Q&A with Emma Fletcher from Octopus Energy | Net Zero Week 2024

To mark Net Zero Week, Caroline O’Flaherty, Partner in our Commercial Property team, spoke to Emma Fletcher, Low Carbon Housing Director at Octopus Energy, who leads high-impact and high-innovation projects, collaborating with private sector housebuilders as well as housing associations to bring solutions that achieve tangible results for the environment as well as providing commercial benefits in the long term for those involved in the development and their tenants/homeowners as we look at where partnership working is successful.

We explore the steps that Octopus is taking, which are working well, what is required of individual homeowners in green technology, how organisations can make these approaches work from a commercial and practical perspective, and their work with Pobl and United Welsh.

Net Zero Week is the UK’s official national awareness week dedicated to addressing climate change and promoting sustainable practices. It also serves as the country’s largest net zero conference. Now in its fourth year, Net Zero Week has become a cornerstone event for driving the UK’s ambitious goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

In addition to the interview with Emma, our Energy and Renewables team ran a webinar this week on the Legal issues in renewable energy projects. An increasing number of renewable energy projects are being rolled out by organisations to support their journey to net zero. The webinar looked at some of the key legal considerations to consider to maximise the return on your investment.

Throughout the webinar, our team of experts covered the legal considerations in the following areas:

• Planning and property
• Construction and infrastructure
• Procurement
• Commercial
• Banking

As we continue to take essential actions to reduce our own environmental impact, the firm has attained the Carbon Neutral International Standard in partnership with One Carbon World. The accreditation recognises the firm’s commitment to measuring, reducing, and balancing its carbon footprint and identifies a clear pathway to reducing its environmental impact year-on-year. OCW stated that its carbon footprint is lower than the industry average.

We also received a “Green – Fully Aligned” result from our Lloyds External Audit, in which we demonstrated a robust level of awareness, compliance, and alignment with Lloyds Banking Group policy expectations.

We’re committed to reducing waste and have implemented effective waste management and recycling systems at all our offices across the UK. As well as our staff investing their time in helping our communities and improving the environment through their CSR days each year.