Innovation to take centre stage at UK’s largest net zero industry event in London

Innovation has long been seen as the best weapon in the fight against climate change and will be centre stage at the Innovation Zero congress at London Olympia from 30 April to 1 May 2024, which is set to attract thousands of attendees and hundreds of speakers at the end of the month.

The congress is set to shine the light on new solutions from across the entire ecosystem; from energy, transport and mobility, industrial, finance and advanced tech, to food and agriculture, oceans and water, communication, aviation and shipping, carbon markets, minerals and materials sectors.

The Innovation Zero congress will provide a major platform for robust debate and discussion on key sustainability issues and a key showcase for the innovations and tech that will help the UK meet its net zero goals over the years ahead. New for this year is the Innovation Gallery, where 20+ leading green tech start-ups and sustainability businesses can showcase their latest inventions to tackle the climate challenge.

These include energy storage pioneers Adaptavate, carbon credits platform Carbonplace, heat saving innovators Chimney Sheep, carbon intelligence company Climatiq, tech firm Exiger and net zero energy specialists HeatHorizon. Hubl, who have pioneered a revolutionary solution for delivery and logistics companies to reduce costs and environmental impact and Last Energy, developer of micro modular nuclear power plants, will also feature their innovations within the gallery.

The congress will also see the launch of the Innovation Zero Awards. The awards are officially supported by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and will highlight some of the ground-breaking solutions and cutting-edge low carbon technologies that are helping to fight the climate crisis by reducing or eliminating the carbon footprint of clients' operations. Find out more about the Awards here. 

As well as the Innovation Gallery, hundreds of exhibitors at Innovation Zero will also be highlighting their cutting-edge solutions and technologies that are helping businesses and organisations reduce their emissions and take the necessary steps to reach their net zero targets.

Paul Dunne, Innovation Zero CEO and co-founder said: “With just three weeks to go, Innovation Zero is shaping up to be a vibrant hub of collaboration and innovation, with an array of fresh initiatives, innovators and start-ups eagerly participating. The introduction of this years’ awards, showcase, and Innovation Gallery features are aimed at enhancing networking and discovery among innovators, corporate sustainability leaders, investors and policymakers and we’re looking forward to seeing the positive impact these additions will have on our collective journey towards achieving net zero.”

In addition, Innovation Zero is also partnering with tech start-up Ideaonomy to create a long-term legacy of collaborative problem solving through attendees being able to use an AI-enabled portal to view, rank and publish problems and challenges in the sector and share potential ideas and solutions with others in the industry by forming clusters of interest. Commenting on the partnership, Matt Hastings, founder and CEO of Ideaonomy, said: “An Ideaonomy is essentially an interconnected, collaborative cross-sector innovation ecosystem enabling companies and organisations to share resources, communicate, collaborate and also compete at the same time. We facilitate new innovations connecting in really unusual and interesting ways so that organisations can collaborate, solve problems and ultimately try and get ourselves out of the hole that we have found ourselves in as a species.”

The Innovation Zero congress is set to be one of the largest sustainability and net zero events seen in the UK, with 10,000 delegates expected and a comprehensive programme featuring 600+ world-class speakers across 200+ content sessions, who are experts in climate change mitigation, clean technology innovation and implementing low carbon solutions.  

Some of the 600+ leading experts speaking as part of the Innovation Zero 2024 programme include: - 

• The Rt Hon Claire Coutinho MP, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. 
• Sweta Chakraborty, CEO North America, We Don’t Have Time. 
• Bob Wigley, Chair, UK Finance. 
• Rhian-Mari Thomas, Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute. 
• Shaun Kingsbury CBE, Chief Investment Officer, Just Climate. 
• Simon Sharpe, Director of Economics, UN Climate Champions. 
• The Rt Hon George Eustice MP, Former UK Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs. 
• Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Member of the House of Lords. 
• Susanne Mecklenburg, Head of Climate Office at the European Space Agency. 
• Carwyn Jones, Former First Minister of Wales and Chair, Size of Wales. 
• Olivier Wenden, CEO, Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. 
• Dhara Vyas, Deputy CEO, Energy UK. 
• Melanie Leech CBE, Chief Executive, British Property Federation. 
• Mike Pitts, Deputy Challenge Director, Innovate UK. 
• Greg Jackson, CEO, Octopus Energy.