HRH Prince Charles, the Duke of Cornwall and the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance will be among the speakers at the Cornwall Chamber of Commerce’s Sustainable Growth Conference.
The event, hosted at Exeter University’s Environment & Sustainability Institute on the Penryn Campus, will be held on World Ocean Day (Tuesday June 8), in the week that world leaders and their delegations gather in the Duchy for the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay.
It will focus on G7 themes and providing practical solutions for what businesses, enterprises and individuals can actively do to improve their sustainability, counter climate change and work towards “net zero” targets for carbon emissions.
This conference will demonstrate how Cornwall has taken a lead in understanding and delivering sustainability, driving changes in agri-tech, education, health, energy, and reducing inequality, that will deliver a more sustainable, fairer future.
Speakers following Prince Charles and Sir Patrick – and a joint welcome by Cornwall Chamber CEO Kim Conchie and Eden Project Co-Founder Sir Tim Smit – include Exeter University’s Professor Fiona Charnley, Surfers Against Sewage CEO Hugo Tagholm, DEFRA Secretary of State George Eustice MP, Cornwall Council CEO Kate Kennally and Geothermal Energy pioneer Dr Ryan Law.
Some of the speakers and masterclass hosts will deliver ‘live’ from the ESI conference venue while others will beam in from Cornwall, the UK and around the world to an online audience.
Chamber CEO Kim Conchie said: “We have been running an annual sustainability conference for many years but what an opportunity to hold it on World Ocean Day, just three days before world leaders come to Cornwall – and to have the wisdom and input of world luminaries at this extraordinary event.
“The topic of sustainability in all its aspects is something Cornwall is so passionate about – and in some areas leading on. We want to have a business conference which makes it quite clear we expect our political leaders to move collaboratively and quickly towards sustainable policies and laws.”
Conference organiser and veteran sustainability expert Dr John Henry Looney, founder of sustainable direction, has spent nearly four decades helping organisations work towards a greener, better world in over 35 countries on all parts of sustainability – social, environmental and financial.
He said: “As we move to recover from Covid it is clear we need a global vision for sustainable growth. This opportunity to examine the G7 and COP26 themes, is a perfect moment for Cornwall to share our vision on a world stage.
“We have speakers and masterclass hosts beaming in from as far afield as the Bahamas, Sweden and Portugal with topics investigated and discussed at the conference ranging from the circular economy and renewable energy, to social inclusion and moving to improved land use and ecological improvement, and from targeted local action plans through to global climate strategies.”
Professor Lisa Roberts, vice-chancellor at the University of Exeter, added: “We are delighted to be working with Cornwall Chamber of Commerce on the Sustainable Growth Conference during the G7 week of events in June. As a university, and as a community, we are working in partnership to tip the scales towards positive change. We will continue to pioneer new solutions across society to ensure a safe and stable environment and climate for future generations. And we stand ready to help others to do the same.”
For full details of the Cornwall Chamber Sustainable Growth Conference on Tuesday June 8, the themes, speakers and masterclasses – and to join online attendees from across the world registered for the event, click here.
