London Climate Tech: August Events
Future proteins, nature-based solutions, art, fashion, and 20 other meetups this month
Welcome to the first edition of London Climate Tech!
After nine months of writing weekly events emails over at New York Climate Tech, we’re finally expanding! Expect easy-to-scan emails keeping you posted on the latest happenings and events in the London climate community.
Start the month off this Thursday with the Sustainability Professionals meetup in at at the Anchor Bankside in Southwark, or go further afield to learn about nature-based solutions at Cator Park in Kidbrook Village. Close out the week in style on Sunday with two talks on fashion sustainability at Inspirer Hub in Mayfair.
If you have more time this week, check out a few ongoing shows. Start with climate art in Kensington at St John the Baptist Church for “Gaia,” a massive projection of the earth by Luke Jerram, then head to the Japan House for an exhibition on the Inujima ‘Art House Project’ (open all month). If you’re feeling more practical, swing by Westminster’s Energy Show Home to learn about heat pumps and home efficiency improvements (open the next two weeks).
There’s loads more going on the rest of the month, sign up to get next week’s update!
Cheers,
Alec and Sonam
This Month’s Theme: Climate Policy
We’re trying something new: a monthly theme to focus on different elements of climate in our newsletter and events.
This month we’re addressing one of the most important, stressful, and difficult parts of climate change: climate policy. We’ll be hosting a talk in New York on the state’s climate legislation and we’d love to host similar events in London. We look forward to hearing ideas from you, our readers!
Hot Take: The Title Says It All
It's so hot, they've wrapped a bridge in foil in the UK.
It's so hot, a museum roof melted in China.
It's so hot, pipes are bursting in the US.
It’s so hot, wheat crops are damaged in India.
It’s so hot, meteorologists named a heat wave for the first time in Spain.
IT’S SO HOT.
A police officer gives water to a British soldier wearing a traditional bearskin hat, standing on guard at Buckingham Palace. The record temperature hit 40.2C in London on July 19, 2022. Photo by Matt Dunham, Associated Press.
These were the headlines that caught our eyes, but we didn’t need our Twitter feeds to tell us that the thermometer was off the charts around the globe.
Here in London, we broke record temperatures. Major blazes left homes gutted across the area and the Fire Brigade declared several ‘major incidents.’ Some rail services were cancelled after tracks overheated and overhead cables failed. And with energy supply constrained given the war in Ukraine, energy prices went through the roof. Officials paid a record price of £9,724.54 per megawatt to ensure electricity for South London residents - 5,000% higher than its usual average price of £178 per megawatt hour. Startups like OhmConnect are creating virtual power plants, incentivizing residents to turn off their high energy appliances and helping the local utilities manage record-high electricity demand. Every little bit counts!
Climate change is making heatwaves hotter and longer around the world. According to Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Imperial College Grantham Institute in London, the heatwaves in Europe alone have increased in frequency by a factor of 100 or more. In New Delhi, India, temperatures have soared to 42C degrees for 25+ days this year, and this was even before summer began. Over 35% of the wheat crop in the “bread bowl of India” has been damaged, adding to a global food shortage, particularly for poor countries.
Hammersmith Bridge wrapped in foil as London temperatures soared and put significant pressure on the city’s infrastructure. Photo by William Mata, Evening Standard.
All of these outcomes are primarily caused by human actions as we continue to pour GHG emissions into the atmosphere. The current heatwaves are occurring as earth has warmed by about 1.2C above pre-industrial levels. Nations pledged to limit the increase to 1.5C at the COP26 UN Climate Summit last November, but we’ve got to do A LOT to get there and these current events show the urgency of reaffirming lofty climate pledges!
The nonprofit organization Living Roofs has worked with the Greater London Authority for the last 10 years to promote green roofs across the region. Click on this map to discover green roof coverage in all 32 boroughs. Map by Living Roofs.
At the local level, cities are doing all they can to reduce the impact of heatwaves for communities - from implementing the London Environment Strategy to protect and enhance green spaces to painting roofs white in New York to reflect the sun’s rays (9.2 million square feet of roofs, to be exact!) to installing lighter cooling pavement in Paris to reduce urban heat island effects.
We also need to invest in more heavy duty adaptation measures – changing the materials we use for our buildings, transport networks, and other infrastructure so that we keep the roads from melting and the rails from buckling. It’s a tall order for us in the climate tech community to build the sustainable hardware of our cities in an ever-warming world!
By Sonam Velani
Events This Month
🍺 People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Professionals Meetup: Thu, 4 Aug
🌲 Exploring and Connecting with Nature-based Solutions: Thu, 4 Aug
👗 Fashion Curation and Sustainability Talk: Sun, 7 Aug
👕 Sustainable Fashion talk: The Power of Choice: Sun, 7 Aug
🌍 Gaia by Luke Jerram at St John the Baptist Church: Tue, 2 Aug to Sat, 6 Aug
🏡 Energy Saving Show Home: Open Day tours: Tue, 2 Aug to Thu, 11 Aug
🎨 Symbiosis: Living Island: All of August
🌦 A Thousand Words for Weather: Tue, 2 Aug - Sat, 20 Aug
🌱 MCJ London: August Social: Mon, 15 Aug
🌆 BEF Sustainability Sandbox Session: Why do we build?: Tue, 16 Aug
🎴 Climate Fresk workshop x Islington Climate Centre (London): Wed, 17 Aug
🌾 Growing Underground urban farm tour: Thu, 18 Aug
⛓ How to mitigate ESG risk in your supply chain, Thu, 18 Aug
☕️ Waltham Forest Climate Cafe: Sat, 20 Aug
🌐 Southwark Climate Action Plan: Community Analysis: Sat, 20 Aug
💬 High Halstow Climate Conversation: Tue, 23 Aug
🐆 How rewilding transforms the world: Tue, 23 Aug
🪴 terra{fora} | The Great Indoors with James Wong: Wed, 24 Aug
🥂 Monthly Social Enterprise Drinks: Thu, 25 Aug
🧫 Future Proteins Monthly Meetups: Wed, 31 Aug
🍺 People, Planet, Pint: Sustainability Professionals Meetup - London
When: Thu, 4 August at 19:00 – 22:00 BST
Where: Coffee Bar Area @ The Anchor Bankside, 34 Park Street, London, SE1 9EF
Come and meet other business owners and professionals working in the Net Zero, BCorp and Environmental space!
No agenda, workshops or webinars. Just chat over some nibbles and beers.
Started in Glasgow during COP26, this relaxed event brings together those with a shared passion for sustainability in all its forms. We meet monthly to chat about what's going on in the Net Zero / Sustainability space, "network" and meet others who are interested in the industry.
Let's see where the conversation, and night, takes us! Chat with other industry experts and talk directly to business owners facing the challenges you're trying to solve. Find others who can collaborate and help you on your journey and have fun doing so!
🌲 Exploring and Connecting with Nature-based Solutions
When: Thu, 4 August at 16:00 – 17:30 BST
Where: Cator Park, Cator Park, Kidbrooke Village, London, SE3
Interactive site-visit of Cator Park, Kidbrooke Village to learn and experience the value of NBS to our cities, and to ourselves
There is growing recognition of the need for nature-based solutions (NBS) to enhance the resilience of our ecosystems, built environments, and communities. There is also a growing need to focus on our own health and wellbeing and reconnect post-Covid.
The first in our series of exploring NBS and the benefits of connecting with nature will be a site-visit of Cator Park, Kidbrooke Village learning and experiencing the value of NBS to our cities, and to ourselves.
Cator Park at Kidbrooke Village is an award-winning example of how urban NBS can significantly increase brownfield sites’ ecological value while creating resilient, restorative places for local communities.
Developers, design consultants, local authorities, and any built environment professionals open to advocating for nature-based solutions.
🌍 Gaia by Luke Jerram at St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road
When: Tue, 2 August to Sat, 6 August
Where: St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, London, W14 8AH
Gaia by Luke Jerram at St John the Baptist Church
Gaia is a touring artwork by UK artist Luke Jerram. Measuring seven meters in diameter, Gaia features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery of the Earth’s surface*. The artwork provides the opportunity to see our planet on this scale, floating in three - dimensions.A specially made surround sound composition by BAFTA award winning Composer Dan Jones is played alongside the sculpture. In Greek Mythology Gaia is the personification of the Earth. Gaia has been created in partnership with the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Bluedot and the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres.
🏡 Energy Saving Show Home: Open Day tours
When: Tue, 2 August to Thu, 11 August
Where: 36a Bravington Road, London, W9 3AH, Bravington Road
Book a tour of our innovative new energy-saving show home to find out how to reduce your energy use and save money on energy bills at home.
Westminster City Council has transformed a one-bedroom terraced flat in Queen's Park into a warm, healthy and energy-efficient show home. Find out how to cut your energy bills, raise the Energy Performance of your home and reduce carbon emissions by booking a 30-45 minute tour on one of our Open Days.
During the tour, you can view the measures implemented including insulation, double glazing and an air source heat pump. Tours will be led by the team who undertook the work and will include practical information to help you save energy and reduce emissions in your own home. The home has been transformed as part of the council’s plans to retrofit our housing estates to net zero emissions by 2040.
The open days are for people living in the City of Westminster only.
🎨 Symbiosis: Living Island
When: All of August
Where: Japan House London, 101 - 111 Kensington High Street, London, W8 5SA
Book your free ticket for ‘Symbiosis: Living Island’, at Japan House London
Explore how an extraordinary living art project has transformed the landscape of the island of Inujima and enriched the lives of its inhabitants. Since 2010, this tiny island in the Seto Inland Sea has been host to the ever-evolving Inujima ‘Art House Project’, an innovative scheme bringing artists and architects together with the small, dwindling local population. Central to the project is the concept of ‘symbiosis’ – the interaction between people, nature and architecture – with art installations, buildings and activities linking inextricably with their surroundings. Follow a journey around the island, with architectural models of the artists’ works, videos, photographs and testimonies from residents on the transformative impact of the project on their lives. Discover how Inujima is a vision of collaboration and co-existence for the future. The exhibition has been created by the Inujima ‘Art House Project’ artistic director Hasegawa Yuko, Director of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, and internationally renowned architect Sejima Kazuyo, founding SANAA member and Pritzker award winner. They are inspirational in tackling the regeneration of rural communities through accessible art and architecture.
🌦 A Thousand Words for Weather
When: Tue, 2 August - Sat, 20 August
Where: Senate House Library, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU
Artangel presents a new sound installation about the weather, environment, and translation inside London's iconic Senate House Library.
A Thousand Words for Weather is a specially commissioned sound installation presented by Artangel and Senate House Library that probes the connection between the environment, language, translation, sound and silence.
This new sonic experience was born out of a collaboration between writer Jessica J. Lee, sound artist Claudia Molitor, and seven London-based poets who speak ten of the most commonly heard mother tongues in the city.
Each poet chose and defined ten words for the weather in Arabic, Bengali, English, German, French, Mandarin, Polish, Spanish, Turkish, or Urdu. They then went on to translate one another's chosen weather words or phrases, contributing to a unique multilingual weather ‘dictionary’ that seeks to generate a shared language describing our collective experiences of changing climate and environment, whilst exploring the nuances of language
MCJ London: August Social
When: Mon, 15 Aug at 18:30 - 21:30 BST
Where: The Understudy, Upper Ground, London SE1 9PX, UK
At MCJ Collective, we believe in building deep community connections and supporting each other however we can. At our monthly socials, you can converse and connect with entrepreneurs, operators, investors, academics, explorers, students and more who are all passionate about climate solutions. When you register, you'll be asked to input an 'ask' and an 'offer'. These will be shared with the group beforehand.
Non-MCJ +1s very welcome! Please encourage your guests to register beforehand.
Location: The Understudy, part of the National Theatre. SE1 9PX.
👗 Fashion Curation and Sustainability Talk
When: Sun, 7 August 2022 at 11:30 – 13:30 BST
Where: 125 New Bond St, 125 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1DY
Fashion Sustainability in Museum Curation Workshop
This talk will map out the future trends of sustainable fashion and understand and point out the fundamental methods of fashion curation.
Through gathering of sustainable ideas, exchanging sustainable culture, promoting sustainable lifestyles, you will able to understanding the curation for sustainable fashion cross over different disciplines and industry.
👕 Sustainable Fashion talk: The Power of Choice
When: Sun, 7 August at 15:00 – 16:00 BST
Where: IN-HUB STORE X SBM pop-up, 125 New Bond Street, London, W1S 1DY
Is sustainable fashion really sustainable? How to identify sustainable materials?
Speaker: Moyang, the founder of MOYA London.
Moyang, who has worked in the fashion industry for more than 10 years, founded the luxury sustainable handbag brand MOYA London. She successfully launched and ran the crowdfunding campaign in March this year, and was reported by many fashion magazines Vogue, Tatler, and The Independent.
In this fashion forum, Moyang will share some tips on sustainable fashion, so that everyone can not only rely on the information conveyed by the brand, but choose environmentally friendly products more autonomously and objectively. Leather or plain leather? Local or imported? Recycled or natural? When consumers face these choices, they have more opinions of their own! Through the power of choices, we can make a better future!
🌆 BEF Sustainability Sandbox Session: Why do we build?
When: Tue, 16 August at 18:00 – 21:00 BST
Where: Allies and Morrison, 85 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0HX
A cross-disciplinary network for young professionals working in the built environment to learn together and champion sustainability.
Nextgen collaboration for climate action: calling all architects, engineers, ecologists, cost and planning consultants, project managers, contractors and specialists in the built environment! Buro Happold and Allies and Morrison have created a cross-disciplinary network for young professionals to learn together and champion sustainability in more projects by applying each and understanding other’s skills and expertise.
The second session will be going back to basics centred around asking 'Why do we build? '. This include a series of talks and group breakout sessions to discuss in further details and present back.
🎴 Climate Fresk workshop x Islington Climate Centre (London)
When: Wed, 17 August at 18:00 - 21:00 PM BST
Where: Angel Central, 21 Parkfield Street, London, N1 0PS
“Climate Fresk” is a fun, collaborative and creative workshop on climate change.
« Climate Fresk » is a workshop conceived in France, that aims at raising awareness and understanding among people about climate change. Based on the IPCC report, it explains the causes and consequences of climate change. It gives the opportunity to learn a lot in a very short period of time and is meant for both novices and experts.
The workshop is based on a 42-card game. Each card represents a cause or a consequence of climate change. As a team, guided by your facilitator, you are to find the cause-effect relationship between the different components of climate change. Collective intelligence will get you from one deck of card to the next!
🌾 Growing Underground Urban Farm Tour
When: Thu, 18 August at 18:00 - 19:30 BST
Where: Growing Underground, 1a Carpenter's Place, London, SW4 7TD
Feeling curious? Growing Underground operates 33 meters underneath the streets of Clapham, London in a former WWII air raid shelter.
Forget what you think a farm looks like and follow the pink glow…
Will you join us down the rabbit hole?
⛓ How to mitigate ESG risk in your supply chain
When: Thu, 18 August at 18:00 – 21:30 BST
Where: The Athenaeum Hotel & Residences, 116 Piccadilly, London, W1J 7BJ
Executive 3-course dinner at the Athenaeum Hotel
Businesses today recognize the importance of having a positive impact on the world and embracing a social purpose beyond simply generating profits. Not only is it the right thing to do, but they face increasing pressure from multiple sources to make greater commitments and improved progress towards their environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) objectives.
Join our networking dinner and discover key insights from over 800 global procurement and supply chain leaders on how they are navigating these challenges today and what key takeaways you'll gain to take back into your own organisation.
☕️ Waltham Forest Climate Cafe
When: Sat, 20 August at 11:00 - 12:30 BST
Where: Stone Mini Market, 721 High Road Leytonstone, London, E11 4RD
A space to express your thoughts and feelings about climate change, without judgment.
The Waltham Forest climate cafe is a space for people to express their thoughts and feelings about climate change. It's a place to listen to others without judging and without pressure to do anything.
The climate cafe has been set up by a group of local residents and organisations. It's free and open to anyone over 18. It's held in the morning on the third Saturday of every month. Wednesday evening sessions are held nearby.
🌐 Southwark Climate Action Plan: Community Analysis
When: Sat, 20 August at 13:00 – 17:00 BST
Where: Pembroke House, 80 Tatum Street, London, SE17 1QR
Join us to discuss the revised Southwark Climate Action Plan and how it connects to local campaigning priorities
After declaring a climate emergency in 2019, Southwark Council first adopted a Climate Action Plan in summer 2021. In response, we gathered as local campaigners and provided feedback to Southwark Council emphasising how the borough Climate Action Plan needed to be significantly strengthened. Our resulting letter can be found here: https://xrsouthwark.earth/climate-action-plan-community-letter. The council took on board some of our feedback and have since updated the Climate Action Plan in 2022, which was taken to Cabinet in July 2022.
One year on, XRS lobbying group members invite you for a follow up conversation at Pembroke House, on August 20th 2022, from 1pm-5pm (with a social afterwards!)
💬 High Halstow Climate Conversation
When: Tue, 23 August at 19:00 – 20:00 BST
Where: High Halstow Memorial Hall, The Street, High Halstow, ME3 8SJ
Part of the Medway Climate Conversation Tour
Our Medway climate conversation tour will next be coming to High Halstow on the evening of the 23rd of August. Come and hear from your local Labour councillors, including Group Leader Cllr Vince Maple, as we outline our vision for our area and environment. You will also have the chance to have your own say.
🐆 How rewilding transforms the world
When: Tue, 23 August at 19:00 – 20:30 BST
Where: The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BS
Discover the success stories of rewilding from across the world.
Rewilding is a radical new approach to wildlife conservation, seeking to restore entire ecosystems.
Join wildlife journalist Millie Kerr as she explores the return of jaguars to an Argentinian national park, the first-ever pangolin reintroduction project in South Africa, and giant tortoises that are aiding the recovery of ecosystems throughout the Galápagos Islands.
🪴 terra{fora} | The Great Indoors with James Wong
When: Wed, 24 August at 18:00 – 19:30 BST
Where: Fora - Borough, 180 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1LB
Join James Wong as he takes you on a virtual tour of his experiments with houseplants and reveals the tips and tricks of how to create them.
Our terra{fora} events are a journey towards sustainability - not only a bold statement of our commitment to the environment, but also a joyful celebration of our power to effect change.
Sharing his tiny central London flat with over 500 houseplants, Kew-trained botanist James Wong knows a thing or two about creating indoor jungles.
From tiny moss terrariums and planted tanks, to indoor lily ponds, fern-encrusted fountains and lush living walls, James will take you on a virtual tour of his experiments with houseplants and reveal the tips and tricks of how to create them.
🥂 Monthly Social Enterprise Drinks
When: Thu, 25 August at 17:00 - 22:00 BST
Where: TRAMPOLINE, 27 Camden Passage, London, N1 8EA
|| A monthly social for the social enterprise sector in the UK ||
Come along to our monthly networking event and meet other social entrepreneurs based in London and beyond!
The aim of our event is for you to engage in conversations and build connections with other social entrepreneurs in order to spark ideas and maybe even walk away with a business partner or connections to potential clients.
Please note there is only a limited amount of seats reserved at our cafe so please reserve your tickets early to ensure access to our event.
🧫 Future Proteins Monthly Meetups
When: Wed, 31 August at 18:30 - 20:30 BST
Where: The Crown, 116 Cloudesley Road, Islington, London, N1 0EB
Monthly meet up for people working, or hoping to work, to future proteins (plant-based, fermentation and cell. ag.)
These monthly meetups are designed for people in the plant-based, fermentation and cell. ag. industries to meet, chat and share ideas.
Ours is a fledgling industry, with many challenges and opportunities. Our hope is that these events can help us connect with colleagues and build a support network for all that is to come. Many of us have shared reasons for working in the sector and as we continue to build the industry there are many shared challenges we'll have to face like recruitment, regulation and consumer education. Our aim is to help people in the industry connect and help overcome some of these challenges.
Please note, this group is for people working, or hoping to work, in future proteins, not for those interested in following a plant-based diet. If you're interested in groups to discuss vegan/plant-based diets we recommend the London Vegan meetup (https://www.meetup.com/londonvegan/)
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We know all of you are cooking up great events that highlight the latest and greatest in our collective effort to save our city - and our planet! 🌍 We would love to spread the word. Please share any event details and we'll add them to the list.
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We're excited to grow the Climate Tech community in cities across the globe! What started as an 8-person mid-pandemic outdoor dinner in New York has since morphed into a 1,500+ strong and ever-growing group of rockstars trying to change the world. We're looking for volunteers to help us expand our programming into a full roster of community-wide meetups, subject-specific events, mentorship programs, site visits, and more. We aim to be a community resource - built for and by our community. Share your thoughts and we look forward to working with you!
London Climate Tech: August Events
Great list, I've been looking for something like this!