Slaughter and May partners with Imperial and Royal Institution to accelerate “green Industrial Revolution”
Slaughter and May today announces that it is a founding member of a new initiative to put London at the heart of global climate change innovation.
The bold initiative will advance London’s leadership in innovation on climate change, supporting new and existing businesses, policymakers, the public, financiers and investors.
The new partnership, led by Imperial College London’s Grantham Institute and the Royal Institution in collaboration with the Mayor of London will drive new technologies, techniques, policies and businesses to deliver a zero carbon and climate resilient future, while engaging the public’s support for immediate and future innovation.
The centre for climate change innovation is supported by a collection of founding members, which comprise the Mayor of London, international bank HSBC UK, innovators Octopus Centre for Net Zero, Pollination, global design and engineers Arup, alongside Slaughter and May.
An online event to formally launch the centre will take place online on Thursday 18 March at 18.00.
Taking up residence at the Royal Institution’s central London headquarters, the centre will be a welcoming and exciting global meeting place for innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, corporations, students, researchers and the public.
Activities at the centre will fuel London’s booming cleantech sector, driving growth and learning in the heart of the city’s investment district to invent, innovate, debate and shape the key changes in society needed to tackle climate change. It will be a beacon for climate change innovation, catalysing the rapid development and adoption of zero-carbon and climate-resilient technologies across the world.
The partnership will strengthen the UK’s ability to accelerate the translation of research discoveries into cutting-edge technologies and startups, while supporting existing businesses, policymakers and the public to address the causes and effects of climate change.
Jeff Twentyman, partner and Head of Sustainability said; “We are excited to support this brilliant and compelling initiative. It brings together three of our core areas of focus - innovation, technology and sustainability. It offers the prospect of real progress. Everyone at Slaughter and May is committed to increasing the positive impact of our business and this is a fabulous opportunity to use our expertise to help something which we expect to be highly influential throughout the global cleantech and climate technology community. It is also very exciting for us to be working so closely with The Grantham Institute and the Royal Institution.
“Every professional services firm wrestles with what it means to be a sustainable business in the context of the services we provide. Yet we can all choose how we deploy our expertise and have influence, we need not be neutral. Pro bono can and should be strategic as well as philanthropic. This is an opportunity to take action beyond talking and commit our resources. We are proud to have contributed to this and look forward to helping this centre for climate change as it moves forward.”
The centre’s founders have launched four major activities:
- Support for London’s 300,000 climate change innovators to speed growth and pandemic recovery by catalysing green business opportunities
- A radical look at an entirely renewable electricity grid enabled by artificial intelligence, created and run by Octopus Centre for Net Zero
- A programme of public education, examining the transition to a sustainable, resilient and zero-carbon future
- `The Greenhouse - A novel accelerator programme co-funded by HSBC UK, providing funding, coaching and technical support to world-class new cleantech start-ups.
Find out more at Imperial.co.uk