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Our first event in March on Thursday 4th saw the Future Economy Network host ‘Buildings and Net Zero: The 2030 Goal’, which was attended by a wide range of delegates from across the world. Our speakers covered a range of approaches, looking at how the industry can work towards net zero and the role of Science Based Targets from the perspectives of companies and local authorities. Before the event began, attendees enjoyed some pre-seminar networking in small break out rooms.
Katherine Piper, Director of Partnerships at Future Leap, highlighted the benefits of joining the Future Economy Network and also shared updates about our carbon neutral sustainability hub in Bristol. Katherine briefly updated attendees on the plans for the Festival of Sustainable Business, now that Government guidance has provided us with a roadmap out of the pandemic.
Owen Hewlett, Chief Technical Officer at Gold Standard Foundation, set the scene for the importance of Net Zero and the purpose of Science Based Targets. He looked at ways of interpreting the ‘climate mitigation hierarchy’ of avoid > reduce > offset for the science-based era. As a member of Science-Based Targets Technical Advisory and Expert Working Groups on Net Zero, Owen provided a state and trends update on the evolving landscape and provided reflections on implications and opportunities for the built environment.
Sioned Holland and Christian Dimbleby from Architype were next up. With construction contributing to around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint, the built environment has a significant role to play if we want to avoid climate catastrophe. Sioned and Christian outlined key steps that clients, contractors and architects need to be aware of in order to achieve these crucial goals. Taking experience gained from zero carbon projects at Architype, they outlined frameworks that have been proven to radically reduce carbon from the earliest stages of design. Exploring refurbishment, passive strategies, renewable technologies and analysis, they established important solutions to support the UK’s move to a zero carbon environment.
Jaime Blakeley-Glover, Head of Property at Bristol City Council, was our final presenter. Jaime spoke about delivering carbon neutrality on a complex estate. He reflected on the role of Science Based Targets in terms of integrity and leadership together with some of the practical steps and challenges of creating a carbon neutral strategy on a complex estate. Jaime also reflected on the role of people in an effective strategy to meet the climate crisis; the role organisations can take; and, the need for all parts of organisations to face the science on climate change and to develop their own pathway to action.
During all discussions, the audience were invited to ask questions and take part in the conversation throughout. Multiple attendees made use of the 60 second pitch opportunity, including Future Leap Consultancy, DJH Sustainability and Collecteco. Everyone was then able to network in different groups using facilitated break out rooms before the event finished. A huge thank you to the speakers and attendees of this event, without which our events calendar would not be possible.