SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 06/19
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
FUSION RISE VENTURES
ENOC
FLOW GRENADA
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND (UWE)
SOL ECOLUTION ADEB CONSULTANTS ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE
EMC CYPRUS • PLUS MUCH MORE
S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
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SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE United Kingdom • T: +44 (0) 1603 299 124 Email: info@sustainablebusinessmagazine.net www.sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
Editor:
George Newell
Assistant Editor:
Daniel Baksi
Profile Writers:
Elizabeth Cope Isobel Moss Alex Caesari
Sustainable Business Magazine is committed to promoting sustainable printing. This magazine is printed on Forest Stewardship Council certified material and manufactured using environmentally sustainable procedures. All lithographic printer inks used are vegetable-based.
Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine.
There are plenty of exciting companies featured in this month’s edition of Sustainable Business Magazine. To kick things off, we speak to Howard Mears and Liam Allwood, founders of Rise Ventures. Deploying their years of combined experience in the worlds of finance and entrepreneurship, we speak about the pair’s one-of-a-kind investment consultancy, and their mission to help connect environmentally, socially responsible businesses with investors as they seek to change our world for the better. It is a similar motivation that drives James O’Malley, founder of Fusion Community Initiatives – a fantastic organization, utilizing team building and training days as a means to deliver tangible impact to charities throughout the UK, and around the world. Staying at home, we continue our partnership with the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC), looking at the efforts of the University of the West of England (UWE) to realize their Net Zero ambitions. Crossing the Atlantic, we’re honored to bring you the next installment in our series of articles with Cable and Wireless Communications and their Flow consumer brand. This October, we’re landing in Grenada. We speak to Wayne Hull, Country Manager of Flow Grenada, about how the telecommunications giant is giving back to local communities that, like others all over the world, have been devastated by the impacts of COVID-19. Shifting focus, we speak to Cindy Cohn, Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), in what is the second of two interviews from this year’s Collision 2021 conference. Cindy talks us through the EFF’s work to protect user freedoms worldwide, and gives an assessment on how the online world might change in the years ahead in the wake of COVID-19. Rounding off, it’s been a while since people around the world could regularly attend in-person events. Thankfully, that time has come again, as is demonstrated by the return of both the Dubai Expo 2020, and Cyprus’s EMC Conference. In each case, we hear from the organizers working to make these events happen – undoubtedly a positive note to end on, as our minds begin to turn towards next year, and the future beyond.
Charlie Plumb Will Vincent Projects Manager:
Helen Stoneley
Sales Director:
Jake Curtis
Sales Executive:
Shaun Peacock
Sales Executive:
Owen Curtis
CONTENTS 04
Interview - Rise Ventures
06
Interview - EAUC (FWD)
08
Interview - University of the West of England (UWE)
12
Interview - Fusion
16
Interview - Flow Grenada
22
Q&A - Sol Ecolution
24
Interview - ADeB Consultants
28
Interview - Electronic Frontier Foundation
32
Interview - Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC)
36
Q&A - EMC Cyprus
38
Advertisers Index
We hope you find this issue interesting and inspiring. The Sustainable Business Magazine Team
FRONT COVER ENOC
sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
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INTERVIEW: RISE VENTURES
INVESTING IN
INNOVATION
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Howard Mears and Liam Allwood, co-founders of Rise Ventures, about innovation, responsible investing, and building a business community on shared values. – Written by Charlie Plumb Established in 2020, with a mission to help connect environmentally and socially responsible businesses with investors that will allow them to grow, Rise Ventures is a one-of-a-kind investment consultancy. With a strong grounding in the worlds of finance and entrepreneurship, founders Howard Mears and Liam Allwood hope to drive innovation through investment to help change the world for the better. A PLATFORM FOR SUCCESS Rise Ventures came about partly because of the devasting impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic wrought upon the business community, an origin that has shaped the company’s approach to investing. “Rise Ventures started just before the first lockdown, about 20 months ago,” says co-founder and CEO Howard Mears. “We started the business to open the doors to private investing, because we wanted to support good small businesses. With COVID causing a lot of businesses to unfortunately shut down, there’s a massive opportunity for new businesses to innovate right now. There are thousands of dynamic and sustainable companies in the UK, but if they don’t get representation and support, they won’t grow.” 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Rise Ventures acts as a facilitator between businesses, investors, and the private markets, with an aim towards creating a better economic and environmental future. “We wanted to build out a platform where we can leverage our network of investors, entrepreneurs, and creatives to support the next wave of business,” explains Mr. Mears. “It sounds like a very lofty goal, but it’s something that we’re doing right now, which is incredibly humbling. We use what we call the ‘Rise Approach’, working exclusively with a select group of 10 companies, all of whom we can really get behind. We’re not just here to make a quick buck; it’s about building a reputation, rather than just making revenue. We want to provide our investors with the opportunity to work with businesses of the very highest caliber.” STAMP OF APPROVAL Part of Rise Ventures’ approach to creating that better future is to ensure that the businesses they work with are truly committed to sustainability. “We created an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) profile,” says Mr. Mears. “It’s a hot topic now in both private and public investing, but there was no standard in the market when we came to it – each individual company had their own benchmark.
We’ve created our own model to try and help set an industry standard, and we’re working towards a level of accountability in the private markets that we haven’t seen before.” For public companies, ESG profiling is a lot easier than it is for private companies because of the lack of historic data,” explains co-founder and COO Liam Allwood. “There’s a potential for greenwashing as well. Some companies that people might not consider environmentally conscious companies would score quite well on ESG because they throw money at governance, for example. We wanted to create a level playing field that gave a correct representation to our investors. That’s why we require our partners to meet our criteria in all three areas. Everyone we work with is carbon neutral or better, and most of them are better.” PRIORITIZING INTEGRITY To Rise, it’s equally important that their partners’ commitment to change reaches all the way from the top to bottom. “The key elements we consider as part of the business proposition are the market, the industry, and the leadership team,” says Mr. Mears. “It’s not just about the founder or founders, it’s about the whole core team. There’s lots
of qualitative information that goes into this decision; it’s an exhaustive judgement call, but one that we believe is well worth the time and effort that goes into it.” One of the more difficult sides of this judgement call is ensuring sustainability efforts come from a genuine place, not a cynical one. “There was one opportunity that came across our desk that seemed like a great product,” says Mr. Allwood. “But the founder was saying, ‘we’ve got to put a green touch on everything nowadays, or people won’t buy it.’ He didn’t believe in it himself. That was a factor in why we ultimately didn’t work with him, even though we believed in the product and the investment opportunity. They weren’t trying to drive change – they were just trying to make money. We’re not looking for opportunities that have a low return on investment, but we wouldn’t feel comfortable representing somebody that didn’t match our company values. We’re trying to achieve something here. If people aren’t pulling in the same direction as us, then what’s the point?” CIRCLE OF GROWTH To help its clients maximize their potential for growth, Rise launched the Rise Network, bringing together professionals and services into a single cohesive ecosystem. “We’re not here for the short term,” explains Mr. Mears. “If we give a company money, and simply say ‘good luck’, they’re much less likely to succeed than if we work out exactly what they need, and source the allocation. Having the network means that if a company needs a web developer, they can work with someone in our network that we’ve used, and that we know and trust. It’s an essential tool for business growth because it means that people don’t drop money in the dark. The whole concept of the network is orientated towards helping businesses – because if businesses succeed, our investors succeed, and if our investors succeed, then we’ve done a good job. It’s a circle of growth.”
“We partnered with an incubator out of Sheffield, called Kollider,” says Mr. Mears. “They take young businesses who need support and help them to build their business, which aligns closely with what we’re doing. Beyond the network and the brokerage, we’ve also built a syndicate, which is our group of core investors, people with whom we have ongoing, active relationships. Through the syndicate, we’re opening the door to impact investing, and matchmaking investments.” Looking forward, the company is set to expand efforts to drive sustainable innovations on a global scale. “We’re fortunate to be where we are right now,” says Mr. Mears. “We’ve funded some fantastic companies, and we’re working with many more to build out our communities in the sector. On top of our 10 companies per quarter,
we’re launching an Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) Fund, backed by family offices and venture capital funds. Through that, we hope that we can bring more support to eco-positive companies, and offer investors the chance to mitigate their risk further by investing across a portfolio of eco-positive companies. We think the fund is going to generate a lot of interest for investors who aren’t as interested in direct investing, but who might prefer to take a fund approach. We’re also looking into partnering with charities, as well as moving into the USA and either Asia or Europe within the next 18 months. Our model is extremely scalable. We’re lucky to have such a great team. We’ve got some great people in there helping to build our brand out, and that’ll help us grow the business community that we have as well. Everyone’s welcome.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: EAUC
EDUCATIONAL
SUSTAINABILITY LEADERS
[Credit: Fiona Goodwin, Director of Operations and Planning at the Environmental Association for Universities and College (EAUC)] The EAUC is pleased to support Sustainable Business Magazine’s ‘Educational Sustainability Leaders’ series, recognizing the achievements of our members as they lead the way in bringing sustainability to the management and curriculums of universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It’s our goal at EAUC to make sustainability good business – not an add on, or a ‘nice to have’, but an essential element that every university in college needs to place at 6 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
the heart of their strategies. We support universities and colleges on their sustainability journey, providing resources, case studies of good practice, and offering the support to help them replicate that success. To that end, we created the Climate Commission for Higher and Further Education – a unique partnership between sector bodies in the U.K., including the Association of Colleges, GuildHE, and Universities UK, helping to deliver the leadership so often
lacking from government in terms of the role of universities and colleges in the climate crisis, and what they should be doing to play their part. Looking internationally, we also run an alliance with similar organizations around the world to share knowledge, promote the role of education, and bring voices together. It provides a platform to organizations already facing down the climate crisis – in low-lying or tropical countries – whose voices aren’t often heard. They are institutions that for a number of reasons are already having to adapt and mitigate against damage, and they can offer a massive learning experience. CAMPAIGNING FOR GREEN EDUCATION The EAUC is the secretariat for the Race to Zero campaign across universities and colleges. Through the campaign, we’re encouraging universities and colleges to take action to commit to the Race to Zero – to set challenging targets, to reduce and limit the emission of greenhouse gases, and to devise solid targets and plans on how that’s to be achieved. We have nearly 700 institutions signed up, representing nearly 8.5 million students across the world. In addition to the Climate Commission for UK Further and Higher Education, we’ve also developed two further key forms of support, including a Further Education Climate Action Roadmap designed specifically for
further education or smaller educational institutions, outlining a series of steps for how to achieve its targets. We also have a Higher Education Climate Action Toolkit, another useful tool that encourages a comprehensive and holistic approach to sustainability. For any institution, it’s not just about your carbon targets – it’s about your leadership, governance, research, and your teaching, and how you engage with your staff and your students. INTERNATIONAL GREEN GOWN AWARDS 2021 The International Green Gown Awards represent sustainability in the widest sense. So many different universities are doing so many different things: promoting the green transition, improving access, achieving equality, and expanding diversity. We had one application that looked at supporting refugees, giving them life skills on how to adapt into the new communities in which they find themselves. Another provides teachers and parents with the skills and tools to help encourage girls get more involved in sport.
The awards bring together all of those excellent examples – giving universities and colleges a voice to shout about their work, and providing a showcase for products, projects and ideas, which can then be implemented across an ever-broader range of institutions. Most inspiring of all, our applicants aren’t just big universities with ample resources – they’re small institutions in rural Mexico, in Brazil or Malaysia, all of whom are doing such innovative and groundbreaking work, and really making a difference in their local communities. Within universities and colleges specifically, there’s a real pipeline of issues that we have to tackle. This is a pivotal year in terms of ensuring countries and governments take climate change seriously. The pandemic has been traumatic and devastating across the world, but we have to learn from it. We’ve been given a time to reset, to reflect on what our car-crash future was going to be, and to now decide what we can do avoid that. We have to make sure that our teachers, academics, lecturers, and researchers have the experience and knowledge they need to be able to pass that on to students, starting at the very beginning of pupil learning, from primary school through all levels of education. The leaders of tomorrow come from our universities and our colleges, and we have to make sure they’re fit for purpose and equipped with the capabilities to solve these real life, worldwide issues. c
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND
EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY INTO THE CURRICULUM 8 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Professor James Longhurst, Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the University of the West of England, Bristol, about sustainability in teaching, a strategic roadmap for the future, and preparing students for a changing world. By Will Vincent The University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE Bristol) is the largest university in the South West, with over 30,000 students and 4000 staff, and £280 million a year in annual turnover. Formerly Bristol Polytechnic, UWE Bristol acquired university status in 1992, and first adopted an environmental policy in the mid-1990s, emphasizing the wise use of resources in line with the environmental thinking of the time. Today, the institution is certified to ISO 14001-2015 standard for its Environmental Management System and has a variety of awards and accreditations for its sustainability work. UWE is a multiple winner of Green Gown Awards most recently winning the ‘Reporting with Influence’ category at the 2020 Green Gown Awards.
soon realized the sustainability impacts of our university included the way our students are prepared for their life post-graduation.” UWE Bristol sets out to provide students with sustainability skills to take out into the world. “A student leaving university this year will have about 60 years of life, and what they do in that lifetime will either support a sustainability agenda or inadvertently work against it,” says Professor Longhurst. “The most important aspect of our sustainability ambitions is to ensure our students have the skills, knowledge, and competencies to thrive in a potentially adverse future. We have progressively developed that capability so that by the 2015/16 academic year we were able to demonstrate and externally
SUSTAINABILITY AMBITIONS “Since 2007 we’ve been examining how our curriculum embraced and embedded sustainability issues, which came out of our original concerns with the management of our estates,” says Professor James Longhurst, Assistant Vice-Chancellor of the UWE Bristol. “This has progressed as language in the wider sector began to embrace sustainability. We SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND
verify that we achieved a presence of sustainability in every one of our taught programs. We’ve been maintaining that ever since.” ECOLOGICAL CURRICULUM The university has made various efforts to embed sustainability into the teaching curriculum. “Our first step was to audit our curriculum to understand what we already had,” says Professor Longhurst. “In parallel with this, we established a cross-university group called KESE, Knowledge Exchange for Sustainability Education, which has representatives from every academic department, whose role is to coordinate education for sustainable development activities across the university and to link their department’s actions with the university’s Sustainability Board. In 2015 the UN launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”We saw the SDGs as an opportunity to demonstrate the contribution that each of our degree programs was making,” says Professor Longhurst. “We devised a system where our academic departments could consider the contribution of their degree programs to the SDGs. We invited them to examine their curriculum against each of the goals. At
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the conclusion of the first phase of this work our colleagues have produced some 80 curriculum maps. These will be updated and further maps produced in phase two of this work. The maps serve several purposes. Firstly, they enable a rich conversation to take place between academics about their work and the connections to the SDGs. Secondly, they are a means to explore the SDGs with current students and of course can be used constructively in Open Days to highlight to prospective students the connection of their future discipline with the global agenda of the SDGs. We were then able to see this flowering of ideas and initiatives around the SDGs as visible testaments to the way that sustainability is part of what we do. It’s not special, it’s not extra. It’s simply part of what we do as a university.” STRATEGY 2030 Recently, UWE Bristol launched its new Transforming Futures Strategy 2030. “‘Transforming Futures’ is what our university is about,” explains Professor Longhurst. “UWE’s 2030 Strategy sets out our ambition to ‘work to address the urgency of the climate and ecological emergency and strive to fulfil our role in the achievement of the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals’. The Strategy sets out seven ambitious sustainability goals designed to make sure that we are playing our part in developing an understanding of the issues and challenges to be faced across the decade whilst creating and promoting solutions on how to cope with this future. Fortunately, our students are very concerned about the climate and ecological emergency. We’re proud that our Students Union (SU) has been number one in the annual NUS SOS Green Impact Award scheme for an unprecedented five years in a row.” The institution has made various changes in order to optimize sustainability in its operations. “We signed up for the Plastics Pact, setting ourselves the target of eliminating all but essential single-use plastic by 2025,” says Professor Longhurst. “During the pandemic, a vast array of additional plastic requirements to ensure safety affected our target, but we have a committed team of people across the university whose primary purpose is to embed and embrace the sustainability agenda. We have re-established our internal plastics group, who are redefining the meaning of the word essential and moving the agenda forward in partnership with our students. As part of Strategy 2030 we want to establish each of our three campus locations as a Clean Air Zone. In parallel with this, we are enhancing options for sustainable travel across our locations. We are also working hard to ensure that biodiversity is enhanced wherever we can on each of our three estates. The university has established research beacons, and one of those is our Climate and Sustainability Research Beacon. We are as concerned about the process of our research and wish to minimize the environmental implications of research processes whilst enhancing research that addresses the climate and ecological emergency. EMBRACING TECHNOLOGY By embracing new technology, UWE Bristol is further embedding sustainability into the institution. “As part of our ambition to create a Clean Air Zone on the Frenchay campus we have worked with South
“WE PUT REAL WORLD PROBLEMS INTO THE CURRICULUM, WHICH WE CAN USE TO CHALLENGE OUR STUDENTS TO DELIVER REAL SOLUTIONS.”
Gloucestershire Council and Toshiba to develop the UMBRELLA air quality monitoring network which has deployed a range of air quality sensing devices within a seven kilometre network,” says Professor Longhurst. “The network provides real time information about changes in air quality, which provides operational, curriculum and research opportunities. In developing our estate we are seeking to build in a way which specifically embodies the latest technology for carbon management. Our new building for the School of Engineering has achieved BREEAM Excellent for its sustainability credentials. We are now embarking on the development of a new 900 bed student accomodation project designed to the PassivHaus standard, which is set to have a carbon footprint that is 74% less than a standard development. With the addition of extra PV arrays, we are hoping to get the overall carbon footprint
as low as possible. Technology supports the university in its ambition to be net zero in terms of Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions. The university’s Combined Heat and Power station and district heating network delivers low carbon energy and heat on the Frenchay Campus supported by direct power purchase of renewably generated electricity and a REGO certified electricity supply. On site generation of electricity from PV arrays completes the university’s energy mix.” PREPARING STUDENTS “The university works in partnership with local authorities and other enterprises to help them enhance their sustainability and to support their journey to net zero,” says Professor Longhurst. “This in turn creates opportunities for our students in the form of dissertations, projects, internships and live briefs which helps them build their
knowledge and competency in addressing real carbon challenges and other environmental problems.” “The construction of our new student accommodation is a fantastic resource to integrate into our curriculum, as our students are able to watch its development and fruition,” says Professor Longhurst. “We put real world problems into the curriculum, which we can use to challenge our students to deliver real solutions. We don’t have all the answers, we may not even know all the questions, but through collaboration we’ve got a real chance of identifying better solutions.” c
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INTERVIEW: FUSION COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
COMMUNITY BUILDING 12 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to James O’Malley, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Fusion Community Initiatives, about transforming local communities through team-building, the importance of corporate social responsibility, and why sustainability is core to the Fusion Community ethos. By Alex Caesari The Fusion Community Initiatives story begins in 2016. The company was founded by ex-military personnel, offering a community-based approach to team-building and leadership development programs through the delivery of charitable initiatives that invoke corporate social responsibility. The skills and experiences of this team enable Fusion to work effectively on transformative projects to benefit local communities. Despite initially partnering with mostly London-based companies, Fusion now operates globally. These projects are bespoke, with funds invested by corporations. “We’ve been going for nearly six years,” explains James O’Malley, CEO of Fusion Community Initiatives. “We have a list of possible initiatives as long as our arm; the need is greater than what we can supply at the moment. If I had my way, I would say yes to every single project. We’ve taken our years of leadership experience from the military and put that into a corporate setting. Our work is about team-building that has a real social impact: creating a sensory garden, an outdoor play space, or renovating classrooms or houses. The sky’s the limit.” LOCAL PROJECTS Fusion partners with companies looking to deliver projects which target real social need, putting the resources of large corporations to work improving lives. “Recently we worked SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FUSION COMMUNITY INITIATIVES
with a London insurance company,” explains Mr. O’Malley. “They came down to a Devonshire special needs school. Over the course of a day, they delivered the entire project: a sensory outdoor area for children, a quiet space where they could sit down and learn on a one-to-one basis. Our facilitators were on the ground for five days; they prepared the area to ensure it was set up for success. Then participants from the company came in for one day to complete the task before handing it over to the school. Afterwards, we spoke to the school’s headmistress, and she said not only would it have cost more than £100,000 if they were to pay an external company to do it, but it would have also caused seven weeks of disruption for the school. We were able to deliver value in five days. By having a corporate company on board, spending the same sort of money that they would have done for normal team-building events, those in need are able to benefit.” “The corporate wins, the school wins, and the children win,” says Mr. O’Malley. “But it’s not about ticking boxes, it’s about delivering real value; and that’s part of a company’s learning and leadership development training. We meet the company beforehand, and if there are any issues within the business which they wish to work through, we’ll position the project in such a way that they get the most value out of it. When we founded Fusion, we didn’t want to be a normal team-building company, promoting activities like paintball, which is fun, but what benefit is gained? Instead, we can hand over the results of a build, for free, to special needs schools and hospices that would not otherwise have the financial freedom to conduct these projects themselves.” GLOBAL FUSION The stage upon which Fusion carries out their initiatives is not limited to the United Kingdom. “We can deliver them anywhere 14 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
in the world,” explains Mr. O’Malley. “We have completed successful projects in Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Germany, and Ireland. Take the latter, for example, where we worked with a special needs school in the west of Ireland. This was pre-pandemic, but our model doesn’t change just because of the location. In terms of planning and delivery, we make sure that materials are from a sustainable source, that waste is reduced to a minimum, and that we use local contractors to reduce our carbon footprint. It’s important for us. Due to the pandemic, most of our projects in the last six months have all been within the U.K. At Kobi Nazrul Primary School in Tower Hamlets, for example, we converted an old London bus into a fully functioning kitchen and dining area for the children.” HYBRID MODEL Needless to say, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature and scope of initiatives that Fusion is able to safely undertake. “The start of the pandemic was a nightmare for us, as everything we do is face-to-face,” explains Mr. O’Malley. “It all stopped. But now a lot of businesses are contacting us; there’s increased anxiety about returning to workplaces and what this hybrid working life model is going to look like. So, we’re able to work with businesses and bring everyone together. Companies have employed lots of new staff as turnover in the workplace has been very high. People are re-evaluating where and what they want to be. There are some
“YOU HAVE TO CELEBRATE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE, BECAUSE IT’S BEEN A HARD TIME FOR EVERYONE ACROSS THE BOARD. WE OFTEN FORGET TO PAT OURSELVES ON THE BACK AND REALIZE THAT WE’VE ACTUALLY DONE REALLY WELL.”
people that haven’t met the rest of their team face-to-face. This is an ideal time to do that.” “We always try and get companies and individuals to celebrate success because often we don’t do it enough, more so than ever during the pandemic,” says Mr. O’Malley. “You have to celebrate what you have done, because it’s been a hard time for everyone across the board. We often forget to pat ourselves on the back and realize that we’ve actually done really well.” SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Fusion’s mission does not end once the project in question is completed. “Afterwards, we go back to the corporate company for what we call an After Action Review,” explains Mr. O’Malley. “We look at what worked and what didn’t, and how lessons can be implemented back into the business. It’s brilliant having an amaz-
ing day off-site; everyone’s ecstatic and high-fiving, but there must be a ‘so what?’ with these things: what’s changed? Are you better communicators? What relationships have been built? We try to ensure the relationship between the corporate company and the charity is sustainable. Typically, the charity is close to where the corporate is based, and therefore one can reach out to the other in the future for fundraising based on previous work.” “We take on a lot of ex-military personnel who are transitioning from military to civilian life, and who don’t really know what they want to do or where their place is,” says Mr. O’Malley. “Sometimes they stay with us for a long time; sometimes they don’t. And that’s fine, we’re happy to help that transition. Quite a few have PTSD too, and our work becomes part of their therapy as a result. Their exposure to diverse environments, moreover, means they can
communicate mindfully with children who have their own complex needs. That’s our biggest asset: our team. Every day you can make a real, tangible impact on the world, and that’s what our team does with our projects. Our plan going forward is preparing the business for global franchising, continuing to use ex-military teams in the delivery of our ethos and core values.” c
TO BOOK your own
Fusion Community Initiative visit fusioninitiatives.com or email Jon.Ford@fusioninitiatives.com
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INTERVIEW: FLOW GRENADA
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COMMITTED TO
CONNECTION Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to James Pitt, Country Manager of Flow Grenada, about changing demands, supporting the local economy, and ensuring Grenada has a fast and reliable telecommunications infrastructure. By Will Vincent Flow Grenada is a communications and entertainment company, providing landline, mobile, broadband, and cable television services to the island nation of Grenada. Formerly Cable & Wireless Grenada, Flow Grenada is owned by communications giant Liberty Latin America. Since the 1990s, Flow Grenada has led successful pushes to
expand landline, broadband, and cellular network access across Grenada; today, according to Flow, 80% of Grenadian households have landlines, 70% have broadband – with Grenada consistently ranked among the top five countries in the Caribbean for internet speeds – and the entire island is covered by Flow’s mobile network. EVOLVING NETWORKS The COVID-19 pandemic has led to economic disruption across the Caribbean, where many countries rely on the travel and tourism industry. Grenada has been particularly affected, as another primary economic driver is international students studying medicine and veterinary medicine at St. George’s University. “Over 90% of the students at St. George’s departed the country during the early stages of the SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW GRENADA
“OVER 400 KIDS HAVE BENEFITTED SO FAR, AND A SELECT FEW OF THEM HAVE THEIR FIRST TWO YEARS OF TERTIARY LEVEL EDUCATION PAID FOR. IT’S A COSTLY INITIATIVE, BUT IT’S MONEY WELL SPENT.“ pandemic,” explains James Pitt, Country Manager at Flow Grenada. “The university and its students are major customers for Flow. The student absence combined with the other economic impacts of the pandemic have led to projected decline in sales of 1417% for us.” Despite taking a financial hit, Flow Grenada recognized early on that the COVID-19 pandemic meant Grenadians would be reliant on fast, effective telecommunications services. “People under lockdown have been forced into remote work, remote schooling, maintaining relationships digitally, and all of these depend on having reliable broadband,” says Mr. Pitt. “We have become an increasingly essential service in the last fifteen months and in turn, we have placed an emphasis on evolving our networks to meet the growing demand. It is important for us to make sure we create an environment in which our customers receive value despite a challenging economy.” To help customers whose use of telecommunications services have been grow18 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
ing even as their financial situation grows more precarious, Flow have adjusted their pricing. “We’re in the business of keeping our customers happy,” says Mr. Pitt. “In the last year we have directed our focus to bringing extended value to our customers. The more products of ours that you use, the more benefits you receive in the form of reduced prices. Households that have bundled and fixed services are rewarded a 50% discount on mobile network services. The pandemic has left us in an environment facing economic challenges, but customers still need good value and reliable connectivity.”
INVESTMENT IN INFRASTRUCTURE As a result of the pandemic-accelerated increase in demand, Flow Grenada have been investing further in infrastructure. “Speed and broadband are a continuous and growing insatiable appetite for more customers, and especially since the pandemic, we’ve seen how that appetite can increase,” says Mr. Pitt. “We’ve invested millions of dollars into our infrastructure to ensure that our customer’s need for both bandwidth and reliability are met. Our fixed network is where customer demand has exploded, which means we’ve had to focus on enlarging its capacity. We have increased our node infrastructure and built more redundancy into our systems, as well as installing more fiber in homes and businesses. A distributed workforce can become severely impaired when people are not connected to each other. The whole notion of an online economy has shown us the importance of this industry and Flow in our economy. We’ve been pivotal in ensuring that we provide the framework for people to operate.” HUMAN CAPITAL Flow also has a long-standing commitment to develop social programs in Grenada. “Through our annual 30-year-old scholarship program, we identify kids based on their needs and competence, and fund a significant portion of their education bills,” explains Mr. Pitt. “Over 400 kids have benefitted so far, and a select few of them have their first two years of tertiary level education paid for. It’s a costly initiative, but it’s money well spent. Not only has our scholarship been appreciated by our beneficiaries, but we’re also helping to build the human capital
Providing
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INTERVIEW: FLOW GRENADA
of Grenada. That’s a key part of what we do as an organization. We connect communities and enable progress. We facilitate the building of local economies, of human capacity, and social interaction within Grenada.” “In spite of a challenging time, we did everything to ensure the pandemic did not impact our current Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity, from our scholarship programs to our support for the local government infrastructure for COVID, foreign services, and more,” says Mr Pitt. “In addition, we are co-sponsoring a program with the Government of Grenada to provide internet services to the indigent segments of our society. This will benefit circa five percent of all households in Grenada, with kids
that are facing financial distress. Both Flow and the Government of Grenada are ready to launch the joint initiative, assisting the most vulnerable segments of society and giving them the opportunity to get further discounts on programs.” BUILDING UP GRENADA Flow Grenada continues to drive investment in local telecommunications infrastructure. “We’re going to deploy more fiber optic-based services and continuously develop our mobile network,” says Mr. Pitt. “We’re also going to fund other areas of the value chain, whether it’s supporting local or regional businesses, as we’re so intertwined within the space that we operate. At some point,
we hope to have a 5G network to build upon the connectivity demands of customers.” “We will maintain affordable prices and excellent service, as without our customers we don’t have a business,” says Mr. Pitt. “While we have the privilege of serving Grenada with telecoms, we will continuously make every effort to ensure that we deliver on the promises made to the public. We can adapt and evolve quickly, and that is the hallmark of what we’re doing in a rapidly changing environment. We will ensure we keep abreast with changing demands and do so in an effective and affordable manner. We will continue to hold ourselves to our customer expectations of delivering good service.” c
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Q&A: SOL ECOLUTION
POWERING JOURNEYS. LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
INTRODUCING SOL ECOLUTION! THE NEW LOW CARBON AND RENEWABLE ENERGY DIVISION OF THE SOL GROUP. 22 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sol Ecolution sounds like a very exciting project that can make a big difference to the individuals, families and businesses in the territories in which you operate. Tell us a bit about The Sol Group, and your mission to facilitate renewable and low-carbon energy solutions across the Caribbean. The Sol Group is the premier energy solutions provider across the 22 territories in which we operate in the Caribbean and Central and South America. Our mission is to be the partner of choice for our customers and communities through the supply of reliable products and services, in line with our corporate values of Safety, Integrity, Community and Respect. We supply fuels, lubricants, and LPG to retail customers at our service stations and large commercial customers such as airlines, mining, shipping, marine and power companies. We value our customers and the communities we serve and are passionate about supporting them through various community outreach initiatives, especially those that focus on education, environmental preservation, sports and community development. Our service to the region dates to 2005. As we look to the future, we have listened to our customers and business partners and clearly recognize the shift towards sustainable energy occurring in the region. With great interest and excitement, we have observed the objectives of governments and utilities to significantly increase low carbon and renewable energy production. It is clear that these initiatives will lead to a significant energy shift in the Caribbean within the next 20 years. To address this, we created Sol Ecolution, the renewable energy division within Sol. We created the entity to support our customers and partners in their energy transition while also reducing the carbon footprint of our operations. Could you tell us about the launch of the Sol Ecolution brand, and how you’re responding to the need for a cleaner, greener energy future in the Caribbean? We launched Sol Ecolution at the recent Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) Conference in 2021. Its purpose is to deliver on The Sol Group’s commitment to energize the communities in which we live, work and play by facilitating the development of diverse renewable and low carbon energy solutions. With our long history and deep understanding of the Caribbean energy ecosystem, we are uniquely positioned to support our customers, stakeholders, and communities through this transition. We fully understand and support the need to move towards a greener energy future to address the adverse effects of global warming. We want to address this by reducing our own carbon footprint and producing renewable energy for our needs while also assisting our customers, including utility companies, by investing and partnering in renewable energy projects.
Please give us an overview of Sol Ecolution’s project scope and services, including any significant upcoming projects that we should know about. Sol Ecolution operates across the spectrum of low carbon and renewable energy technologies, including solar, battery storage, wind, hydrogen, waste-to-energy and other exciting solutions. We provide end-to-end services to facilitate the development of low carbon and renewable energy power generation in the region. Our services include project financing, site selection and assessment, project scoping and design, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, contract negotiation, engineering, procurement and construction services. Sol Ecolution has started deploying solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in our retail stations in Barbados and is currently assessing an additional 29 retail stations spanning Barbados, St. Maarten, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and Puerto Rico. Over the next few years, our deployments will expand further to include our company-owned retail and terminals networks. Our offices in St. Maarten and our Bermuda terminal will also be producing PV energy in the short term, and we expect to install at least 5 more megawatts (MW) of PV energy generation on commercial-scale systems across our offices, as well as on unused land from our terminals. Beyond deploying solar technology on our assets, Sol is actively engaged in discussions with our utility and commercial customers to identify opportunities to facilitate the development of renewable energy for third-party use across the region. What is the long-term vision for Sol Ecolution, as you look to realize the Caribbean’s sustainable energy future? The long-term vision of Sol Ecolution is to be the leading renewable energy company in the Caribbean; supporting the region, our customers and government partners in shifting towards a fully sustainable energy future. c
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INTERVIEW: ADEB CONSULTANTS LTD.
STATE-OFTHE-ART SERVICES Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to George Nicholson, Director and Engineer at ADeB Consultants Ltd., about energy efficiency, new technology in the Caribbean, and the long-term financial savings of going green. By Izzy Moss ADeB Consultants Ltd. is a MEP Consulting Engineering firm based in Bridgetown, Barbados, that offers its services primarily across the Eastern Caribbean. ADeB’s services cover mechanical, electrical and plumbing building services, surveys, the design of new systems, the retrofitting of existing systems, and general consultancy for a wide variety of sectors, including the commercial, industrial, healthcare, and hospitality sectors. As companies throughout the region have begun seeking to reduce their energy consumption and switch to renewable energy, ADeB have developed in-house expertise in a range of sustainable technologies suited to Caribbean buildings. “ADeB are involved in various solar PV projects, and we specify the design of air conditioning systems to be energy efficient, such as Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) chillers,” 24 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
explains George Nicholson, Director and Engineer at ADeB Consultants Ltd. “This is a relatively new trend, using VRF technology in a chiller as opposed to standard compressors to vastly increase efficiency. In electrical specifications, we specify LED lighting. On the plumbing side, the use of solar hot water systems in Barbados is quite prevalent. ADeB has worked on some of the largest solar hot water systems in Barbados, such as in hotels. ADeB is
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energy efficiency-conscious in our design, but a lot of it also depends on what the client’s budget is.” EFFICIENCY INNOVATORS “We were the first company to specify a VRF system in Grenada, for example,” says Mr. Nicholson. “There was a bank/credit union that was renovating their offices. It was a three-story building that had a very small footprint, and not a lot of room for equip-
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ment. Grenada has a lot of hills, so the building was built on multiple levels. Getting this system in to suit their new layout was going to be a challenge. ADeB proposed the VRF system, and it worked out extremely well.” ADeB also installed the first underfloor air conditioning system in an office building in Barbados, a technology which has been shown to reduce the energy consumption compared to a conventional, ceiling-based air conditioning system. “I myself directed
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that project,” says Mr. Nicholson. “The floor heights were extremely restrictive but there was the opportunity to go down slightly and create that additional height. Underfloor systems are quite common in other parts of the world but unique in Barbados.” GREEN SAVINGS ADeB encourages clients to consider not only the health and environmental benefits of energy efficient technologies,
but also the long-term financial savings. “There are company mandates that are aiming towards greener energy,” says Mr. Nicholson. “Some clients are interested, so they make an inquiry, but may be shocked when they actually see the price. ADeB’s job is to help clients see the big picture. They may spend this money now, but they’ll make savings in the long run. If these companies have the capacity to make that initial spend and look at the Return on Investment (ROI) as a positive, then that is when we get to move forward with the technology.” “ADeB assisted in the replacement of 150-ton standard chillers that were failing and replaced them with six 25-ton VRF chillers,” says Mr. Nicholson. “ADeB had to prepare the entire installation to be completed in one weekend so that the building SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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AIMING TO BE THE LEADING AIRCONDITIONING AND REFRIGERATION SERVICES COMPANY IN BARBADOS. TwentyOne Degrees Inc. is an Air-Conditioning Service company supplying the residential, commercial and industrial markets. Along with these services, we design, build and install ductwork for Commercial Air- Conditioning and Extraction Systems. We also specialize in commercial Refrigeration installations and repairs. Furthermore, we install, service and repair residential appliances such as fridges, freezers, washers and dryers and many other appliances.
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INTERVIEW: ADEB CONSULTANTS LTD.
was open for business the following Monday. The benefits of that technology were not immediately obvious to the client. However, a year later, they saw a 30% reduction in their energy consumption, which in an 11-story building is quite significant. The client resisted initially, since the price was double that of a conventional replacement chiller, but in the end they saw the value: 20 years of 30% reduction in energy consumption.”
“HOW WE DESIGN, CONSTRUCT, AND WHAT WE IMPLEMENT DURING CONSTRUCTION IS GOING TO HAVE A HUGE BEARING ON HOW BUILDINGS ARE RUN AND MANAGED IN THE FUTURE.”
COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY “We have taken a bold approach in innovation and the application of new technologies, and are making a move to the Building Information Modeling (BIM) software Revit, by Autodesk,” says Mr. Nicholson. “Again, this collaborative technology is common in other parts of the world. However, it is quite fledgling for companies in the Caribbean. There are a few firms that are using Revit and the full power of BIM technology to improve the efficiency of designs, reduce construction waste, and make information available to engineers and clients post-project. ADeB fully understands the power of that, and are making an effort to move in that direction.” “The Revit platform will help us conduct design work, advise our clients, and interact with fellow consultants more efficiently and effectively,” says Mr. Nicholson. “It is going to be critical for the Caribbean moving forward to embrace the technologies that are coming to the fore. Youth are more and more focused on computers and the virtual environment as they grow up. That will be the future of our building management systems and facilities management. How we design and construct, and what we implement during construction is going to have a huge bearing on how buildings are run and managed in the future.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF)
SAFEGUARDING THE INTERNET By Beth Cope Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Cindy Cohn, Executive Director at the Electronic Frontiers Foundation, about their national and international work, protecting user freedoms on the internet, and preparing for the future in light of new legislation and the COVID-19 crisis. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a San Francisco-based non-profit organization advocating for the civil liberties of internet users. Founded in 1990 in reaction to heavy-handed law enforcement interventions against early adopters of the internet, the EFF now has a staff of over 100 people, including technologists, lawyers, and activists, and the support in place for them.
“I joined in the 2000s,” says Cindy Cohn, Executive Director at the EFF. “At the time, I was involved in freeing-up encryption technology from government control. A lot of the work we did back then was explaining to people what the future would look like when everybody had this technology in their homes and hands all the time. Of course, we’re living in that world right now. The forces that have pushed away from freedom, away from justice, away from innovation, have evolved and become stronger over the years.” NATIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL The EFF has grown up alongside the internet. “For historical, geographical reasons, the government of the United States had a huge voice in how the internet developed,” explains Ms. Cohn. “That’s changed now. I would say the EU has a bigger role in thinking innovatively about the future than the US government does. One of the great benefits of the early internet was that it allowed people to have a space to speak free of the government’s control. Now we’re seeing, whether it’s in Australia or Turkey or China,
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INTERVIEW: ELECTRONIC FRONTIERS FOUNDATION (EFF)
governments are showing a lot more interest in their ability to control what happens on the internet.” Today, the EFF continues to draw attention to the use of surveillance techniques by local, national, and international governments around the world. “In the U.S., we’re working on a wide variety of projects, from the national to the hyper-local,” says Ms. Cohn. “This ranges from collaborating with groups to get bans on police-use of facial recognition, or trying to stop the NSA from tapping into the internet backbone and spying on everybody, or, on the local level, cameras being placed in business districts across the United States, networked and made available to cops to carry out mass surveillance of us when we’re engaging in protest activity, which is protected activity. We work to support strong laws that let you take control of your own privacy, and get accountability when that is violated.” INNOVATIVE FREEDOM The EFF works with groups around the world who are trying to get their voice heard online. “We continue to navigate censorship schemes whether they’re governmental or ordinary people subject to the content moderation policies of these tech giants,” says Ms. Cohn. “We hear a lot about the powerful people who have been subject to those policies, but that’s actually the tinier piece. This is especially important in the global context. Whether we’re talking about the situation 30 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
in Crimea involving Ukraine versus Russia, about Palestinian voices or Israeli voices in that conflict, or the opposition voices in Hong Kong, the need of the digital network to serve freedom of expression is as strong now as it was when started in 1990, but now we also have to consider the role the tech giants play in that.” Today, five large companies that control the vast majority of the internet. “We’ve spent a lot of time really honing in on how we got here,” says Ms. Cohn. “The internet in the 1990s was a very distributed system, and we would talk about how important it was that there were low barriers for entry so that anybody who had a good idea could
roll it out and make it available to the world. That’s not the world anymore. We’ve got these five big companies: Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft. There are American and international laws which have been unwittingly used to box out new competitors, block interoperability – what we call competitive compatibility – and systems that shift your mode of platforms to control everything that happens on said platform.” A SUSTAINABLE INTERNET For the EFF, a sustainable digital world requires a human-rights based approach. “The internet right now isn’t sustainable for the humans on it,” says Ms. Cohn. “It’s
a world in which we are constantly tracked. There are machine-learning tools that limit what we see and do, and where we can go based upon non-transparent decision making. We’ve seen this in the context of facial recognition – technologies that reinforce racism, sexism, and all of the things in our society which we should be combating. We stand up for privacy, free expression, and innovation, to help build a digital world that serves and empowers all. I believe that fits into an overall story of sustainability. I know that as much as people are nervous about the digital world right now, we are increasingly beholden to it. ” A re-envisioned internet is one where the user would have choices and power. “You would have a baseline understanding of what the deal is with the services that you use, and there would be a floor which you can’t go below,” explains Ms. Cohn. “Our privacy needs to be protected in the same way you can’t sell yourself into slavery: there are limits to what we allow people to contract themselves into, we need real accountability. From a creative perspective, if you had a good idea you could roll it out, you wouldn’t have to bend the knee to Google or Amazon for instance, to make sure your service shows up in search results. If the police wanted to buy a new tool, they would have to go in front of the City Council locally and present the tool’s use and technology transparently to then get approval from the elected representatives. I think many people around the world think that’s how it works now, but it’s not. In America especially, we’ve got local cops with weapons we can see, crazy-big tanks, et cetera, but lots of surveillance equipment has been acquired without our approval, knowledge, and certainly without our control. We can flip those all around.” KNOWLEDGE FOR ALL The EFF has recently been focusing on providing California with broadband, the most populated US state, with one sixth of the country’s population. “The Biden infrastructure plan, and COVID also, has allowed us to help get broadband to more people,” explains Ms. Cohn. “Getting that into the legislation is important, but we must make sure that they don’t get co-opted by the big companies, and really do provide broadband for all. I think we’ve all learned during the COVID-19 crisis that we don’t have enough cheap and readily available broadband. In the U.S. we had these companies that would hand out hotspots to kids,
“WE STAND UP FOR PRIVACY, FREE EXPRESSION, AND INNOVATION, TO HELP BUILD A DIGITAL WORLD THAT SERVES AND EMPOWERS ALL.” as if a hotspot was a substitute for actual broadband that you could hold a Zoom call on. So we’re part of a huge coalition to make sure that everybody has access to real broadband options. We’re starting in the U.S., but the goal is to give everyone around the world broadband.” In collaboration with a group of students at the University of Nevada, the EFF has mapped out all surveillance technology that has been acquired by law enforcement across the US. “It’s called the ‘Atlas of Surveillance’, so you can see what kinds of technologies your local government has,” explains Ms. Cohn. “All around the world there should be an easy-to-navigate website where you find out what technologies your cops have. One of our projects that went international was called ‘Who Has Your Back?’, where we asked tech companies about their processes for handing over your information to law enforcement. Often these ideas get picked up internation-
ally by other people, from seeing our work and being inspired to implement it in their area. We’re then able to serve as technical assistants in that process. The ‘Atlas of Surveillance’ ought to spread beyond the United States. Understanding what your government is up to is the first step, having local control over it is the second step, and these are keystones to democracy.” “Our goal for the organization is to always be there to count on,” says Ms. Cohn. “We are the people who are working to make the world better in the future. We jokingly get called ‘the 911 of the internet’. That’s not quite right, but it is true that our job is to be on patrol for situations where we can apply pressure and make change. That’s what we are continuing to work towards. We recognize that the internet is the largest and most important it’s ever been. The COVID-19 crisis really brought that home to people, so we want to use this moment to set us up for a better future.” c
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INTERVIEW: EMIRATES NATIONAL OIL COMPANY (ENOC)
REIMAGINING THE FUTURE Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) about the Expo 2020 Dubai, designing a service station for the future, and the company’s track-record of innovation. 32 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
For over 25 years, the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), a wholly owned entity of the Government of Dubai, has resolutely worked to meeting the UAE’s energy requirements, transforming the sector through integrated operations and innovative service offerings. ENOC is focused on driving the industry forward, leveraging the benefits of advanced technologies, from artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to push the boundaries of efficiency and productivity. For ENOC, sustainability is an integral part of its DNA. “Conserving and protecting
the environment is a strategic imperative for us, as we look to secure a cleaner and greener world for future generations,” says His Excellency Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO at ENOC. “All entities within ENOC share this ethos, are committed to upholding the highest standards of responsibility, and are encouraged to give back to the community socially, environmentally, and economically.” ENERGY REIMAGINED In 2018, ENOC was appointed as Expo 2020 Dubai’s Official Integrated Energy Partner, with plans to build a state-of-the-
art pavilion and “Service Station of the Future” at Expo 2020 Dubai. “Our pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai showcases an immersive experience that not only challenges the conventional understanding of energy, but also reflects ENOC’s commitment towards sustainability,” says H.E. Al Falasi. “The pavilion is set in a plot of approximately 2,060 sqm, comprising four ‘houses’, taking our visitors on a multi-sensory journey through four distinctive narratives under the theme of ‘Reimagine Energy’. Those are ‘Discovery’: what energy is, ‘Harness’ what energy enables, ‘Collaborate’: what energy needs, SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: EMIRATES NATIONAL OIL COMPANY (ENOC)
and ‘Reimagine’: what energy promises. A separate space has also been dedicated to government and industry stakeholders to engage in finding answers to the industry’s unanswered questions. It’s our aim to inspire every visitor, irrespective of age, with the pavilion’s educational and entertaining offering.” Crucially, ENOC has designed with legacy re-use in mind. “The pavilion was constructed using 700 tons of steel to minimize waste and environmental impact, and to promote sustainability,” explains H.E. Al Falasi. “The use of steel will allow for further re-use of the pavilion buildings and ensure that the site can be returned to its original state once Expo 2020 Dubai
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concludes. Beyond that, we’ve installed a mixed mode functional design for HVAC systems, designed to minimize the pavilion’s energy consumption by 20.1% lower than the standard benchmark assessment, and we’ve achieved reduction of 30% in potable water demand.” THE SERVICE STATION OF THE FUTURE As part of the company’s contribution to Expo 2020 Dubai, ENOC is setting up a fully functioning, futuristic service station, combining solar, hydrogen and traditional hydrocarbon sources. Running for the full six months of the event, ENOC’s hope is to create a milestone that will inspire every visitor and
resident to the Expo. “The Service Station of the Future is modern, futuristic, and sustainable,” says H.E. Al Falasi. “It was inspired by the ‘Ghaf Tree’, the national tree of the UAE, famed for its resilience even in harsh weather. Located at the heart of Expo 2020 Dubai site, it marks a new era for fuel retail. In addition to meeting the logistical needs of Expo 2020’s fleet, it will serve the public through District 2020 – the smart human-centric community and curated innovation system that will become Expo’s physical legacy after its doors close on 31 March 2022.” ENOC’s ‘Service Station of the Future’ will be the world’s first platinum LEED-certified station, an internationally recognized building certification system from the US Green Building Council. “We are proud to be first in the region to incorporate an on-grid wind turbine for power generation, which will produce 12.7 MWh of wind energy every year,” says H.E. Al Falasi. “The canopy is built of carbon fiber, a light, eco-friendly material three times strong than steel, and five times lighter. Another 37 tons have also been used in the construction of the 133 multi-layer canopy frame – and within that, our clear, leaf-shaped ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) cushion canopy is 100 per cent UV ray-protected and corrosion-proof. The nine tree ‘trunks’ that support the station were built from another 22,500 square meters of carbon fiber. In all, the canopy is designed to hold 283 photovoltaic (PV) panels, capable of generating 143MWh of solar power annually.” With 4,000 LED lights and multiple screens across the forecourt and c-store,
“WE TAKE PRIDE IN OUR ABILITY TO INTRODUCE INNOVATE SOLUTIONS AND PRACTICES TO THE ENERGY SECTOR”.
the site is a testament to ENOC’s innovative and ambitious spirit. “The LED light modules can change color as needed, while the canopy acts as giant digital screen from underneath and above,” says H.E. Al Falasi. “To reduce costs, sensors in the canopy automatically dim the lights by 50% when there are no customers. The service station’s systems have been deployed to enhance energy conservation, such as the use of carbon filtration technologies to recycle and reuse grey water for irrigation, significantly reducing outdoor water consumption. The station is also equipped with drinkable air units that use ozonation techniques to convert water molecules from the air into drinkable water for onsite staff.”
AT THE CUTTING EDGE ENOC continues to be a step ahead in setting industry trends, as it deploys the latest innovations and technologies across the full range its operations. “Today, the need for incorporating renewables to power assets and operations is gaining momentum,” says H.E. Al Falasi. “We take pride in our ability to introduce innovate solutions and practices to the energy sector; in 2018, we launched the first solar-powered lubricants blending plant in Jebel Ali. A year prior, we launched the first solar powered service station in Dubai, saving the equivalent CO2 emissions of 3,250 passenger vehicle per year. It is the success of these projects that encour-
ages us to build all future service stations with the same technology.” The company is well-poised to carry this success into the future. “ENOC is, and will remain, committed to support the goals of both the UAE Centennial 2071 and the Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to help generate 75% Dubai’s total power output from clean energy by 2050,” explains H.E. Al Falasi. “As the Official Energy Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, ENOC is determined to represent the energy industry and the UAE on the global stage. By integrating sustainability to every aspect of our pavilion and service station at Expo 2020, we aspire to inspire the world to reimagine energy.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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Q&A: EMC CYPRUS 2021
EMC
CYPRUS 2021 INTERVIEW BY CHAIRMAN OF EMC ADVISORY BOARD. PROF. TOULA ONOUFRIOU President, CHC Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company Professor & Head of EMERGE CoE, Cyprus University of Technology
PROFESSOR TOULA ONOUFRIOU
How is EMC 2021 connecting stakeholders to promote a clean energy transition for the Eastern Mediterranean region? The Eastern Mediterranean Conference (EMC) 2021 inaugural event will provide the Eastern Mediterranean region with the perfect and timely platform for stakeholders across government, industry, and academia to share their views and perspectives on the clean energy transition. This will necessitate close and coordinated collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure that the expectations of our societies are being met, and that the burden of ambition towards meeting these expectations is also adequately shared by all stakeholders. EMC 2021 has a rich conference and exhibitors program, providing delegates and participants great opportunities to share their views, technologies, products, and ideas. There is a lot happening in our region and EMC 2021 will provide all stakeholders with the opportunity to showcase, share, explore and learn about regional activities and initiatives regarding energy projects and the clean energy transition. 36 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
How are renewables and innovative, lower-carbon energy technologies being represented at EMC 2021? The role of renewables and low carbon technologies is going to be significant in the clean energy transition for the East Mediterranean region. Greater penetration of renewables, the decarbonization of conventional energy, and the interconnection of regional electricity networks are all key themes being addressed by our speakers at a government, industry, and academic level. Regional policy making is going to be addressed by the significant presence of key regional government ministers and representatives from Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Israel, and Palestine. Updates and perspectives on key regional energy projects are going to be presented from the project owners, with leading industry analysts and academics providing their views, projections, and outlook on the future of the Eastern Mediterranean energy landscape. Can you give us an overview of some of the sustainability topics scheduled to be discussed at the conference? Sustainability can cover a range of topics. At EMC 2021, we’re focused on the sustainability in the context of the clean energy transition, and how this translates to sustainable business. In the context of this transition, some key topics include digitalization, clean energy technology, interconnectivity, decarbonization, and diversification. The role of Digitalization, whilst applicable in nearly all sectors, has a significant role to play for energy systems that are becoming more complex, interconnected, and where the security of supply is coming under more and more stress. Advances inclean energy technology for renewables and alternative fuels are accelerating, with multiple initiatives being explored and developed. We’re also seeing the increasingly rapid decarbonization of conventional
energy sources, with numerous Carbon Capture Use and Storage (CCUS) projects coming online globally or being developed in the pipeline. All these subjects and more will be explored at EMC 2021, providing updates on regional activities, but also exploring the further potential for incorporating global initiatives at a regional level. What would represent a successful outcome for EMC 2021? Coming out of the pandemic, and being one of the first person-to-person conferences to take place after the lifting of travel restrictions, we’re hopeful that EMC 2021 is going to be a great success. Cyprus has been at the forefront of regional collaboration, and the EMC 2021 event continues in this tradition, with the aim of fostering ever closer collaboration regionally, but also fostering greater collaboration between government, industry, and academia. The success of EMC 2021 will be the further development of the region’s energy projects which are aimed towards the clean energy transition. Our aim is to help unlock cleaner energy for the region, for Europe, and beyond. c
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ADVERTISERS INDEX A AFSIA
Inside Front Cover
C Creative Design & Building Construction Co Ltd E EMC
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Inside Back Cover
G Grenlec 26 Grenville Co-Operative Credit Union 26 GWS (Barbados) Limited 27 H Huggins Grenada
20
S Simmons Electrical Sales & Services 26 Sol Ecolution Back Cover T TMR Sales and Services Twenty One Degrees Ltd
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V Vroom GND
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HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
MINISTRY OF ENERGY COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY OF CYPRUS
THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Unlocking Cleaner Energy for the Region, for Europe & Beyond
NICOSIA CYPRUS 10 – 12 NOVEMBER 2021
Register to the Conference and BOOK YOUR BOOTH! NATIONAL HOST
OFFICIAL PARTNERS
IN ASSOCIATION WITH CAMERA DI COMMERCIO
ITALO–CIPRIOTA ΙΤΑΛΟΚΥΠΡΙΑΚO ΕΜΠΟΡΙΚΟ ΕΠΙΜΕΛΗΤΗΡΙΟ
FOR EXHIBITION AND SPONSORSHIP ENQUIRIES: exhibition@emc-cyprus.com sponsorship@emc-cyprus.com
FOR CONFERENCE AND DELEGATE ENQUIRIES: conference@emc-cyprus.com Tel: +39 06 30883030
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