The Ellen MacArthur Foundation defines the circular economy as a systemic approach to economic development designed to benefit businesses, society, and the environment. In contrast to the ‘take make-waste’ linear model, a circular economy is regenerative by design and aims to gradually decouple growth from the consumption of finite resources. In this week’s episode of the Net Zero Heroes podcast we are joined by Kevin Quast, global business lead of the Honeywell Plastics Circularity Business, Claire Brady, associate director at Stand and Matt Manning, head of circularity at BT Group to discuss how we can transition to a circular economy.

The Route to Net Zero will be challenging but making a start is imperative. Businesses are at different stages on their Net Zero journey; and will have different needs to turn their climate ambition into reality. Organisations must decide how to set the right targets? Do they have the right financial and operational setup to achieve these targets? How will they know when they are making progress, and if they are on track? How can they communicate progress inside and outside of their organisation? How will they inspire people to trust that they will deliver on their climate ambition?

Water and climate change are inextricably linked. Climate change affects the world’s water in complex ways. From unpredictable rainfall patterns to shrinking ice sheets, rising sea levels, floods and droughts – most impacts of climate change come down to water water. According to the United Nations sustainable water management is central to building the resilience of societies and ecosystems and to reducing carbon emissions. Everyone has a role to play – actions at the individual and household levels are vital.

The Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) sets out clear abatement requirements. It clarifies that most companies are expected to align their near-term emissions reductions with 1.5°C and make reductions of at least 90 per cent through long-term science-based targets to reach net-zero before 2050. The Standard also strongly recommends that companies take immediate action above and beyond their science-based targets to contribute to reaching global net-zero through beyond value chain mitigation. This philosophy refers to mitigation action or investments outside of a company’s value chain. This includes activities that avoid or reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and those that remove and store greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere.

Buildings and their construction together account for 36 per cent of global energy use and 39 per cent of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions annually, according to the United Nations Environment Program. According to the Green Building Council over the last two decades, built environment emissions have reduced by around 30 per cent. Most of this decrease occurred after 2010 and is largely due to a reduction in operational emissions, most of which are attributable to rapid decarbonisation of the electricity grid in recent years, rather than improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings. Newly constructed buildings are more energy efficient, but 80 per cent of buildings in 2050 have already been built, so a major priority is decarbonising our existing stock. Yet Government policies aimed at improving the efficiency of existing buildings have scaled back dramatically, and insulation installation rates have stalled. Green or sustainable building is the practice of creating healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance, and demolition.

New research from international law firm Gowling reveals why organisations should be listening to young people when forming ESG policies that are future-fit and avoid greenwashing. With most businesses now incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies into their corporate strategies, Gowling ‘Tomorrow’s World’ report highlights the ethical and commercial opportunities of working with Generation Z in defining those polices. Generation Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – is the world’s largest population by generation. The group's digitally driven cultural influence, coupled with its huge surge in spending power made Gen Z a significant target audience for businesses and, as the cohort enters the workforce, a much sought-after talent pool. To discuss this important topic I am joined by Sharon Ayres and Ben Stansfield – Partners at Gowling on the latest Net Zero Heroes podcast.

In the latest issue of Net Zero Heroes podcast, I am joined by Dr David Ko and Richard Busellato, authors of The Unsustainable Truth (2021). They are both experienced investment managers turned sustainability experts. They left their previous sector in recognition of how the world's reliance on investments drives many of the processes that exasperate climate change. The book focuses on how investing for the future is destroying the planet and what we can do about it. Our lives today are split between living every day and accumulating money for our future. We have over 100 trillion invested, more than the size of the global economy and the planet no longer produces enough to keep this growing. There is no other way to say it, as savings are killing the planet.

The hospitality sector, already hit hard by the pandemic, is now facing another challenge that some might argue is even more daunting in mitigating its carbon footprint. Imagine flooded businesses, parched farms and struggling customers who stay at home. That is the challenge the hospitality sector is facing, and it is already happening. It is a certainty that everyone in the sector faces if it does not get carbon in check. Not for 2050 — but right now. It is not prediction anymore, it is data. It is now more than just protecting the bottom line, but the planet and people that make everything about the sector possible. And zero is the only way. The UK has a legislated commitment for the hospitality sector to be net zero but as the impacts of climate change unfold, the time for talk is over. Hospitality is acting, united under a meaningful, practical plan to reduce, then eliminate, its carbon footprint.

Join me and my guests - Nadine-Bowles Newark, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Whitbread, Bob Gordon, Director of the Zero Carbon Forum and Olivere Rosevear, Director of Sustainability at Fuller, Smith & Turner as we discuss how the hospitality sector is meeting the challenges posed by climate change.