A lively SPOC meeting on 11th October was attended by 14 members who were keen to share ideas and experiences.
Jason Essenhigh from Innholders was very appreciative of the guidance notes on the LCAG website which the Innholders used to consider and adapt for their documentation. A well-planned strategy was quickly agreed by their Court and they could already tick off some positive steps. They are committed to reducing their gas dependency and are planning to move to a renewable energy electricity tariff when the current contract expires next year.
Innholders have set up a working group called InnCag and this has attracted many of the younger Livery members who have a lot to contribute. Sustainable catering is on the agenda with a lot of inhouse expertise from the Innholders own members. They have taken on a new catering contract with Artizian and they are working to make the offer both the best in the City and the most sustainable, including plant based menus.
A condition survey of the Hall showed how far electricity can be used extensively for heating (renewably) and the areas not yet adapted will be so in a planned set of works over the coming years. They had taken up the offer of a free carbon benchmaking survey by Unifi (via Constructor Livery member Paul Sheedy) for which they were most grateful.
They hope to have a climate action plan ready and approved by Court and published in the next few months.
A wider discussion took place about food sustainability and it was felt it would be useful to produce some member education and understanding. Non-hall-owning Liveries were concerned to know about the carbon footprint of the Halls that they use and will be pushing for creditable action and information.
Susan Hoefling of the Information Technologists spoke about their educational work where the WCIT have a wide range of panels who take up topics of interest to members and of moment.
A group considering IT and Climate Change is looking to educate members and the Livery generally on these topics. Alongside this the question of social value and ESG is key.
WCIT had also had a survey of their Hall by Unifi and are looking at long terms plans to refurbish and renew their structure and facilities
Both of these Liveries are interested in the collective Power Purchase Agreement that the City Corporation are consulting on.
In general discussion it was felt that food behaviours were still a hot topic to be discussed but were difficult to navigate. More information was needed. Some activism was needed around important topics such as divesting from fossil fuels – but inevitably this would need to be carefully handled with a balanced debate.
Advocacy was a main plank of what LCAG could do and a campaign around simple steps to take “Just one thing” would resonate and be manageable.
If you are a SPOC and these topics are of interest do get in touch.