Cheshire businesses and organisations are being urged to sign up for a virtual conference aimed at tackling climate change.

The Cheshire Net Zero Carbon Conference, hosted by Reaseheath College, Cheshire East Council and Sustainable Nantwich, will be held on Wednesday October 27, and is a local response to COP26, the biggest international Climate Summit to date which opens in Glasgow on October 31.

The conference aims to support and guide businesses and organisations across all sectors to successfully meet regional, national and global net zero carbon targets. It is free and open to all.

Other event supporters include Cheshire & Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, the University of Chester, the National Farmers Union, Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) and utilities company EQUANS.

Headline speaker will be Jonathon Porritt CBE, a renowned international environmental expert, writer, broadcaster and campaigner who has spent decades informing governments and businesses world-wide on sustainability.

The conference will begin at 9am with a series of short keynote sessions from specialists in the field of sustainability and close at 1pm after a practical session to help businesses understand how they can measure their carbon usage and start planning for change.

A series of industry-sector think tanks will be set up in following months, enabling organisations to develop long-lasting partnerships which will help to launch and drive a localised programme to deliver government targets.

LEP Chief Executive Philip Cox said: “Cheshire and Warrington has a bright future ahead as a world leader in low carbon technology and innovation. This will drive growth and reduce carbon emissions on a national as well as a regional scale.

“There is a pressing need for all of us to put plans in place to decarbonise. Our area has all the components needed to achieve this vision and there is a massive opportunity for local enterprise to deliver it.”

Reaseheath’s Principal Marcus Clinton commented: “This event will bring together organisations, deliver a common understanding of challenges and establish models of best practice.

“Reaseheath College, University Centre Reaseheath and our strategic partner the University of Chester are committed to supporting this vital agenda through our collaborative Institute of Sustainability and Food Innovation, which combines specialist resources, the expertise of staff and employers and the talents of our young people to really ‘make a difference’

“Businesses of all types and sizes have a carbon footprint which they can review and actively decrease. Together we can gear up for a vibrant and innovative zero carbon economy.”

Jonathon Porritt summed up: “Climate change is here. Fires and floods, extreme weather hitting harvests, disease driven by environmental destruction – we haven’t got an option but to change the way we do business if we want to avert the spiral into chaos. Whatever your business, this is your business too.”

“While Governments can set the international rules, business is the engine of change. You have the power to turn our future round. Together we can make the shift. Future generations are depending on us all.”

Cheshire Net Zero Carbon Conference

Wednesday 27 October  9:00am – 1.00pm

To register please visit www.reaseheathbusinesshub.com/net-zero-carbon-conference

or to register your interest in our follow-up sector specific think tanks, email Iain Clarke, Assistant Principal Land Based and Sustainability iain.clarke@reaseheath.ac.uk