy bills, and inflation rising to historical highs, what does this means for the longer-term UK economic picture and the country’s ambitions to realise net zero. Additionally, how can we guarantee Net Zero isn't seen as the cause of the crisis, but rather as a true solution to the problem?
Keynote speaker... Coming Soon
"Climate change is a real deal. So, hey deniers - cut it out, and let's get to work." - Bill Nye
The climate change deniers are coming out to play... so how can we equip ourselves to tackle those who challenge the net zero agenda? The effects of climate change are also set to disproportionately affect those in poverty, and can exacerbate economic, gender and other social inequalities, so how can we ensure a Just Transition where no one is left behind? Can getting the Just Transition right demystify the transition and send those denier back to hiding?
"The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do" - Steve Jobs
Corporate action is already driving significant change across the UK and internationally, and accelerating this action will enable the policy, technological, behavioural, and business model changes needed for a zero-carbon society. How are corporate leaders embracing the opportunity to lead their companies with sustainability at its core? How can businesses guarantee they have the right principles steering their business ambition?
"Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat." - Steve Jobs
The urgency of the climate crisis is now starting to attract rapidly increasing investment flows into climate related technology solutions and companies. Innovators, together with investors, are vital players to bring novel technologies and disruptive approaches to industry as we build a new future. With innovation being at the core of achieving a Net Zero world, how can you utilise all of this innovation and start deploying cutting-edge clean tech into your companies' operations?
"Net zero refers to a state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere."
It's time to discuss the balance between emissions and removal of greenhouse gases. In a world with growing dialogues on the different methods, where does the balance lie? Are carbon capture projects ready to be scalable? What is the latest update on the offsets market? And how can we increase the role of nature as the natural carbon dioxide remover?
As of 2020, urban areas are the source of about 67-72% of emissions with about 100 of the highest emitting urban areas currently accounting for approximately 18% of the global carbon footprint.
With problems like urban heat, growing disparities in income and access to food and healthcare, how are regions and cities uniquely empowered to adapt to everything a climate emergency brings with it?
"I firmly believe in the rule of law as the foundation for all of our basic rights" - Sonia Sotomayor
Climate change litigation continues to grow in importance as a way of either advancing or delaying effective action on climate change. The number of cases challenging government inaction or lack of ambition in climate goals and commitments continues to grow. In addition, cases are targeting a wider variety of private sector and financial actors and there is more diversity in the arguments being used, for example incorporating themes of greenwashing and fiduciary duty. As a consequence, businesses need to be aware of litigation risk being on the rise. Are we ready to firmly argue that guaranteeing the future of our planet should be seen as a basic right of us all?
Main Stage
"I still believe that if your aim is to change the world, journalism is a more immediate short-term weapon" - Tom Stoppard
Once upon a time, the only ones reporting on the climate crisis were those so called environment journalists. As the climate emergency sprawls into more and more aspects of our daily lives, are all journalists now inherently becoming climate journalists? And if so, how should we guarantee that bias doesn't play a pivotal role in telling the Net Zero journey?
It’s widely recognised that negative emission technologies such as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), and direct air capture (DAC), will have a key role to play in tackling the climate crisis. But how can businesses and communities maximise the opportunities associated with this emerging sector while minimising the risks? In this session a host of industry experts will discuss how BECCS technologies and the pursuit of negative emissions can support the net zero transition, and identify how businesses can be at the forefront of the push to stabilise global concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Speakers
Senior representative
drax
"We should preserve every scrap of biodiversity as priceless while we learn to use it and come to understand what it means to humanity" - E.O. Wilson
In the 21st century, the age of technology, it seems some point along the way, we forgot about what makes Earth the planet we get to live in - nature. As we reconstruct our new societies and way of living, it's time to give nature once again a central role to everything we do, and make space for it in all aspects. In this session we will dig into ways in which you can guarantee your company is working with, and not against, nature and biodiversity.
"Regenerative agriculture provides answers to the soil crisis, the climate crisis and the crisis of democracy" - Dr Vandava Shiva
If we are soon to be a world of 9 billion people, how can we tackle food security? One of the solutions is guaranteeing we start building our food supplies and agriculture to be regenerative. Can we truly build a farming and grazing practice that can reverse climate change through rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity, resulting in a carbon drawdown and improved water cycle?
Workshop Stream 1
Society embraces constant waves of digital transformation, which changes the way we operate on a daily basis. Yet sometimes we become reluctant to apply that transformation to our own business's way of operating. Join this workshop if you want to understand how you can get away from those dreaded spreadsheets and start focusing on the better use of data, technology and connectivity to turbocharge your Net Zero progress.
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
It’s normal to feel a bit "doom and gloom" when working to make your company sustainable yet are flooded with news on how we aren’t achieving enough. In this workshop, we will work with you and your peers, to help you overcome some of that ecoanxiety, create a group therapy environment, and provide you with the tools to make you mentally resilient as you continue to fight for and wave the sustainability flag.
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
Workshop Stream 2
Do you get lost with all the different ways of reporting your Net Zero progress? Don't worry, us too. Join this workshop where we will help you tackle the alphabet soup, take you out of the maze, and get you walking on a straight path of disclosing and reporting on your organisation's Net Zero target.
Join this workshop led by CDP and SBTi's team to find out just how you can accomplish this
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
Non-executive directors help shape the strategy of a business to address the risks and opportunities climate change presents, yet to many of them, this is a new priority and focus. In this workshop we will equip you with the tools on how you can educate your board, and how to best disclose your reports and objectives, so you can get your board as another champion of your work.
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
Workshop Stream 3
In 2022, the first step to getting on your Net Zero journey can be guaranteeing your source of energy comes from Renewable power. This will be a step further in your green journey and lowers costs during an energy prices crisis. In this workshop we will equip you with the tools to equip you with how you can build a solid energy strategy, create a strong PPA and green up your power.
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
The built environment generates nearly 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. With the levels of immigration to cities increasing, getting our buildings green are a crucial piece of the Net Zero journey, despite it being a quiet one sometimes. Increasingly, nature is emerging as a big solution to improving our mental health in a concrete jungle, so how can we seize the opportunity of the green building revolution and create the cities of our green future?
Please note workshops have limited availability. They are designed to connect you with your peers, interact, and brainstorm solutions to key challenges you face. Please make sure to register your interest if you wish to take part
Join this workshop led by UKGBC's team to find out just how you can accomplish this
Main Stage
It wouldn't be a Festival without an epic closing act... stay tuned
It's time to celebrate the closing of the first physical Net Zero Festival, since it's launch in 2020. Even more importantly.... it's time to celebrate that BusinessGreen is turning Fifteen!!
James and the team have been working consistently over the past years to become the UK's leading source of information for the green economy, delivering the latest news and in-depth analysis on green business and environmental issues.
We look forward to celebrating this milestone achievement with our members, readers, partners and supporters, and have you join us in wishing our beloved publication many more years