On 12th January we hosted the fourth instalment in our series of roundtables for the Green Entrepreneurship Forum: a new policy initiative we are running with Mishcon de Reya that brings together the UK’s most successful sustainability-driven entrepreneurs to help us support them in their aims and inform us about the policy interventions they need to flourish.
Many organisations are making strides toward greater sustainability, but the path to Net Zero is still unclear and a daunting task for many policy makers. But the benefits of achieving it are not just good for the planet, they are also good for a business’ brand and their bottom line. In this roundtable we explored the steps businesses need to take to reduce their emissions and what the challenges they face are.
Alex Rhodes, Head of Purpose at Mishcon de Reya, explained the three pillars of their Climate Change Strategy. They seek to reduce emissions, increase nature-based carbon capture, and act as a catalyst for further climate action. The groups they work with to achieve this are their own staff, their clients, and the legal profession as a whole. Alex discussed two major concerns related to climate change they are working on the displacement of people and how this will impact their human rights, and how to enfranchise young people who will be the most affected by the long-term effects of climate change.
Next we heard from Will Richardson, Founder of Green Element Consulting and Compare your Footprint a carbon footprint calculator. Will is concerned that it is extremely difficult for consumers to identify which companies are actually having a positive environmental impact. He suggested signing up to the science based target initiative, which focuses on ensuring the global temperature does not rise above 1.5°C.
We then heard from Jarmila Yu, Founder of Yunique Marketing. As a marketeer, Jarmila believes that there are many benefits of communicating Net Zero objectives to consumers and that using sustainability initiatives can make businesses more resilient. In particular, she thinks a commitment to Net Zero will attract employees who care about working for companies that are committed to addressing climate change.
Finally, we heard from Joseph Richard Roberts, Founder of Etopia, the first climate neutral housebuilder. Joseph shared his frustration at the lack of clarity surrounding Net Zero, pointing out there are as many as 40 different definitions. But he believes that there are three core principles to achieving the goal. First, decreasing the amount of carbon used as a product. Second, reducing the amount of carbon that is released when it is necessary as a product. And third, disposing of carbon when it has been released.
In the discussion that ensued a range of interesting points were shared. Some of the most interesting are shared below.
We have no mechanism to track domestic emissions. Consumers are not informed about what is happening so behaviour change is small and uninformed. People and businesses alike are also slow to switch to new products because they prefer tried and tested products.
There is also a sense that it will be easy to reduce the first 90% of emissions but the final 10% will be the most difficult, and could be impossible, to stop. Therefore, carbon capture and storage should play a significant part of the Net Zero strategy.
Manufacturing companies are also highly reliant on the infrastructure of their local grid. Sometimes this is poor, as a result the electricity required for production is generated through diesel and releases a lot of carbon. There needs to be a further conversation about how clean energy is distributed throughout the country, especially in manufacturing hubs.
Currently, VAT is not charged on building new homes but it is charged on making improvements to buildings. It was suggested that an easy policy win would be for the government to fix this discrepancy to make sure that it is not cheaper to demolish and rebuild a home than it is to improve it.
If you would like to get involved in the Green Entrepreneurship Forum please email katrina@tenentrepreneurs.org.