David Cook

🐌 Like all transitions - it's a journey, but in this case moving at relative snail's pace. The improvement in the global #Energy Transition Index #ETI24 score from 2021-2024 was almost four times less than the improvement from 2018-2021. It's particularly disheartening because the energy transition is existential. It impacts jobs, livelihoods, health... for good and bad - depending on whether the transition is done right. I prefer to focus on the good, so thanks to Roberto Bocca and Muqsit Ashraf for outlining tangible actions and realistic solutions in this compelling piece for the World Economic Forum: https://lnkd.in/evSg9fsc Ella Yutong Lin Sarah Moin Spencer Feingold

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The dramatic political developments around the world was one the key topics of our discussions at the recent CFO Connect Symposium 2024. Amid a flurry of major elections, from India to France and the UK, I shared some of my thoughts, informed by the findings of the Edelman Trust Barometer reports in recent years, on the decline in trust in societies that underpins the rise of polarisation and populists, with electoral impacts in many countries. You can read the findings here https://edl.mn/4eUFhbH

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We understand the complexity of hydrogen production and storage and build powerful visualizations to explain it to those who don't.

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“There is one major challenge to delivering the UK’s energy transition. And it’s not finance. Or infrastructure. Or policy. It’s communication”. And this not from a PR, but from a panel representing the investors, economists and analysts at the forefront of renewables deployment. Today’s London Climate Action Week event hosted by the inspiring folk at REA was refreshingly, err, actionable. With A-list speakers from across the energy value chain, including Instinctif Partners client LCP Delta, we dug deep into the barriers to financing the clean energy transition and debated solutions to navigating the public/private sector funding gap. At Instinctif we are all about connecting people. We know the real answers present themselves through dialogue. We believe engagement holds the key to breaking down barriers and effecting change. And that if a story isn’t landing, you need to change the story. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t get out of bed every day to do the job we do. Or spend a week hosting hundreds of #LCAW delegates at our offices! But when the non-comms folk sitting at the top of an industry tasked with, let’s be honest, saving our planet, economy and future, reach the mutual agreement that communication is a major part of the solution…Well, ‘nuff said. Sure, talk comes cheap. But at least it feels that we’re all starting to speak the same language. Annabelle Duke Tim Field Ross Melton #sustainability #corpcomms

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Every credible pathway to #NetZero includes carbon capture, utilization and storage (#CCUS). The #NetZeroIndustryAct, the initiative stemming from the #EUGreen Deal which aims to scale up the manufacturing of clean technologies in the EU, was officially adopted by the European Council on May 27. The official sign off from the EU capitals, underscoring the essential role of CCUS. In summary, the Net Zero Industry Act creates an enabling environment for CCUS deployment, addressing regulatory, financial, and technological barriers. The #NZIA also includes a target of 50 million tons of annual injection capacity in EU geological CO2 storage sites by 2030. A promising step forward for the CCUS community. As we await the post-election European Commission's plans, there's a clear sense of anticipation for the next phase of the #IndustrialCarbonManagementStrategy. Great to see this CCUS milestone has been reached under the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024! Belgium, with its strategic North Sea location and significant CO2 emitters, stands to gain immensely from CCUS, both in terms of commercial and decarbonization opportunities. 

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When I run media training I talk about the energy that well chosen words can bring to a short media piece. Often times industry spokespeople are contributing to a wider story, and are not able to deliver a lengthy monologue. This makes the chosen words even more important. I absolutely love this clip of the Henley Mermaids contributing to a Channel4 News piece last week about shoddy management from Thames Water (scroll to 30 seconds in). Things she does to ensure her piece goes...ummmm...swimmingly 🏊‍♀️ "We feel let down" - makes it very human 🏊‍♀️ "Thames Water serves 1 in 4 of us" - hugely inclusive...this matters to a lot of us 🏊‍♀️ "It's a total monopoly, we have no choice who we go to" - emphasis and really accessible language. You may not think you need to explain a word like monopoly, but doing it deftly like this can be helpful 🏊‍♀️ "It's just poo and pipes" - alliterative perfection. A clever phrase that in 5 words ridicules TW's mismanagement and makes her point emphatically 🏊‍♀️ "If I did my job that badly..." - elaboration through a personal example 🏊‍♀️ "They need to go!" - call to action The interviewer doesn't need to ask her any questions or interrupt her in anyway as she is engaging, energetic and clearly voices strong opinions. Chef's kiss! https://lnkd.in/eTmC6_h8

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Feeling very proud to work with so many great people at LGC who are collectively driven by our purpose, Science for a Safer World. To find out more about what we do, and how we support the ESG priorities of our diverse customers, (including pharma, biotech, diagnostics), please do check out our latest ESG Report. Details below. Congrats to Jim Ormond and Christina Adams for another great report! #ScienceforaSaferWorld

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We’re halfway through London Climate Action Week, which brings together a host of climate experts and communities to identify and drive global solutions to climate change.   To kickstart LCAW, on Monday, I attended an energised roundtable hosted by Jon Williams from Accenture and Nick Stace OBE from Barclays UK to discuss how we can work together in our roles as Chief Sustainability Officers to fast-track and scale change in the UK’s Sustainable Finance market. Yesterday, I joined a panel hosted by Mastercard, exploring how organisations can close the gap between what climate-conscious consumers say and what they can do – so we all walk the walk, not just talk the talk.   Tomorrow I’ll be attending the first in-person roundtable hosted by World Economic Forum on Financing a Nature Positive Transition. I’ll share how at Lloyds Banking Group we’re taking a systems-based approach to addressing climate and environmental issues, expanding our focus beyond decarbonisation to include crucial areas like nature, a Just Transition, circular economy, and resilience and adaptation. It’s great to see how nature is taking its rightful place on the agenda at key global climate events. Our CEO, Charlie Nunn, spoke earlier this week at Sustainable Markets Initiative “The Power of Nature” event, where he discussed how we can unlock nature’s growth opportunity and shared some of our own activities in this space, like our £250k investment into Projects for Nature, funding three nature recovery projects across the UK. We were also excited to sponsor Green Finance Institute ‘Deep Dive’ on Greening the Built Environment tomorrow - a core focus for us given our extensive support of the UK’s housing and construction sectors.   This year’s theme #BeatTheHeat has been top of mind as we enter another summer, where parts of Europe are already experiencing more record-breaking temperatures – an ever-present reminder of the need to act on tackling climate change and how much more there is to be done.   Are you participating in any events this week?   #LondonClimateActionWeek #LCAW #Nature #GreeningtheBuiltEnvironment #HelpingBritainPropser​

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This week has been an opportunity to look back on 2024 (so far!) before transitioning into 2025 planning. As I reflect on the growth of communications in the Middle East, one thing is clear: our region has become a hub for innovation and progress. The rise of digital transformation, sustainability goals, and shifting audience expectations means we need to be more strategic than ever before. At Acorn Strategy, we focus on connecting the dots between business goals and communications to deliver real impact. 2025 will be a year of further evolution—how are you preparing for the changing landscape?" #StrategicCommunications #MiddleEastPR #DigitalTransformation #BusinessGrowth Fast Company https://lnkd.in/gVKzp4qk

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Children are 20% of the population but 100% of the future. Looking forward to an amazing day workshopping green skills and how we integrate them into the school curriculum and #futureproof Britain’s future. How do we achieve #netzero by 2030 if we fundamentally don’t have the vocational skills in our future workforce to service it? #education #climatechange #sustainability Generation C

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Our New Perspective Marketing podcast zeroes in on the newest climate tech innovations—highlighting solutions and offering advice on how smart marketing strategies might help them find solid footing in a world where the ground is always shifting. But this latest episode was slightly different—and it was a conversation I found inspiring. I had the pleasure to meet and talk with Frederic Clerc and Jeannette Williams from the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering who shared a vision of what climate tech growth can—and truly should—look like. UFL is a space where climate tech companies find mentorship, partnerships, and access to NYU’s talent. UFL has propelled over 170 startups through every growth stage, helping them raise billions while achieving an impressive 88% survival rate. My impression was that they are dedicated to making sure these technologies are not just successful, but circular and equitable—tools that don’t just function but fit within a larger story of sustainability, accessible to all. In this field, where “growth” often demands more, more, and more, they push for something deeper. It’s a call for technologies that don’t just compete but contribute. Coming from a region impacted by a linear approach to business and a focus on decarbonization, it’s refreshing to meet people who guide companies toward more sustainable practices. PS. 100000 x thanks to Christelle Torres from the UFL team for rolling with our fast production pace and making the release happen on time. You’re the best!

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Some reflections on last week’s Energy Professionals event expertly facilitated by Eversheds Sutherland Energy and supported by Gerald Eve. First of all, good to see two senior women on the panel in the shape of Gwenllian Elias of BlueFloat Energy | Renantis Partnership and Eleri Davies of RWE. A reflection of the growing numbers of women in the renewables sector with long term industry experience and some significant successes under their belts. Always a pleasure to listen to John Howells of Gerald Eve. I thoroughly enjoyed the historic overview he gave of Wales’s energy industry at Wales Week London last year; he always brings a fresh perspective to the discussion. Here’s what I took away: ·      The local opportunities from floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea could be significant, but port investment, skills and supply chain planning are needed.  ·      Investors need a stable and predictable policy environment. The ‘missed opportunities’ are hard to forgive – no British turbine manufacturer, recent CfD round (in which no developers put forward bids) ‘a failure of policy’. ·      Onshore wind is on the critical path to net zero. It’s the most established, the cheapest, and quickest technology to deploy. By consenting onshore wind projects now, industry can build the skills and supply chain needed to enable FLOW further down the line. ·      Wales is a village, and developers need to collaborate, especially on social value. ·      Infrastructure, some of it big, unappealing to the eye, and not what we are used to, is going to have to happen to meet net zero. There is no way of sugar-coating this. On the critical question of whether Wales could meet its target of 100% electricity consumption from renewables by 2035, the panel were not altogether optimistic. Grid, the slow pace of onshore consents, lack of policy resource (and sometimes an ‘inconsistent’ policy approach), and a lukewarm (putting it mildly) local community, means that developing projects in Wales is just plain hard. #FLOW #renewables #onshorewind #CelticSea #netzero #energytransition #grid

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On #WorldEnvironmentDay UNRISD reminds us the importance of a #just and #inclusive energy transition. Re-live the latest webinar help in occasion of #COP28 where we introduced a common framework for assessing Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) performance on justice and the energy transition. 🌱⚡️

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Energy knows no bias - The role of #diversity in a just transition: Sharon Ilsley - Chartered MCIPD, head of people at Xoserve, explains why the #energy industry’s workforce needs to become more #inclusive. "A hard truth about the energy sector is that it is indisputably unequal. 2023 statistics from the Office for National Statistics reveal that women occupy just over 114,000 jobs in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning... the lowest number within this sector since 2008." Read more: https://lnkd.in/ekFjsiTh

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Chief Communications Officers - just a nice title? I don't think so... it is way more! Korn Ferry published a great perspective on the role of communications in organizations. Next to the importance of stakeholder management and reputation, I stronly agree and believe that communications brings a new perspective in business decisions and processes. 👉 One quote in particular stuck with me: "People who have built their careers in communications think differently than other board members who built their careers in finance, legal or risk." Sometimes I see this difference in my own career as a lack of something. But when #transformation, #change #dialog and #socialimpact become more important than ever, then this kind of #diversity should be considered even more. This "different" way of thinking might support in having a more well-rounded decision. Classical C-Levels could benefit from the value of messaging, communications and also the broad picture communication experts bring to the table. But at the C-Level or below - we need more visibility as communicators and drive value creation. Communications is A LOT more than finding the right tone. What do you think? #Communications #Profession #CLevel #Leadership https://lnkd.in/ejNgK3A9

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Self-confidence is highlighted as a major barrier for the CEOs we interviewed. Vicky Kelsall of ScottishPower emphasises the need for women to see themselves represented at the CEO level. Such visibility not only challenges existing stereotypes but also reinforces that the path to executive leadership is genuinely accessible to them. Learn more in our whitepaper where we interviewed 9 inspiring women CEOs to gain insights into their journeys in #Infrastructure sectors: https://ow.ly/8RNF50StrXZ #Diversity #Inclusion #WomenInLeadership

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Here's my avatar with a little more on therundown.studio, what problem we are trying to solve for comms teams and journos (ai fear, access to knowledge, and clarity on application) and how we intend to do it. Do sign up to rundownstudio.substack.com #genai

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As we celebrate #WorldEarthDay, here's your reminder that no step towards saving, preserving and embracing sustainable living is too small. Have a read about everything Next Media is doing to embrace sustainable living. #NextMediaUG https://lnkd.in/grYvC5Dw

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What is the future of communications? What are the hot topics dominating comms conversations across markets? Listen to what Sarah Campbell Donia, the Global Corporate Affairs leader at Randstad has to say! Great insights Sarah, thanks for sharing! #futureofcommunications #storytelling #AI Arnab Ray Simran Jha Sayani Banerjee

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