Organisations from across Herefordshire came together at the Business Energy and Climate conference in January to discuss progress on Herefordshire’s journey to Net Zero, and share ideas and inspire others with examples of changes they have made to help meet the County’s ambitious 2030 target.
Over 75 delegates met at the new NMITE Skylon Park campus for the conference which was organised by Herefordshire Council’s Sustainability & Climate Change Team on behalf of the Herefordshire Climate and Nature Partnership Board.
The Green Start-Up author, Juliet Davenport, OBE, gave the keynote speech. She was joined on stage by local business people with 2030 net zero ambitions. Juliet said she was inspired by the Herefordshire organisations helping people “explore what’s possible within their own business”.
Among the Herefordshire-based businesses who shared their progress were Border Oak Design – their Creative Director Merry Albright spoke about sustainable homes. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust’s Claire Spicer discussed the transformative effect of the Rotherwas heritage and nature trail. Frank H Dale’s Justin Price shared how the steel company has reduced its carbon output by 25 per cent while it aims for a 57 per cent drop by 2035. And Wye Valley Brewery’s Vernon Amor said the beer maker had almost doubled sales in the last decade while reducing CO2 emissions by 40 per cent.
The conference offered a great opportunity for smaller local businesses to get ideas to start their own journey towards becoming more sustainable.
The Business Energy and Climate conference is part of the wider Greener Footprints initiative – Herefordshire’s awareness campaign to help reach the net zero 2030 target. The County declared a Climate and Ecological emergency in March 2019 and Greener Footprints encourages people to pledge to make changes to their lifestyle, however small, as together they will add up to a large reduction in carbon for the County.
Image: L-R: Merry Albright, creative director, Border Oak Design; Vernon Amor, managing director, Wye Valley Brewery, Juliet Davenport, OBE; Claire Spicer, head of conservation, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust; Justin Price, safety, health environment and quality assurance manager at Frank H Dale.
