Net Zero Festival: Winning net zero hearts and minds in the age of coronavirus

BusinessGreen staff
clock • 1 min read

VIDEO: Lucy Siegle quizzes evian's Shweta Harit, Sustainable Restaurant Association CEO Andrew Stephen, Pernod Ricard's Vanessa Wright, MP and PRASEG chair Bim Afolami, and Social Market Foundation director James Kirkup

Few foresaw a global pandmic on the scale of Covid-19 taking hold in 2020, which has swept up the global economy and business priorities in its path.

Yet at the same time, the urgency to tackle the climate crisis has only intensified, and this creates a particular challenge for progressive businesses striving to forge a pathway forwards to net zero: how do you continue to win partners, politicians, politicians and the public over to the decarbonisation cause amid such pressing short-term health and economic concerns?

At BusinessGreen's recent Net Zero Festival, journalist and broadcaster Lucy Siegle  quizzed a range of business leaders and experts on their views including: evian's global brand vice-president Shweta Harit, Sustainable Restaurant Association CEO Andrew Stephen, Conservative MP and PRASEG chair Bim Afolami, Pernod Ricard's VP for global sustainability and responsibility Vanessa Wright, and Social Market Foundation's director James Kirkup.

The fascinating discussion, which is a must-watch for anyone involved in business sustainability, is available to view in full above.

All of the panel debates, keynote speeches, and presentations from the world's first Net Zero Festival - which took place over three days from 30 September featuring hundreds of top speakers from business, politics and academia - are now available to watch again on demand through the Net Zero Festival website.

More on Management

Amelia Woodley: 'Sustainability can only be successful if you bring people with you'

Amelia Woodley: 'Sustainability can only be successful if you bring people with you'

Speedy Hire's ESG director discusses the importance of 'soft skills' in sustainability recruitment, and why the next wave of green ideas are 'everywhere' if you're open to them

Stuart Stone
clock 28 May 2025 • 6 min read
Watershed makes climate database publicly available

Watershed makes climate database publicly available

Free version of global emissions factor database spans 148 countries, 400 industries, and 95 per cent of global GDP

Stuart Stone
clock 22 May 2025 • 4 min read
Three forces have derailed progress on corporate sustainability

Three forces have derailed progress on corporate sustainability

A 'shotgun approach' to setting sustainability goals will never work, but equally businesses and investors cannot afford to step backwards or take our foot off the accelerator, writes EY's Nadia Woodhouse

Nadia Woodhouse, EY
clock 21 May 2025 • 7 min read