In October, we hosted the launch event for the Green Entrepreneurship Forum: a new policy initiative we are running with Mishcon de Reya that brings together the UK’s most successful sustainability driven entrepreneurs to help support their growth and inform us on the policies they need to flourish.
We were joined by Danny Kruger, MP for Devizes, who shared a few opening thoughts about the opportunities presented by COP26 to position the UK as a global leader of businesses driven by social purpose. He championed the many large and small businesses in the UK which are making a significant contribution to sustainability.
The discussion covered a lot of ground, spanning a number of topics, including:
The challenges entrepreneurs face when trying to access grant funding and international investment, and the disconnect between the national recognition of the need for innovation versus the support offered to those who are creating new businesses.
The importance of looking at the global picture. With 70% of emissions coming from households, can the UK do more to encourage UK and global citizens to do more personally to reduce their footprint, and can we alter our export finance rules so sustainable solutions can be taken to emerging markets where credit worthiness is poor but carbon emissions are high?
The need for clarification of terms such as ‘Net Zero’ – for example the Science Based Target Initiative has clarified it is not going to include offsetting.
Rather than increasing tax, the government could rebalance taxation in favour of sustainable solutions, for example by reducing tax on electricity but increasing it on gas.
The need to focus not only on carbon emission, but increase awareness about the other pressing environmental issues.
The challenges of waste and emissions in the food production industry, and the opportunities created by new technologies which create food without the land or waste of traditional farming methods.
Our funding and policies to match the EU investments in green energy.
The challenges of gaining procurement from larger businesses and choosing suppliers with sustainable credentials, but also the opportunity presented by aligning your product with the sustainable goals of potential clients, particularly those going through the B-Corp framework.
The lack of transparency around the 2050 targets and goals and dates makes it hard for innovations to prepare and develop their products.
The need to invest in specialist STEM teachers to ensure we have the talent for green businesses in the future.
Key Points raised:
Jim Laird, CEO of Enough raised the point that, given that 15% of carbon emissions are from animal farming, does the government see a genuine path to net zero, or is it a political soundbite?
Danny Kruger MP recognised the huge opportunity of the development of new sustainable proteins, but said we need to find a balance in the laws around agriculture. Quality farming can be a positive for carbon reduction due to the grasslands creating a carbon sink, but battery farming is a contributor to the problem so we do need to insist on quality farming.
Andy Chen, Founder and CEO of Graphene Composites shared his experience over the past 6 years of his company has applying to various Innovate UK and Export Support programmes, and without exception they’ve commended the ideas but suggested a larger, more established company would be better placed to take the idea and turn it into reality. He asked if there is a will in government to sponsor that key stage of growing entrepreneurs from seed rather than encouraging them to hand them over?
Danny Kruger MP said he was very conscious of the problem, the UK is very good at innovation but less good at holding on to them. His view was the UK needs a more patient long-term sense of what value looks like, and not have a system that seeks a quick return. He knows the Chancellor is conscious of it and it’s part of the strategy to keep innovation in this country.
Bruce Davies, Co-Founder and joint Managing Director of Abundance Investment shared his experience of how his company backs businesses as they go into scale-up mode, and has seen how regulation is a big barrier for green businesses, even though there are some positive movements on the capital market side. He thinks if we can simplify the way we look at capital raising through a review of the prospectus directive to say, 20 to 30 million euros rather than eight million euros, this would be game changing and would open up a whole market of finance which is currently stagnating.
Tom Parkinson, Managing Director of SteamaCo raised concerns that all the efforts made by UK businesses and individuals to reduce our environmental impact will be swamped if developing countries with growing populations continue to burn fossil fuels, and the importance of taking a global view on changing behaviours.
Jo Hand, Co-Founder of Giki Zero echoed the importance of global behaviour change, identifying that 70% of carbon emissions can be attributed to household emissions, and unless consumers change the way they do things across the world we are not going to reach our targets.
Will Richardson, Founder and CEO of Green Element and Compare your Footprint raised the point that definitions around green terminology are currently unclear. He also stressed the need for the government to offer a clear strategy on what constitutes Net Zero.
Nick Gibbins, Co-Founder and Director of New Resource Partners, shared his observation that there is considerable support for green businesses out there, but it takes persistence. BEIS and Innovate UK can be clunky but there are some very good people involved. He suggested the government could do better at supporting businesses as they transition from public funding and grant programmes through to private investment. He also identified that adjusting the tax system to prioritise green energy would make a valuable contribution.
Alex Fisher, CEO of Saturn Bioponics shared that, as a food producer he has seen the imposed waste created at the retail end of the food supply line, and reducing the waste in the food supply chain is something the government could very quickly and cost effectively do to make a huge impact on the sustainability of food production. He also observed that there is a lot of talk about carbon, but there are other significant environmental issues which are also very pressing and need to be incorporated into discourse.
Professor Xiongwei Liu, Managing Director of Entrust Microgrid talked about the need to promote passive behaviour change in consumers. He suggested the government could help by promoting technologies which encourage small changes, such as limiting the temperature people can heat their homes and businesses, which most consumers would barely notice.
Dinesh Dharmija, serial entrepreneur, ex-MEP and currently promoting Ruserio Solar observed that the EU is providing significant funding to transition to green energy. They have put up 750 billion euros immediately for the 27 countries, and have committed a further trillion euros over the next 20 years, mainly to close down fossil fuel plants across Europe. He raised the question of how much finance the UK government has committed to green energy, and what the strategy is for spending it, recognising the UK would have different priorities and opportunities – for example, in wind energy rather than solar energy.
Andy Aitken, CEO and Co-Founder of Honest Mobile, shared the challenges his business had in gaining corporate clients as a relatively small and new supplier. He raised the point that this must affect a number of green businesses who are just starting out and sparked a wider conversation about how to persuade corporations to employ more innovative businesses as part of their sustainability drives.
Simon Daniel, Founder and CEO of Moixa, shared his experiences in choosing strategic investors who then become clients as they have an incentive to use your technology. This also enables suppliers to act as change leaders from the inside. He raised the challenge faced by innovators in future planning, and suggested that the government should provide a long-term roadmap setting out dates and goals to hit the 2050 Net Zero target so companies can adapt their products to future needs.
Jarmila Yu, Founder of YUnique Marketing. observed that while there has been an increase of interest in STEM, there are not enough teachers of these subjects. This is a problem for green businesses looking to attract talent as they scale, and more should be done to train more STEM teachers or encourage retired teachers to return to work.
Sofia Belcadi, Founder and CEO of 1001 Remedies, discussed how from her company's creation they set out to only work with truly sustainable suppliers, but the lack of quantifiable metrics made it challenging to choose the right companies to work with, particularly regarding logistics. She also raised the current pressing challenge in choosing sustainable logistic companies as the costs have soared during the pandemic, so companies are being forced to forgo sustainability to fulfil their orders.
Tom Bourne, Founder of Greenheart Consulting championed the B-Corp framework, and shared that part of their system encourages companies to create policies on engaging with sustainable suppliers, choosing new suppliers and engaging with existing suppliers on impact data. This could provide an opportunity for new suppliers who are already aligned with the corporation's impact goals.
Alexander Rhodes, Partner and Head of Purpose at Mishcon de Reyadiscussed how the law firm has helped over 100 companies go through the legal changes required to qualify and recently achieved B Corp Certification itself. He shared how valuable the B Corp framework is in making organisations look at aspects of the business which wouldn’t have been looked at otherwise.