SustainNET

Steve Rowe, Koru Consulting

Over the last eighteen months, Koru Consulting has created a participatory website called Klimate Konnect. Its aim is to accelerate progress to net zero carbon emissions, through innovation, networking and collaboration, and to optimise the use of limited financial resources and people. Our original project was sector neutral but over the last few months we have focused on local communities.

Why have we chosen to do this?

Many organisations like big companies, governmental bodies and – to a lesser extent, small-medium enterprises (SMEs) – will have their own net zero plans. However, that will only account for around a maximum of 60% of carbon emissions at most. Residential and private car emissions account for the rest.

In some urban areas this can be as much as 70%. There is no doubt that more and more local authorities realise that they cannot get to net zero without the support of the people, and their citizens need to change their behaviours. They also realise that while they can affect behaviour change through policy (e.g. low public transport fares, high city/town centre parking charges and free or heavily discounted roof insulation) they realise they need to engage their population.

Realistically, no local authority will effect a discussion with all its citizens and if they could, they could probably not manage the volume of feedback. They need intermediaries to reach the people and this is where local community and action groups, not-for-profits, parish councils and schools among others can help bridge the gap. Let’s just call this group “communities”, we now use the expression that “it is impossible to reach net zero without communities and individual.“

We will take you through our journey, with a few slides and by using the product to show how we can network, collaborate and innovate our way to net zero.