The Right Choice

By Mark Jenkinson, Crystal Associates and SELCC Board Director

I’ve heard this mantra a few times recently. The most recent was at a London Chamber event with the Secretary of State for Transport at the end of March.

This led me to reflect and then pose the question: How do we make it easier for people to make the right choice?

Most people I speak to want to do the right thing in respect to ‘the climate’. But how do we support them in doing this and take them on the journeypun intended!

How do we make it easier for people to use public transport, cycle or walk? The success of the Elizabeth Line with over 150 million passenger journeys per year, shows that investment in public transport works and that people will use it.

If people have to drive, how do we make it easier to buy, lease or even share an electric vehicle? And away from transport. When it comes to replacing your gas boiler, how do we encourage people to choose to install a heat pump instead? This all requires providing suitable, cost effective, easy, accessible alternatives and the clear evidence to back it up.

If you haven’t guessed it yet, making the right choice is thereby the theme for this latest edition of the climate column. Whatever, the right choice may be!

Greener Greenwich Summit

Elsewhere in this edition of Masthead you’ll find an excellent summary of the Greener Greenwich Summit written by a true professional. This will be followed up on 7th May with the publishing of a report detailing the day’s discussions, outcomes, and next steps.

In the meantime, here’s my own, less professional but hopefully as engaging, reflection on the Summit! And of course, with a not-so-subtle nod to this column’s theme, ‘the right choice’!

Over 160 people from across the borough, and beyond, shared inspiring examples and insights in how we can make Greenwich even greener. Obviously making the right choice!

Under the banner of ‘Just 1 Thing’, the day was split in to the four overarching themes: empowering wider change, buildings, transport, green and digital.

These themes were based on the outputs of the Greener Greenwich Summit in October 2022, Greenwich’s Carbon Neutral Plan and the draft Inclusive Economy Strategy.

We heard quick-fire presentations – max 5 minutes each - from the great and the good including Chamber members Alcatel Submarine Networks, Charlton Athletic Football Club (CAFC), DG Cities, I&K, London South East Colleges, Mo-Sys, Peabody, Ravensbourne University

London, Royal Museums Greenwich, and the University of Greenwich. Thanks also to the keynotes from Local London and RSK, proud sponsors of CAFC, and inspirational presentations from Green Business Action London, the South East London Community Energy and Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. I also had the honour of presenting an overview of the borough’s carbon neutral plan. It was interesting to note that almost half of delegates surveyed before my presentation were not familiar with the plan. Hopefully they are now! Are you?

Each of the four sessions of presentations were followed by a workshop where all delegates were invited to vote on their favourite project/initiative. Then, in their respective tables, delegates were encouraged to scope out the next three steps for each of these projects or an alternative project if that was the table’s view.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the many table facilitators at the Summit for playing such as important role including documenting all the great ideas!

The four most popular projects/initiatives selected by the delegates were:

• All Greenwich businesses to develop a carbon footprint action plan

• Scale up energy efficiency measures in domestic / non-domestic buildings

• All organisations to develop a green travel plan

• Employers to pledge their support to local colleges and universities to deliver the right Green & Digital skills in the borough

During the Summit we also discussed and documented thirteen other projects/initiatives. And I’m sure there were more topics discussed during the day!

These included other fantastic ideas such as reducing food and other waste, scaling up renewable energy including solar and tidal, decarbonising the energy supply, developing a Local Area Energy Plan for the borough, increasing use of the river for passengers and freight – supported by a River Commissioner, scaling up electric vehicles, provide training and employment opportunities for residents, involving students in community projects, capturing and better utilising data and last but not least, ensuring Greenwich becomes a Centre of Excellence for world-class digital technology. Easy!

In order to drive the four key projects – and the other ideas where possible - we will look to hold events, roundtables, workshops, and webinars and engage as many of you as possible.

And as we learnt during the day, including at the stands, there is a huge range of support available to do this from within the borough and across London.

As one attendee pointed out: “This room has great energy… how do we keep this community alive and generate energy to deliver the projects moving forward?”

Keep an eye on your inboxes and the SE London Chamber website, get involved and play your part in supporting you and your peers to make the right choice!

How Climate Change may impact your Business

We had a sobering start to the second week of April courtesy of an excellent webinar by the Coventry University London on how climate change may impact businesses.

If you missed it, fear not! This first of a series of webinars on sustainability and energy, will soon be available to watch via the Chamber’s website/ YouTube channel. Without ruining it for you, here are some of my key takeaways:

• Climate change & global warming is real

• CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere is over 40% pre-industrial levels

• The IPCC (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) states fossil fuel emissions must be halved to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels

• Manmade sources of CO 2 include electricity and heat production, transport and manufacturing industries and construction.

• Other ‘main culprits’ of climate change are water vapour, methane, and ozone.

• Businesses should plan and adapt to climate change

The right to choose

I was just about to push send on my climate column to the Editor-in Chief (aka Helen McIntosh) when the latest report from the Green Alliance dropped in my Inbox.

The email introduction to the report ‘Climate Adaptation in UK homes’, struck home and reaffirmed the points raised in the Coventry University webinar, namely: “Climate change impacts are here to stay. From record temperatures and flooding to increased levels of subsidence, worsening air pollution and even the reshaping of our coastlines, we are facing the effects of climate change every day.”

So, do we really have the right or time to be able to choose? Or do we just need to hurry up and make the ‘right choice’?

Certainly, the South East London Chamber will play its part in leveraging the “great energy” on show at the Greener Greenwich Summit 2024 and do its utmost to “keep this community alive and generate energy to deliver the projects moving forward.”

In conclusion. Let’s do the right thing – stay informed, get involved, share your ideas and see you at the upcoming events.