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Interviews 2023

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Dr Nina Seega, Director, Centre for Sustainable Finance, CISL


Dr Nina shares how CISL provides the insight and cooperation needed to advance policy and market practices, as well as discussing her reflections on the latest IPCC Synthesis report.

Emma Harvey-Smith, Director, Green Finance Institute


Emma unpacks the difference between "greening finance" and "financing green", as well as the barriers and opportunities facing the decarbonisation of the built environment.

Chris Hook, Global Sustainability Strategy Lead, Uber


Chris dives into the EV transition across fleet vehicles, freight, and micromobility, and the need for an holistic transport ecosystem to tackle climate goals.

Nicolas J. Firzli, Director General, World Pensions Council



Nicolas champions a link between long-term asset ownership and the "innovation ethos", and shares his insights into the state of the UK economy compared to the EU.

Peter Bachmann, Managing Director, Gresham House



Peter talks about the need for nature-based-driven solutions, such as vertical farming, and creating a new asset class related to nature and biodiversity. He also speaks to how the UK can establish itself as a proven leader in the transition and also as an attractive place for inward investment.

Doretta Bevilacqua Gilkes & Chris Trott, Foster + Partners



Doretta and Chris share how Foster + Partners' designs incorporate sustainability, and assess operational and embodied energy when working on their designs. Covering topics such as a retrofitting, regenerative architecture, and climate adaptation, they also share exclusive insights into their latest building projects.

Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Managing Partner, Clean Growth Fund



Why is VC investment in early-stage cleantech important when it comes to reaching these net zero goals? How do you determine where to direct funds? How do you discern, assess, and verify which proposed solutions are indeed carbon neutral? Beverley addresses these questions and discusses the UK landscape for cleantech investment.

Ravi Gurumurthy, CEO, Nesta

 



Ravi shares NESTA's ambitions to decarbonising home emissions. With a focus on social innovation and behavioural changes, He demonstrates how we can work together and scale the solutions required for a decarbonised built environment.

Cliff Prior, CEO, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment
 



Cliff describes and explores the purpose of impact investing and ESG practices in emerging markets. He identifies new and upcoming trends, such as sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs), and casts insights into the impact investing landscape in the UK vs international regions.

Will Arnold, Head of Climate Action, IstructE


How do we decarbonise the #builtenvironment supply chain? In this interview, Will Arnold calls for regulation on whole-life carbon and the implementation of a consistent set of rules, as well as sharing insights as to what market players can do to deliver these once regulations are in place, including how the ISE helps to upskill workers in the industry.

Keiran Olivares Whitaker, Founder, Entocycle



Keiran shares Entocycle's revolutionary approach to decarbonising the food and agriculture sector, using insect farming an alternative protein for feeding livestock.

Cam Ross, CEO, Green Angel Ventures


Cam details the main challenges and opportunities for growing cleantech companies, how GAV selects start-ups for investment, and the journey to scale they take with their investments.

Thomas Ableman, Director of Strategy & Innovation, TFL
 



Thomas talks about the radical ambitions TfL has for developing a truly sustainable public network, and the need for the transport industry to come together to achieve zero-carbon mobility.

Andrew Gaule, CEO, Aimava and Director, CirculOil
 



As CEO of Aimava, Andrew shares how a new, strategic approach in corporate venture is needed, and how corporate venture can play a role in the low carbon transition. As Director of CirculOil, he discusses the "waste oil problem", and the latest legislation, directives, and solutions tackling this.

Jennifer Sullo, Managing Director of Asset Management and Investing Solutions, Earth Finance



Jennifer discusses the ways in which Earth Finance hopes to tackle climate ambition, the central challenges facing carbon markets and carbon removal, and the reasons why it is important for US investors to establish connections across the pond.

Andrew Fitzpatrick, Business Development Director, BrainBox AI
 



Andrew discusses BrainBox's autonomous AI solution for commercial buildings, leveraging deep learning technologies in order to optimise the way buildings operate, leading to energy and GHG reductions.

Michael Bruce, Lead, ClimateTech Venture Investment, Emerson Collective



Michael talks about the net zero transition from a US investor's perspective, and the steps needed for a diverse and secure energy supply in the wake of recent geopolitical crises.

Rob Lane, Chief Property Officer, Clarion Housing Group
 



Rob unpacks Clarion HG's "Sustainable Development Roadmap" and dives into key issues facing the built environment, climate resilience, retrofitting aged housing stock, and the need for building inclusive communities as a pillar of sustainability.

Kanika Chandaria, Lead Venture Architect, BCG X
 



How do you fast-track green tech deployment? In our interview with Kanika Chandaria, we learn how BCG X helps to close the climate innovation gap and accelerate the net zero transition, through building, scaling, and investing in climate tech businesses with high impact.

Antony Yousefian, VP Climate & Circularity, Wiliot
 



Antony Yousefian shares the huge opportunities there are to decarbonise food supply chain, demonstrating that real, near-term solutions are available to reach net-zero farming, sourcing, packaging, and delivery. We also get an exclusive insight into Wiliot's brand new Generation 3 "ambient IoT" sensing-as-a-service technology, and how it's revolutionising the food supply chain.

Jamie Broderick, Deputy Chair, Impact Investing Institute
 



Through developing the concept of "just transition" investments, Jamie Broderick details how the Impact Investing Institute promotes the flow of capital to investments that are having a positive social and environmental benefit in addition to generating a financial return.

Charlotte Warburton, Head of Transport and Public Sector Sustainability & Climate Lead, Deloitte



Charlotte talks about her upcoming panel discussion on the progress of urban and inter-urban transport, and how we can move the needle further through collaboration. We also learn about Deloitte's recently-published " Circularity Gap Report" detailing the six scenarios it present to help the UK materially cut its carbon footprint, including rethinking mobility.

Jo Hills, Director, Real Assets Sustainability & Climate, Deloitte

 



Jo Hills, a Fellow of the Institute of Civil Engineers and Chartered Management Institute, discusses the work Deloitte does in the field of sustainable real estate. Ahead of her panel, “Decarbonising the Built Environment”, Jo explains the inherent challenges of stranded assets and what we can do to resolve these issues through good governance, procurement and programme delivery methods, while avoiding greenwashing at all costs.