Happy Friday!

This week, you’ve guessed it, we’re covering COP26:

COP26: Introducing your new, free events guide.
Companions for COP26: How 25 breweries are coming together to raise the alarm.
In case you missed it: The Better Business Act: Transforming The Way We Do Business, featuring the BBA team.

> Good News This Week

🎯 Little Freddie published their climate footprint, in partnership with CarbonCloud. 0.23 kg Co2e is produced per pouch.

🎯 Allplants announced their record-breaking £38 million Series B funding round.

🎯 The Jamie Oliver Group announced their Sustainability Pledge. This includes at least 65% of all our new recipes being meat free or meat reduced from 2022, and the whole business being net zero before 2040.

⭐️ Stonegate have launched a carbon neutral egg brand, Respectful, to be sold exclusively through Sainsbury’s. Working with ClimatePartner, locally sourced feed and protein alternatives to soya have reduced CO2 emissions by 50% alone compared to a standard brown laying bird on a soya diet.

⭐️ Brooks Running, Frog Bikes, Inditex, Amazon, Ikea, Unilever, Michelin, Patagonia and Tchibo have pledged to achieve zero-carbon shipping by 2040. Maritime shipping accounts for 3% of all global emissions.

⚡️ Large UK businesses will have to start disclosing their environmental impact, under new rules set to be brought in by the UK Treasury. A key aim is to combat greenwashing by corporations.

> Click on each link to read more.

> Quick Take

COP26: Introducing your new, free events guide.

By now, we’re sure you’ve heard of COP26. But are you sure of how to get involved?

First up - let’s recap. ‘COP’ refers to Conference of Parties. Established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, COP is an annual summit that brings together more than 200 countries, or “parties”. This year, the 26th meeting will be in Glasgow. It’s particularly important, as it’s the first time the Paris Agreement will be revisited since its creation (as part of a scheduled 5 year cycle).

Broadly speaking, there are two parts to what is on offer at COP26. The ‘Blue Zone’ is run by the United Nations and hosted in the Scottish Event Campus. This is where official COP members will meet, and negotiations and assessments will take place. The ‘Green Zone’ is open to the public, hosted in the Glasgow Science Centre, and will offer workshops, events and exhibitions. Don’t have a ticket to Glasgow? There’s still plenty of opportunity for you to get involved from afar (hint hint, read on…).

With all the buzz around COP26 this year, it’s easy for businesses and enthusiasts to feel unsure of how to participate in, and watch and learn from, the events taking place. It’s like a party that you’re unsure if you’re invited to - but everyone is talking about. So, we’ve put together a live COP26 Events Schedule to make it easier than ever for you to make the most of this unique conference, from afar. We’ve picked out 55+ of the most exciting events that could be relevant to your business, and available online. We’ve marked which are free, what areas they relate to, who organises them, and where you can find them. We’ve also separated them into ‘COP26 Events’, being run in and streamed from the Green Zone, and ‘External Events’/’External Events Series’ which are organised by external third parties.

How it works:

This calendar is live - all events that have passed will disappear, and new events that we find will be added over the coming weeks.
For 'COP26 Events', the links to register for these events are not currently available, so in the meantime we’ve linked the COP26 YouTube channel where they will be live streamed.
There are three different ways to view the events on offer (click to see each):
Looking for something in particular? ‘Filter’, ‘Group’ and ‘Sort’ the events using the tools in the top left corner.
Want to add an event? Submit one here, and we’ll share it publicly with our audience.

*A preview of the list. See more by clicking the button below.*

View Events List

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be reminding you in this newsletter of the key upcoming events that we don’t think you’ll want to miss. So, save this COP26 Events Schedule, watch out for updates, and enjoy the next few weeks of inspiration, education, and hopefully action. Like what you see? Share it with a friend!

*The Glasgow Science Centre. Source: blogspot.com.*

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> Brand Spotlight

Companions for COP26: How 25 breweries are coming together to raise the alarm.

Led by Toast Ale, the Companion Series is a limited-edition collection of 26 beers. Launched last week with an open letter to world leaders meeting at COP26, the series aims to raise £65,000 - £26 from every case sold. This money will be donated to Rainforest Trust UK and Soil Heroes, and in turn will protect 3.25 million trees in threatened tropical rainforests, and sequester 360 tonnes of CO2 in agricultural soils in the UK.

Why?

“One of the fastest and most equitable measures to tackle the crisis is to reduce food waste. Food systems are responsible for one-third of GHG emissions and 80% of deforestation. However one-third of the world’s food is never eaten, which means the land and resources used and greenhouse gases emitted in producing it were unnecessary. We need you, our global governments, along with businesses and groups with the power to influence the food system, to come together and change the status quo.”

Brewed using surplus bread, something Toast Ale have championed since their inception, the partnering 25 breweries are: Toast Ale, Adnams, Beavertown, Bedlam Brewery, Better World Brewery, Brixton Brewery, Five Points Brewery, Fyne Ales, Guinness, Harbour Brewery, Hepworth Brewery, Ignition Brewery, Meantime, Northern Monk, Orbit, Sambrooks, Signature Brew, Stroud Brewery, Tap Social Movement, Tooth & Claw Brewing, Unity BrewIng Co, Utopian Brewery, Wild Card Brewery, Windsor & Eton Brewery, Wold Top Brewery.

In particular, we love their reasoning for coming together to raise the alarm:

“We’re competing businesses but we are uniting because the climate and nature crisis is bigger than us all. The word ‘companion’, from the Latin ‘com’ (together with) and ‘panis’ (bread), represents the need for collaboration. To solve this systemic problem, we need systemic change, and that needs everyone who can to co-operate and work together.”

Support the Companion Series via their shop:

Shop the Companion Series

> In case you missed it

The Better Business Act: Transforming The Way We Do Business

Featuring the Better Business Act team.

Read the Full Story

> Follow up with…

Article: Overwhelmed by sustainability initiatives? We share the who’s who of net zero - Spherics
Article: How To Make Your Company More Sustainable - Stink Studios
Event: Exchange: The Human Side of Net-Zero - Fluxx Studios
Free Workshop: ‘We Need to Talk About Carbon’ - Carbon Literacy for Small Businesses - Monday 1st November

Following the Footprints

🌱 COP26: Get involved! Your free guide to…