The Net Zero Business Podcast

One of my favourite quotes comes from Mike Monteiro: "the world is not broken, it is working exactly how we designed it to." To discuss how to redesign the world along Sustainable lines, I'm joined by Vicky Lofthouse of EN:ABLE Sustainability to chew over the power of design, how to drive innovation, the role of product-service systems, industrial symbiosis and so much more. Vicky tells me "context is key", we need to work with the existing situation, not against it.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

This week, I'm joined by Duncan Peake, CEO of Raby Estates, to talk about Sustainability and land management. We cover a huge range of topics, including Green tourism, regenerative farming, peat upland management, forestry, retrofitting heritage buildings – all the things that are involved in running a large estate. One cross-cutting theme is that the various stakeholders involved – employees, tenant farmers, local authorities – are driving this agenda forward proactively rather than needing much persuading, which is highly encouraging!This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd, Bringing Sustainability to Life

Professor Marcelle McManus has a huge range of clean technology research projects under her leadership at Bath University, but believes strongly that they must be cognisant of the very people that we expect to adopt them. In this episode, she explains the type of work her People-Led Net Zero centre is undertaking, before we talk through some of the technologies she's involved with including hydrogen, CCS, carbon removals and Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF). However, the conversation keeps coming back to that core, vital message – people matter.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd – Bringing Sustainability to Life

While much of transport is going electric, Philip Fjeld, CEO of ReFuels, believes that biogas has a major role in decarbonising heavy goods vehicles. In this episode we discuss the business model for the sourcing and supply of bioCNG, the economics of bioCNG vs diesel vs electric drive chains, market penetration of CNGs and a fascinating dive into the complexities of developing new infrastructure in response to or anticipation of rising demand. All of us consume stuff that has been on an HGV on a daily basis both at work and at home, so this episode should be of interest to anyone involved in climate issues.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

By day, Alex Hilton is Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Beyondly, a compliance scheme and consultancy which supports businesses with environmental legislation such as the extended packaging regulations. But in the evening he heads home to his 16th Century farmhouse which he has retrofitted with a heat pump, solar panels and a battery. Yes, 16th Century, you read that right!Alex and I chat through his impressive career, which includes trying to deliver sustainability in a war zone, before digging into the whys and wherefores of retrofitting a supposedly impossible-to-treat house. Inspiring stuff!The Zero Bills Homes episode with Emma Fletcher of Octopus can be found here.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

This is the fifth of 10 special episodes to mark the publication of my guide '10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability' where I sum up the lessons I have learnt delivering Sustainability over the last 25+ years. In this episode, I talk through what is probably the most important of the ten rules, Rule 6: Leadership must own your Sustainability StrategyThe biggest threat to your Sustainability programme is a disconnect between intention and action at the highest levels in the organisation. In this episode I explain how I ensure that my clients' leadership takes true ownership of Sustainability.Click here to download 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability

Derrick Emsley started his career in nature restoration in Canada as a teenager, before launching the TenTree clothing brand (ten trees planted for every product bought) and then building the Veritree verification platform for nature-based solutions. All of this has led to the planting of a whopping 100 million trees. In this episode, Derrick and I chew over the whys and wherefores of nature-based solutions, how his ventures have developed and the lessons he has learned. This is a guy who thinks big, very big – an inspiration for us all.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - bringing Sustainability to Life

I'm always very conscious that the pod tends to feature European or US guests, so this week I'm delighted to reach across the equator to Zimbabwe to talk to sustainable entrepreneur Maureen Vere. Maureen's company Verager grows cowpeas alongside maize as a living mulch to protect the latter from climate impacts, and then processes those cowpeas into a range of vegan food products, all the while promoting women in agriculture.As well as digging into that clever green business model, Maureen and I discuss the Sustainability environment in Zimbabwe including the surging uptake of solar + battery domestic energy systems.Finally, Maureen lists her key advice for people working in Sustainable business – very wise words indeed!This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd – Bringing Sustainability to Life