The Net Zero Business Podcast

This week, I'm joined by Sandhya Sabapathy, entrepreneur and bestselling author of " Burn Bright, Build Slow " for a wide ranging discussion covering, amongst other things: personal motivation, making change happen, the meaning of a just transition, AI and Sustainability, the success of the COP process, choice of language, avoiding overcomplicating things – phew! The early bird offer...

Much of the UK's energy system is based on natural gas – power generation, space heating and to a lesser extent industrial processes. Given the current focus on renewable energy plus electrification, in particular heat pumps, will gas disappear the way coal has, or will it find new green shoots in a Net Zero economy? My guest this week, James Earl of Future Energy Networks, argues that gases w...

Who better to discuss the ins and outs of greenwash than the founder of the Anti-Greenwash Charter, Charlie Martin. Charlie lays out the three ways to avoid greenwash, we mull on what greenwash actually means and then discuss how the Charter works. To get the £11.99 reader offer on our Net Zero for Business course click here . For more on how the Net Zero Accelerator can help you, click here. Host...

In my four-weekly round up of Net Zero news I mull on the implications of Trump caving in to Putin, Burnham's decision to approve the Jackdaw gas field, speculation on Rosebank and Sea Lion oil fields – and whether any of it really matters. Plus I summarise my takeaways from our last three podcast interviews and draw out my magic wand that makes Net Zero happen in your organisation. For more o...

Ever since I launched the podcast, I've been trying to get a representative of the aviation industry on to talk Sustainability. And there's probably a good reason for that as Katie Thompson, former airline pilot and founder of the cheekily named Bumprints climate charity, joins me this week to set out the extent of the sector's climate problem, pour cold water over the various proposed...

Capgemini have recently published A World in Balance: The Resilience Reset – their sixth annual survey of the state of coporate Sustainability, covering the views of 2000+ executives from 700 billion-dollar businesses. Vincent Charpiot, Head of the Sustainability Accelerator at Capgemini, joins me on the pod to talk through its main conclusions. The listener offer on our Net Zero for Business cour...

Really enjoyed this fascinating discussion with pracacademic and prolific author Prof Wayne Visser based on his forthcoming 45th book, Technologies of Hope . We dive into the s-curves, x-curves and human factors underpinning any transition - and discuss why Wayne includes his poetry in his books. To get the listener offer on our Net Zero for Business Course, click here (use NETZERO_OCT26 if asked)...

Newish UK Prime Minister still hasn't made an announcement on North Sea oil & gas as he faces challenges from Donald Trump and Zack Polanksi on either flank – but could more trouble be brewing in the South Atlantic? And why is Jaguar Land Rover really struggling? In this episode of the podcast, I dig into the issues on these big news stories, summarise my takeaways from the last three pod...

Note: this episode contains some very strong language! Sara Bell joins me on the pod to explain how she took on the energy industry and Governments to open up the market to more renewable energy, how she set up RIISE, a low carbon fashion marketplace, and why she is producing a vampire movie to promote Sustainability. If that isn't enough, she puts me on the psychiatrist's couch and explains how t...

This week I talk to Iain Murray of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) about the role of the accountancy profession in Sustainability in general and reporting in particular. The theme running through our discussion is how to make data meaningful - ie how can it drive change. CIPFA has recently published Sustainability Reporting in the public Sector: A Leap Forward whi...

On one level, Scope 2 emissions are really simple to calculate – you look up your electricity bill and multiply the number of units you've consumed by an annual carbon intensity factor. But that's not the full picture – the intensity of the grid fluctuates massively over time, meaning an average figure may be misleading, may mean you are using dirty energy when you think it is clean, and it won't...

It's the holiday season again, so as usual we're pausing the queue of new interviews and reflecting back on emerging themes from the last 12 months' episodes. This week we're looking at innovation and the innovators. Feast your ears on this: Nick Brown on the use of biomimicry at Paramo clothing Derrick Emsley on how his teenage entrepreneurism led to three different green businesses Prof Frederic...

It's the holiday season again, so as usual we're pausing the queue of new interviews and reflecting back on emerging themes from the last 12 months' episodes. This week we're looking at the no 1 issue in Sustainability - people. Here's what we cover: Prof Marcelle McManus on people-led Sustainability Ketan Joshi on why we get irrational resistance to Sustainability Emily Coon on why so-called 'sof...

It's the holiday season again, so as usual we're pausing the queue of new interviews and reflecting back on emerging themes from the last 12 months' episodes. This week we're looking at the key topic of low carbon transport, with insights from: Jordan Marsden, aka the EV Guy, on how we must look at EVs not just as transport, but part of the energy ecosystem Philip Fjeld of ReFuels on the use of bi...

It's the holiday season again, so as usual we're pausing the queue of new interviews and reflecting back on emerging themes from the last 12 months' episodes. This week we're looking at economics, including: Andrew Sissons of NESTA: is Net Zero to blame for UK electricity prices? David Kipling of On-site Energy: the economics of Behind the Meter energy Martin Fahey of Mitsubishi Energy: why heat p...

This episode covers two of my favourite topics, Sustainability and beer! Emily Coon of St Austell Brewery was recently designated one of edie's '30 under 30' Sustainability leaders and this chat will show why that was highly deserved. One of the most important points we cover is why change/influence skills are often called 'soft skills' when they are essential to making Sustainability happen – Emi...

If I said "going off grid", you'd probably think of crusty New Age Traveller types building their own home out of straw bales in some distant corner of the country. But behind all the jargon like Behind the Meter (BTM) energy and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) is a growing movement by some big energy intensive industries to break free of the constraints of the electricity grid (capacity, connect...

The Sustainability Show is our four-weekly review show. This one could be out of date very quickly when we find out who gets what job when Andy Burnham becomes UK Prime Minister next week. I run the rule over the likelihood of further North Sea exploitation and what it would mean for the industry, ponder why the oil markets don't seem bothered by the collapse in the US/Iran peace agreement and the...

A whopping 90% of global trade is transported by sea - about 1.5tonnes per person on earth every year. This represents 3% of global emissions yet lies outside the Paris Agreement. This week on the pod, I'm joined by Ollie Taylor, Founder of Marine Futures, to talk all things maritime Sustainability, covering the decarbonisation of the global shipping trade, elite yacht racing and Ollie's specific...

On a daily basis we hear opinions on why the UK's electricity prices are so high – is it due to our reliance on gas or our Net Zero policies? This week, Andrew Sissons, Director of Sustainable Future at NESTA, joins me to discuss NESTA's decarbonisation of domestic heating projects, and how to make that transition more affordable which takes us on to power prices. We unpick why UK electricity cost...

This week on the pod I'm joined by Hattie Park, Sustainability Manager at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, or, as most people think of it, Wimbledon. We talk about the challenges of half a million people descending on the grounds, expecting to be fed and watered, reducing the impacts of buildings and how Hattie and her team engage with the players to get the message out to a wider audience. If yo...

The Sustainability Show is our four weekly review show. There's been plenty of news in the last four weeks with the possibility of the Strait of Hormuz reopening to fossil fuels, a number of energy records met and the UK Government starting the process of adopting the seventh carbon budget. Ex UK PM Tony Blair also popped up with his views on Net Zero amongst plenty of other issues. I also review...

Chris has 35 years' experience in the energy sector, cutting his teeth in a coal fired power station before moving on to hydro, wind, nuclear solar and BESS projects both in the UK and globally. We talk about transferable skills, the threat of blackouts, how economics are unfolding and Chris's current mission: pushing back against energy misinformation. Fascinating stuff! To get the listener offer...

This week, I'm joined by Lauren Juliff of the Clean Growth Fund. The fund seeks out early stage entrepreneurs with the potential to abate more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum and give them the money and guidance to bring their concepts to market. One of the themes of our discussion is that switching investment from high carbon industries to lower carbon sectors isn't enough – cash...

Paul Brannen is a former Member of the European Parliament turned passionate advocate of the use of timber in construction and author of the book Timber! – How Wood Can Help Save the World. In this enlightening conversation, Paul explains the full climate benefits of using fast growing spruce as a construction material, how modern forestry practice can help support biodiversity and the policy chan...