02 July 2020
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Bosses at BT, OVO Energy, Shell, Anglian Water, and many others have joined the line-up for the world's first Net Zero Festival
More top green business leaders, campaigners, and academics have joined the line-up for the Net Zero Festival this autumn, as calls for a green recovery that accelerates the net zero transition continue to build momentum.
The now fully virtual Festival will take place over three days from September 30th, providing a unique opportunity for business leaders, sustainability executives, and policymakers to explore and debate the crucial next phase of the net zero mission.
Hosted by leading broadcasters, such as Krishnan Guru-Murphy, Lucy Siegle, and Robert Llewellyn, the event will provide a series of keynote speeches and panel discussions that help build the business case for effective net zero strategies, provide guidance on how to accelerate decarbonisation efforts, and debate the challenges ahead as the economy adapts to climate-related risks and opportunities.
It will also provide an invaluable forum to discuss how to engineer a green recovery that both tackles the looming recession and ensures the UK, in the words of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, "builds back better and builds back greener".
The confirmed speaker line-up for the Festival features a host of top business leaders, including OVO Energy CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick, Shell UK Chair Sinead Lynch, BT Chair Jan du Plessis, and Drax CEO Will Gardiner.
They join former Unilever boss Paul Polman, co-founder of Global Optimism Tom Rivett-Carnac, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, and COP26 High Level Champion Nigel Topping, among many others, in an agenda that covers everything from the need for a green recovery and how to advance net zero policies to the way in which markets are evolving to tackle the climate challenge and the technologies that will transform the way businesses operate over the next decade.
Further high profile speakers are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
"The postponement of the COP26 Climate Summit this year has done nothing to dilute corporate engagement with the net zero transition," said BusinessGreen editor James Murray. "In fact, the coronavirus crisis has seen thousands of business and political leaders recognise the need to address long term risks and step up efforts to build a greener, healthier, and more resilient 21st century economy.
"Build Back Better has united multiple industries and political parties in their commitment to accelerating the net zero transition, and the world's first Net Zero Festival will now provide a unique opportunity to explore precisely how a new wave of climate action can be mobilised."
Passes for the three day Net Zero Festival are available now.
