Fergus Graham

Working with Future Water and BMG Research on our latest report on public attitudes to #water has been fascinating. Water is a complex subject. Despite the media attention for years, public understanding of how the sector works and how water gets to and from homes and businesses is low. Public understanding around the role we all need to play in conserving water is not high enough. This isn't the public's fault. We all need to double down on helping the public understand the UK's water story. And this includes the strategic industrial benefit the sector brings - skills, R&D, jobs and environmental benefits to name a few points. AMP8 will be based on plans to address some of the challenges we face in the UK. However, for AMP8 to be successful, we need to bring communities and society with us. Today's report tests the water on where public understanding is. It gives us a benchmark to start from and where industry needs to help. Thanks for your support Paul Horton, Mark Smith, Simon Wood, Panayiota Papouridou, Jimmy Coles and the Copper Consultancy team. https://lnkd.in/eydPg7xm

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bp has renewed its UK partnership with Retail Insight for an additional three years to continue reducing food waste and enhancing operational efficiencies across its over 300 convenience stores. Since 2019, bp has utilized Retail Insight's AI-powered WasteInsight solution to implement dynamic markdowns on near-expiry goods, improving sell-through rates and providing value to customers. Hannah Munns, UK Trading Director at bp, noted that WasteInsight has significantly reduced waste and improved sell-through across their estate. Kieran O'Brien, VP Customer Success EMEA at Retail Insight, expressed enthusiasm about extending the partnership and setting new benchmarks in waste reduction and operational efficiency. This collaboration underscores Retail Insight's commitment to delivering innovative solutions that drive sustainability and operational excellence in the retail sector. Conversations On Retail, Retail Insight, Paul Boyle, Mara Ispas, Brian Clark, Shelby Donhauser, Tom Coe, Graham Tahernia, Sarah Lansberry, Kieran O'Brien, Nicky Boyle, Jason Miles, Michelle Miller, Andrew Coe, Clarke Kappmeyer, Xander Friedländer, Jennifer Beasley, Chase Smith #Sustainability #RetailInnovation #AI #FoodWasteReduction #OperationalExcellence #Partnerships #RetailTech

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Boost Growth? I am struggling to understand how this Government thinks the Regulators are going to come up with ideas to boost growth. This includes OFWAT, the Regulator which has utterly failed to control the water utilities, OFGEN that has overseen the sale of our electricity utilities to overseas ownership and has no plan for the future. Would it not be a better idea to actually ask the engine room of growth, our manufacturing sector and our entrepreneurs, what they need to boost growth? #manufacturing #leadership #continuousimprovement https://lnkd.in/e6Nv4cE7

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Would be good to start the Labour government rule without making a catastrophic mistake. That would be to back the fossil industry's favourite solution for supposedly tackling climate change, 'carbon capture and storage', an unproven technology that gets to reuse most of the fossil fuel infrastructure. Doing this is doubling down on the hapless last Tory govt's disastrous cosy relationship with the fossil fuel industry. The inability to tell the good ideas from the duds is what we associate with mismanagement from the prior govt, but will Labour be any more discerning or do they also simply lack the scientific and engineering training to do so? #climatechange #innovation

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🌍 UK Government’s Carbon Market Principles: A Game-Changer for Wilder Carbon and Nature-Based Solutions 🌿 The UK government’s Principles for Voluntary Carbon and Nature Market Integrity send a clear message: high-integrity nature markets are vital to achieving global climate and biodiversity goals. This is a pivotal moment for nature markets, and for corporates looking to secure their role in a sustainable future.   At Wilder Carbon, we’ve been championing high-integrity, nature-based carbon solutions since our inception. With our Wilder Carbon Standard for Nature and Climate under assessment for the The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), this announcement reinforces our approach and highlights the urgency for action.   ✅ A Call to Action for Corporates The principles are more than guidelines—they’re a wake-up call for businesses to: 1️⃣ Embed carbon credits into their decarbonisation plans. 2️⃣ Invest in high-integrity solutions that restore ecosystems. 3️⃣ Plan now to secure credits as demand rises ahead of 2030.   ⏳ With time running short, integrating nature-based solutions is no longer optional—it’s essential.   ✅ Why Wilder Carbon? We align seamlessly with the government’s principles: Supporting value chain decarbonisation alongside carbon credit use. Enabling rigorous, science-backed projects that ensure real and lasting impact. Emphasising transparency and credible reporting to avoid greenwashing. Fostering collaboration to grow and protect the integrity of nature markets. 🌟 Act Now for Climate and Nature The UK government’s announcement is a strong signal to the market. Businesses that act today will lead the way in building trust, driving impact, and meeting their sustainability goals. At Wilder Carbon, we’re ready to partner with forward-thinking organisations to make this vision a reality. 🌳 Together, we can secure a wilder, more sustainable future. #ClimateAction #NatureBasedSolutions #CarbonMarkets #Sustainability #NetZero #VCM

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The UK government has introduced six principles aimed at improving the integrity of the voluntary carbon market (VCM) and nature-based markets. These principles focus on ensuring that carbon credits are credible, additional, and used responsibly by companies to meet their climate goals. The government’s policy paper, launched by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves, outlines guidelines for what constitutes "high-integrity" carbon credits. It emphasizes the need for independent verification, transparent accounting to prevent double counting, and mechanisms to compensate for reversals, such as wildfires affecting forestry projects. Key points include: -Carbon credits must support projects that protect carbon sinks not otherwise protected. -Suppliers should use conservative baselines for calculating carbon reductions. -The principles call for protecting biodiversity, respecting Indigenous rights, avoiding misleading claims like “carbon neutral,” and encouraging companies to disclose credit use in sustainability reports. The UK government plans to consult on the implementation and enforcement of these principles in 2025, through guidance, standards, and regulatory oversight. The announcement has been welcomed by stakeholders, including the Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative, which sees this as raising global standards in the sector. UK climate envoy Rachel Kyte emphasized that carbon markets could help drive private finance into the climate transition, with the VCM potentially reaching tens of billions of dollars by the end of the decade. https://lnkd.in/g2YiZTJJ.

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Once upon a time, the focus on palm oil and its effects on climate change and biodiversity made sense for the existence of groups like the Zoological Society of London and its SPOTT Considering that we know today about the many threats to biodiversity and contributors to climate change, ZSL risks irrelevance in these topics with its narrow vision on palm oil and tropical forests and commodities. https://lnkd.in/ggFRJ4ZU

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📢New Blog Post ➡️The SNP and Environmental Policies 🔗https://lnkd.in/eDA6sx5U Here are 5 hashtags for the post: #SNPolicies #EnvironmentalPolicies #NetZero #GreenScotland #SustainableFuture

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The Industrial #Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) has launched a refreshed Scottish #Bioresource Mapping Tool to help more businesses make the case for investing in biotechnology facilities and processes. The platform is designed to help businesses identify the availability of different #feedstocks – from agriculture and forestry waste to food and drink co-products, industrial carbon dioxide and seaweed – that could form the basis of a range of new, greener, bio-based products and processes. Materials that are seen as waste or by-products from one industry could be transformed into high value products including biofuels and #bioplastics. https://lnkd.in/e-96HqWx

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The announcement by the Science Based Targets initiative board on their plans to allow environmental attributes for the abatement of scope 3 emissions has divided many, ratcheting up the already heated argument for and against the VCM. As is often the case when these issues are discussed by global media, the voices of those in the global south are drowned out by those with the microphone. In order to have our voices heard, we signed an open letter with others who find themselves with similar frustrations. The letter was covered by Reuters over the weekend. 🖊️ We support the carbon mitigation hierarchy of avoid, reduce and compensate as a critical pathway to tackling the climate crisis, and wish to highlight that when companies compensate for their emissions with high-quality carbon credits they are channeling much needed finance to projects on the ground that reduce and remove emissions. Often these projects are located in the global south where climate finance is desperately needed. 💵 Read this Reuters article that follows the events that have occurred since the announcement by SBTi last week. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGX9GCqK #climateaction #scope3 #emissions #indigenouspeople

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As discussions around the announcement by the SBTi's board on their plans to allow environmental attributes for the abatement of Scope3 emissions continues, take time to consider the impact that such a decision can have on helping to close the nature funding gap and deliver climate finance to frontline communities. 💰 Read Carbon Tanzania's post below and help us to amplify their message. 👇 #carboncredits #voluntarycarbonmarket #finance #nature #community

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👏 We would like to applaud the many companies and NGOs from the Global South supporting the Science Based Targets initiative’s board of trustees. Last week, the SBTI’s trustees shared evidence-based plans which would allow companies to use carbon credits to fulfil a portion of their Scope 3 emission reduction targets. Such bold backing of carbon credits means that much-needed funding will finally flow to the communities that are doing the hard work of reducing deforestation loss, restoring grasslands, reforesting mangroves and improving biodiversity for a healthy planet on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Read the post from one of our flagship portfolio partners, Carbon Tanzania, to learn more about the open letter sent to the board to support its plans. #VoluntaryCarbonMarket #EmissionReduction #CarbonCredits

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Scotland Needs Smart Global Capital. In my article that was published today on Insider.co.uk, I discuss how the Scottish ecosystem can benefit from "smart global capital": international investors who bring new perspectives, connections, and ways of working to high-potential companies in Scotland. It is time for us to embrace new ways of working, and understanding how markets around the world are rapidly developing. We need more of an "outside-in" perspective. Later in June, Sustainable Alpha and Scottish Development International are bringing another cohort of international investors to Scotland for a week to meet some of the best companies across #SpaceTech, #BioTech, #LifeSciences, #IoT, #ClimateTech, #AI, and #Fintech. We will also have a specific session for #FemaleFounders. Mark Logan, Nick Freer, Scottish Enterprise, The Scottish Government, Filament STAC - Smart Things Accelerator Centre, Space Scotland, Scottish Space Network, Mint Ventures , AccelerateHER , Edinburgh BioQuarter, University of Glasgow Adam Smith Business School, Bayes Centre, Opportunity North East Limited, Adrian Gillespie, Reuben Aitken, Angus MacFadyen, Angus Robertson, GlobalScot, Stephanie M. Shorter, PhD, Aman Verjee, CFA, James Varga, Professor Eleanor Shaw OBE, Ana Stewart, Kelvin Capital, Eos, Startup Grind Scotland, Techscaler, Cameron Gordon

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In 2025/6, under European Union requirements, corporates will need to start reporting on their biodiversity impacts, and publish defined biodiversity action plans, including KPIs and monitoring, in order to align with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Here, Samuel Sinclair talks to Natalie Kenway about how companies are beginning to analyse their impact on biodiversity loss within their business and supply chains, and how this can massively vary from company to company. https://lnkd.in/eTenD-mV #CSRD #Biodiversity #Reporting

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🗞 UK’s Principles for voluntary carbon and nature market integrity:   “Companies and investors need clear signals that taking action and being ambitious on climate using #VoluntaryCarbonMarkets is supported and recommended by policy makers, and that is what the UK Government is providing today. The principles for high integrity voluntary carbon markets are well aligned with the VCMI Claims Code, establishing a robust framework for ambitious, transparent use of VCMs to fund climate action. Alongside the guidance and guardrails, we also need the incentives that will encourage the private sector to use carbon credits with integrity and confidence in this critical decade,” says Mark Kenber, Executive Director, VCMI.   The private sector has a critical role to play in meeting global climate goals and financing climate action. It has been estimated that voluntary carbon markets could channel an additional $50 billion in finance for climate action from the private sector by 2030.   The UK government’s principles, alongside those from other countries including the United States and the G7, recognize the essential role that high-integrity #VCMs must play in the global low carbon transformation. Global organizations like VCMI and The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market (ICVCM) have laid the groundwork, but government support, as demonstrated by the UK, is essential to harness their full potential.   The Principles for voluntary carbon and nature market integrity are:  1. Credits should only be used in addition to ambitious action within value chains, consistent with a science-aligned pathway to domestic and global climate and environmental goals 2. Suppliers should ensure credits meet recognised high integrity criteria that help ensure credits deliver the environmental benefits they claim 3. Buyers should measure and disclose the planned use of credits as part of sustainability reporting 4. Credit users should set and disclose long term and interim targets and strategies to achieve them 5. Claims involving the use of credits should, in addition to being consistent with these Principles, accurately communicate an organisation or product’s overall environmental impact, including by using appropriate and accurate terminology 6. Market players should co-operate with others ensure to support standardisation, wider information sharing, more equitable market access, reduced transaction costs, transparency and interoperability The VCMI #ClaimsCode is included in the public consultation which will launch in early 2025. 📖 The inclusion of VCMI's #Scope3Claim (currently in beta) within the consultation is also an important step in addressing a complex issue which it is essential businesses are able to tackle. The Claim, still being developed in parallel by VCMI, will enable companies to go further and faster in taking action, where progress on scope 3 emission has met challenges. 🌐🏭 More on the Principles: https://bit.ly/3UV2hyN

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🌍 Introducing: Scaling Quality in the VCM – Your Guide to Navigating Carbon Markets 🌍 We’re excited to announce the launch of Renoster’s online course, a comprehensive exploration of carbon markets designed to equip you with the knowledge and tools to excel in the rapidly evolving Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM). 💡 Why Take This Course? Whether you’re an ESG professional, a corporate leader navigating climate strategies, someone interested in a career pivot, or simply a sustainability enthusiast, understanding carbon quality is key to creating lasting environmental impact. This course digs deep into the intricacies of carbon concepts, providing actionable insights to help you make informed decisions in your climate journey. 📚 What You’ll Learn Over 14 thoroughly crafted modules taught by Renoster team members, Elias Ayrey (PhD), Mateus Mendes, and Mary Ignatiadis, we’ll cover key concepts like: ✅ Carbon 101: Understanding climate change, the carbon cycle, and the history of carbon markets. ✅ Corporate Responsibility: Dive into ESG reporting requirements, carbon accounting, and SBTI’s role in climate strategies. ✅ Compliance, Voluntary, and Beyond: Explore key differences between carbon market types, major registries, and what they mean for global climate goals. ✅ Carbon Projects & Impact: Analyze project types (nature-based, DAC, biochar, cookstoves, etc.), their benefits, and controversies. ✅ Carbon Quality Rubric: Learn Renoster’s proprietary approach to evaluating carbon credits for transparency and impact. ✅ Innovations & DMRV: Discover cutting-edge technologies like LiDAR, dynamic baselines, and tonne-year accounting. ✅ Carbon Pricing & Procurement: Gain insights into pricing strategies and intelligent market navigation. …and much more, including practical tools, real-world examples, and guest lectures from industry leaders Senken, AlliedOffsets, and Kita. 💸 Course Details: • Start Date: February 17, 2025 • Price: $1500 per individual • Early Bird Discount: 20% off until January 15 with CODE: VCM2025 If you are a corporate wanting multiple seats for your staff, please reach out to [email protected] for details. 📅 Pre-order Today! Our course opens today for enrollment - don’t miss your chance to join the climate leaders shaping the future of the VCM. 🔗 Check out the curriculum and enroll for the course here → https://lnkd.in/gPGxdyNC #CarbonMarkets #VCM #ScalingQuality #CarbonEducation #NetZeroGoals

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🌍 Scaling Quality in the Voluntary Carbon Market 🌏 We are looking forward to providing a specialised risk management guest lecture for Renoster's upcoming online course. At Kita, we strongly believe that education, scientific evidence and transparency are key to building a strong, trustworthy carbon market where investment supports high-quality, impactful climate solutions. Find out more about the course below. #carbonmarkets #carboninsurance #riskmanagement

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