The Net Zero Business Podcast

This is the second 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 2: Stretch yourself, but not too far – the need for ambitious yet pragmatic targets with an emphasis on the timing of targets.

Click here to download 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability

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In this week's episode, I talk to David Knight of Investors in the Environment (iiE) and Jo Holmes of Genee who co-ordinates iiE in the North East and North West of England. Here's what we cover:

• How Investors in the Environment works

• Sustainability challenges and opportunities faced by small businesses

• Taking the jargon out of the Sustainability conversation

• Scope 3 carbon emissions: data burdens, the limitations of 'spend data' and the need for standardisation

• How small business should aproach 'Social Value' in UK public procurement

The Net Zero Business Podcast is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd – bringing Sustainability to life

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In any transition, there are inevitably winners and losers, but can we make a fossil fuel-free future fair, or as fair as possible while still delivering change at the necessary pace? To dig deep into this conundrum, I'm joined by Dr Simona Capisani, Assistant Professor of Environmental Philosophy at Durham University. Here's what we discuss:

• Defining a just transition
• Given the global poor will bear the brunt of climate change, is any transition a 'just transition'?
• Can just transition issues be used as a cover for 'predatory delay' by bad actors?
• Selling fairness in an age of political populism
• How sustainability managers should address just transition within their organisation's climate strategy.

Simona refers to the Australian Community Power Agency and the US Climate & Community Institute for more guidance.

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

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This week I'm joined by the legendary Richard Black, former BBC environment editor, founder of the ECIU and now Director of Strategy and Policy at Ember. We cover a huge amount of ground, including

• The rise and fall (and rise again) of the climate contrarians

• Media narratives vs public opinion

• The state of play in global power generation

• Five technologies to save the planet

• Coal mine methane, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage

You can find Richard's book, The Future of Energy, here.

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life - if you need help, give us a shout.

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

This is the first 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 1: Understand the business case as it applies to your business (the emphasis on the last bit cannot be under emphasised).

Click here to download 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability

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

This week on the Net Zero Business Podcast, I talk to business coach, author and professional jazz bassist Gerald J Leonard. We talk about:

• Business lessons from the world of music

• Pivoting to Sustainability through customer demand

• How neuroscience guides our decision making and how it can help deliver Sustainability

• Selling Sustainability in turbulent political times

Make sure you listen to the end for a snippet of Gerard's single, Vertigo. You can hear all his music, including the recent Beatles on Bass EP, on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/05YHiJl8BdEfq6M7AQKLYy

This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - helping you reach Net Zero

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This week, I go on a bit of a rant about three fallacies that afflict Net Zero and the low carbon transition. These are:

1. The Not Me Guv Fallacy
2. The 1% Fallacy
3. The Relatively Good Fallacy

Do you recognise any of them?

The Net Zero Business Podcast is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life - we can turbocharge your Net Zero programme!

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Emma Fletcher is one of those quite extraordinary people whose ability to get things done is unparalleled. She led a community project to develop a 100 home zero carbon heat network in her village in her spare time. This in turn attracted the attention of Octopus Energy founder Greg Jackson who offered her the role of Low Carbon Homes Director, and when they say 'low carbon', they're not talking about tinkering around the edges!

Here's what we discuss:

• How Octopus is effectively a data company
• How the Kraken platform allows Octopus to disrupt the energy market
• The home retrofit challenge and how Octopus takes inspiration from Formula 1 to bring down costs
• The evolving economics of low carbon homes
• Octopus's mission to build 100,000 zero carbon/zero bills homes

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 you listen to the press and pundits, you'd think ESG investing is dead as a doorknob. But what's the reality? In this week's episode, I catch up with Georgia Hall, ESG & Investment Director, Listed Infrastructure at Maple-Brown Abbott, to help us separate the signal from all that noise. Here are some of the things we cover:

• What is ESG investing and is it really in decline?
• How stranded high carbon assets are a genuine risk to investors
• Why the US is highly unlikely to see a 'coal rush' no matter what President Trump thinks.
• Key growth areas for ESG investing
• How the added scrutiny of the ESG sector is shaking out the greenwash

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.

Don is almost certainly the first ordained minister I've had on the Net Zero Business Podcast, he's also a Sustainability consultant whose core audience is small business owners in Mid West USA – ie likely Donald Trump voters. For me, as an atheist, this was a fascinating and sometimes deeply philosophical discussion of personal values, business and our relationship with nature. Don's humanity, wisdom and insights should be an inspiration to us all.

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.