Innovation Zero partners with Innovate UK and Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and receives endorsement from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

MAJOR CLIMATE AND CLEANTECH CONGRESS PARTNERS WITH INNOVATE UK  

Innovation Zero announces Innovate UK as lead partner, in addition to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, showcasing British innovation to an audience of national and international buyers and investors. 

Innovation Zero convenes with an agenda of policy, innovation, funding and leadership working together to solve the climate emergency. 

London, 24th January 2023 – Clean technology innovation is the central theme of the inaugural Innovation Zero congress taking place on the 24th and 25th of May 2023 at Olympia London in Kensington.

The Innovation Zero conference programme focuses on meeting Net Zero targets by scaling up climate and clean technology through funding, commercial partnerships, and showcasing public and private sector leadership in the transition to low carbon operations. Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency is a lead partner for the conference, and will showcase the opportunities for the UK to prosper from being the fastest transitioning economy to Net Zero. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has also confirmed its partnership at the event and will be showcasing outputs from its £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio – a pioneering fund that will help enable the UK end its contribution to climate change.

The event is planning 100 talks featuring 200 speakers including The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP Secretary of State for International Trade, HSBC Group CSO Celine Herweijer, Unilever CSO Rebecca Marmot, Rolls Royce SMR CEO Tom Samson, Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye and OLIO founder, Saasha Celestial-One. The exhibition will feature over 180 innovators.

Innovation Zero brings together regional, national and international policymakers including Tees Valley Metro Mayor Ben Houchen and Moroccan Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Leila Benali.

Tackling funding the transition to a low carbon economy, speakers include UK Finance Chair Bob Wigley, UK Infrastructure Bank CEO John Flint and British Business Bank Managing Director Julia Groves, who are joined by investors including Kojo Ako-Asare Managing Director BlackRock Decarbonisation Partners, and investment community stakeholders including Sir Ronald Cohen Chair of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment.

Innovation Zero Chair, The Rt. Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, comments: ‘I am thrilled that Innovate UK are supporting this flagship event. They are playing a key role in championing the new technology required to help solve the climate emergency. It is through accelerating trade and investment in cleantech, especially involving British innovation, that solutions will be delivered. This is what leaders across, public and private sectors, and finance, are meeting to discuss at the inaugural Innovation Zero congress.’

Innovate UK Executive Director for Net Zero, Mike Biddle added: ‘Our vision is for the UK to prosper from being the economy that transitions fastest to net zero. We are hungry for UK-based business growth and inward investment to put the UK at the forefront of energy-secure, low-carbon growth.  Nobody can achieve this alone – and Innovate UK is fully committed to our role to inspire, involve and invest to make this happen.’

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom stated: ‘I am delighted to see such an exciting project choosing London for its inaugural event. Innovation Zero brings together trade and investment, finance, energy and environmental specialists and puts them alongside the best of our innovators and businesses who see decarbonisation as an opportunity, not a problem. It is through creative thinking and action like this that we will create the jobs and prosperity on which we all depend, while providing the technological solutions to the climate change challenge we all face.’