Agenda
Join us from 8am to enjoy tea and coffee's, and most importantly, be ready to get a front-row seat at our main stage theatre, for what is scheduled to be a packed room!
Keynote address from our Hosts and a special guest to welcome you to second day of Net Zero Festival
"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?
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?
"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 investors look to profit from the carbon-offset gold rush, demand for land is soaring.
Scotland has a large rural land area: 98% of the country’s landmass is classified as either ‘remote rural’ or ‘accessible rural’. One-fifth of the country is peatlands, which, as natural carbon sinks, hold the equivalent of 140 years of Scotland’s carbon emissions. Given this, how can somewhere like Scotland insure investment in natural capital is done in a way that is empowering and benefiting rural and island communities?
"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?
And a performance from Henry Grace!
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 increasingly 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 access negative emissions, ensure projects deliver as promise, and credibly incorporate them into their net zero strategy without distracting from the need to cut emissions at source. In this session industry experts will explore how companies are working with negative emissions projects, discuss the best practices that can help ensure the nascent market genuinely removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and identify how businesses could be at the forefront of the push to stabilise global concentrations of greenhouse gases.
"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 led by C02.AI by BCG team 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 AI to turbocharge your Net Zero progress and tackle scope 3.
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 understandable 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, you'll learn tools to build mental resilience and stay energised. Come away feeling grounded, inspired and equipped to 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
At COP26 the Chancellor announced that the UK will move towards making it mandatory for companies to publish transition plans, stating that listed companies, asset managers and regulated asset owners will be required to do so as early as 2023. Writing and executing these plans will require entire businesses to collaborate but gaining buy-in from the top will be essential. Non-executive directors set the direction of a business, sign off strategy and steward its delivery. Now they’re required to understand and address the risks and opportunities climate change presents, yet to many of them, this is a new priority and focus. In this workshop Chapter Zero and Carbon Intelligence will share insights and the tools you need to lay the foundations for executing a transition plan and business transformation.
Join this workshop led by Carbon Intelligence and Chapter Zero 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