The Net Zero Business Podcast

Through August the podcast will feature themed compilation episodes featuring hot takes from our wonderful guests over the last year. This week the theme is small/medium sized businesses (SMEs), featuring the combined wisdom of:

• Jo Holmes and David Knight on the challenges faced by small businesses and the upsides and downsides of Sustainability frameworks for smaller companies
• Jasper Steinhausen on why he aimed his recent Sustainabilitybook at small businesses and the sweetspot of opportunities for those companies
• Don Golden on engaging typically Donald Trump supporting US small business owners through their mutual faith
• Emma Burlow on her experiences as a fractional CSO of a small business disrupting a market with a circular business model

Click on the links for the full interviews.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Through August the podcast will feature themed compilation episodes featuring hot takes from our wonderful guests over the last year. This week the theme is ESG Investing, featuring:

• Georgia Hall on the definition of ESG and separating the signal from the noise
• Marga Hoek on the Trillion Dollar opportunity presented by the Sustainable Development Goals
• John Friedman on why ESG investing increases in times of uncertainty
• Claudine Blaney of Aviva on how they bring Net Zero to their investment portfolio

Click on the links for the full interviews.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the fourth of 10 special episodes to mark the publication of my guide 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability where I sum up the lessons I have learnt delivering Sustainability over the last 25+ years. In this episode, I talk through what is probably the most important of the ten rules, Rule 4: Culture and strategy are two sides of the same coin.

What many Sustainability professionals fail to understand is that actually delivering Sustainability is about change (not ISO standards etc), and change is about psychology. In this episode I explain how I fuse strategy development and engagement together from the very start of the process, to produce a strategy that key decision makers actually want to deliver.

Click here to download 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If we broadly know how to decarbonise surface transport and domestic heating, what about the 'hard to abate' sectors such as steel making and chemicals? Today I'm joined by the (freshly be-chaired) Professor Jan Rosenow of Oxford University to talk through the decarbonisation of these sectors and, in particular, their scope for electrification. Here's what we discuss:

• The scope for electrification of low, medium and high temperature processes
• Novel technologies including high temperature heat pumps and electro-thermal storage
• Energy efficiency and the rebound effect (aka Jevons Paradox)
• How electrification can be 4-5x more efficient than gas but how the 'spark gap' is hindering progress
• Jan's top 4 policy asks to decarbonise heavy industry

The excellent Some Like It Hot report that Jan co-wrote (and I used as a cheat sheet during our discussion) is available here.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Late last year, UK digital network provider Openreach placed the largest order for EVs in history, making a huge leap forward not only in meeting its Net Zero ambitions, but normalising clean transport for others too. This week on the pod, Openreach's Head of Sustainability Abby Chicken joins me to talk through EVs and a whole range of other issues, including:

• How Sustainability is largely a matter of change management

• The energy footprint of data vs dematerialising the economy

• Switching to EVs across a large and distributed workforce

• Overcoming myths and misinformation

• Removing and recycling redundant systems

• Building infrastructure in a nature positive way

• Meaningful employee engagement, by focussing on task-level asks

• "Make friends first, make change later"

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd, Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If your senses have ever been assaulted by a psychedelic pink cat rapping about recycling your electronics, then Scott Butler, Executive Director at Material Focus, must take some of the blame. This week on the Net Zero Business Podcast, we talk about the world of electronic waste, including:

• The importance of recycling waste electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE)
• The challenges of fast tech, disposable vapes and electronic tat
• The two key aspects of public engagement: facilities and motivation
• The story behind Hypnocat
• How negative experiences outweigh positive experience
• Critical minerals and the circular economy.

The circular electronic fund Scott mentions can be found here.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the third of 10 special episodes to mark the publication of my guide 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability where I sum up the lessons I have learnt delivering Sustainability over the last 25+ years. In this episode, I talk through Rule 3: There's no point in doing the wrong thing well. What I mean by this is certain products and services will have no place in a low carbon economy (eg internal combustion engines, gas boilers etc), no matter what you do on cutting your organisational carbon footprint. If this applies to you, you will need to pivot to a low carbon business model or face bankruptcy.

Click here to download 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod, I catch up with Sustainability Consultant, Fractional CSO and fellow podcaster, Emma Burlow of Lighthouse Sustainability Ltd. Here's what we cover in our discussion:

• The circular economy as a value generator
• Disrupting markets with circular business models
• The psychology of the word 'waste'
• What is Carbon Literacy and why does it matter
• Generational attitudes to climate change
• Pushing back on misinformation
• From awareness to action
• The power of listening

The Net Zero Business Podcast is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week I'm joined by nuclear whizz Adam Bell of Stonehaven to discuss last week's UK Spending Review which invested a lot of money and political capital to rejuvenate the UK's fast dwindling fleet of nuclear power stations. We discuss the following:

• Why did the building of nuclear reactors (almost) grief to a halt in 1989?

• The risks of China and Russia dominating the nuclear industry

• Why the construction Hinkley C is running over budget and behind schedule

• Small modular reactor technology and use cases

• The role of nuclear in meeting the Government's clean power objectives

• Renewables today or nuclear next decade? Opportunity cost tensions

• The changing role of GB Energy

• Is the nuclear announcement intended to provide the Government with political cover for Net Zero?

• Public opinion of nuclear energy

• Fuel availability and waste disposal

Phew! The density of information and insight packed into this episode could power a small grid by itself.

The Net Zero Business Podcast is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd – Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the pod, I'm joined by Richard Smith of PS Planet, who I first met at the launch of 'Albert', the carbon calculator/assessment system he initially developed for the BBC and then for all broadcasters via BAFTA. In a freewheeling conversation, we discuss:

• Helping the broadcasting sector decarbonise through the 'Albert' carbon platform
• Sustainability in TV programming, from Eastenders to Blue Planet II
• Zero carbon versus net zero, and the area under the curve
• Matching your language to the audience (green jujitsu!)
• Sustainability challenges in Universities and visitor attractions
• The importance of joy, imagination and creativity in Sustainability

You can find Richard on LinkedIn here.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd – Bringing Sustainability to Life

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.