Net Zero Festival 2022

As the first face-to-face Net Zero Festival for three years, it also was noticeable how the focus of business has also changed. Previously, events seemed to be full of announcements on targets and commitments. For many, the drive to Net Zero was relatively new  And while there was still a strong view that leading companies were embracing the challenge of addressing climate change, the need to be zero emission rather than reducing emissions was not universal and, particularly, fears about how the supply chain would respond to the challenge of net zero were very clear.

Credit: Simon Graham

By 2022, this seems to have changed radically. The 2022 Net Zero Festival, with over 500 people from industry and government, had a very different feel. While the need for net zero ambition and targets was still strong, it felt that the focus had moved on from targets to action. The plenary and discussions were not so much about the need to be net zero but the mechanisms to do so. Three messages were particularly clear:

1. Net zero is no longer ‘a nice to have’. As Chris Skidmore MP said, “Net zero is no longer a target, but an economic reality”. The combination of supply chain stresses, commodity shortages and environmental risks, and particularly the stark realisation that fossil fuel dependence is an energy and price security liability, has meant that increasingly net zero is seen as a goal that is a proxy for a well-run business. The impression from all the attendees is that net zero is no longer an option. It is now a necessary part of business if it is to succeed.

2. The move from restricting emissions reduction to internal operations to working with the supply chain is now embedded. The voice of the largest business was loudest, from Compass to Unilever. Still, it was clear that smaller companies increasingly see collaboration across value chains as a valuable aspect of their own net zero programmes. Increasingly, business is seeing collaboration across their suppliers as a key objective for net zero. And the data barrier is increasingly being circumvented as new ways to overcome the complexity of many supply chains are increasingly becoming mainstream.

3. Net zero is no longer enough alone. From the idea of a Just Transition to the challenge of ensuring climate change mitigation does not harm other aspects of the environment, there was much comment on how net zero is just one part of business’ responsibility. Critically, as Tzeporah Berman of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty said, “We need to make sure the solutions don't make the problem worse.” Issues like biodiversity and offset have often been part of the discussion around carbon reduction, but it was interesting to see offset placed within the frame that it’s a way of driving carbon reduction through stakeholders rather than a way of reducing carbon in the cheapest way.

Credit: Simon Graham

In summary

Overall, the Festival was encouraging, as business after business presented ways that they were successfully addressing the net zero challenge and working collaboratively to ensure these solutions reached the scale that the climate crisis requires. However, it was also clear that technical solutions are not enough. The need to bring the staff that work in the business and value chain was very evident. It was clear from many of the talks, from the keynote from Chris Stark of the Committee on Climate Change onwards, that there needs to be a massive action across the world to ensure everyone has the skills that are needed to achieve net zero. This will mean that the transition to net zero will not exclude anyone.

‍