Experts advised business leaders at local climate change panel

We need to ‘reboot our thinking’ and ‘influence change’ were two of the key messages to be delivered at a local climate change expert panel in Lincoln recently.

Hosted by the Chair of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, Gary Headland at the recent Lincolnshire Business Expo, the panel provided the audience with academic, business and local authority perspectives.

The panel discussion, titled ‘As business leaders, are we leading the fight against climate change?’ was the first event hosted by Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce and consisted of panel members:

– Panel Chair – Gary Headland, Chair of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

– Professor Libby John, Pro Vice Chancellor/Head of College of Science & Engineering at University of Lincoln

– Richard Jones, Managing Director of EV Camel and Amelio Energy and Chamber Assembly ambassador for a low carbon future

– Steff Wright, Chief Executive of Gusto Group

– Councillor Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the City of Lincoln Council

Professor Libby John, a specialist in plant ecology, made reference to Eunice Foote, the first scientist to discover the warming effect created by an increase in Co2 in 1856, after reinforcing the message “we are lucky to live here on this amazing planet, there is no planet B – trouble lies ahead….fires, droughts and extreme weather – we need to mitigate and adapt.”

Richard Jones, Chamber Assembly ambassador for a low carbon economy, said we want to work with businesses and the City of Lincoln Climate Commission to raise awareness of this vitally important topic.

Addressing results found from a recent survey, Richard explained “Reducing printing, online meetings, digitising archives and digital only workspace are the top four measures being undertaken by businesses across Lincolnshire, but these are really simple behaviours that we can implement and there is so much more that WE can be doing to influence change for the future.”

Steff Wright, Chief Executive of Gusto Homes shared his journey from starting out to the company’s first low energy home in 1999 through to where they are today – creating homes for the future.

Highlighting the booming beef industry in Brazil, Steff said: “It’s a lifestyle change which may present business threats but also opens up business opportunities and we need to capitalise on those.

“It’s about innovating, joining the dots and utilising the different technology – we are taking our commitment to sustainability even further with the creation of our latest development – ‘Home of the Future’.”

Finishing off the expert panel was Leader of the City of Lincoln Council, Ric Metcalfe, commenting “As a council we have declared a climate emergency and we expect to achieve economic savings by 2030 – we are all responsible, we need to ‘change our habits’.”

Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce are asking for support from its members and wider business community to support the Commission to avert a catastrophic climate change.

If you are interested in being involved in a task force group, sharing opinions and views, please get in touch via email: marketing@lincs-chamber.co.uk