UKWP x British Water Event
A joint UK Water Partnership and British Water event was held on Monday, 29 November 2021 at HR Wallingford. The event brought together water sector leaders from industry, academia and government, from across the UK and overseas to reflect on COP26 and question ‘How does business support society to better understand the transformation of services required to meet the challenges presented by the Climate Emergency, and provide the necessary leadership?’
Bruce Tomlinson (HR Wallingford) and Sarah Hendry (UKWP Chair) provided the welcome before handing over to speakers reflecting on COP26 and discussing how the water sector is responding.
Jon Rathjen (Scottish Government) began proceedings discussing the platform that COP26 provided Scotland to present on its efforts in decarbonising as a nation, opportunities to interact with people from around the world and reflecting on promises made.
Mark Fletcher (Arup) provided a personal perspective of COP26. Mark’s presentation looked at the build-up to the event in Glasgow including a review of events since COP20 held in Lima, Peru, and how water issues have become more prominent over the years.
Peter Simpson (Anglian Water) discussed some of the headlines out of COP26, businesses leading the way in decarbonisation, progress of the water sector, Anglian Water’s next steps, collaborative working and where momentum should be focused moving forward.
Lila Thompson (British Water) discussed the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ and the current landscape of the water sector, before opening discussions to the floor to discuss collaboration and innovation.
Martin Currie (Aqueum) who coordinated the series of Climate Discussions which led up to COP26, shared some post-COP reflections, as well as Action Pledges and the Call to Action from the Water Climate Discussion.
Following reflections on COP26, Professor Andrew Tyler (Hydro Nation Chair) and Steve Kaye (UKWIR) provided an introduction to the Circular Economy. Professor Andrew Tyler gave an introduction to the Scotland Hydro Nation Chair program before discussing principles of the circular economy. Steve Kaye discussed ‘What is the circular economy?’, the circular economy for water companies, and starting points for moving toward circular economy.
Speakers then fielded questions from the floor before Sarah Hendry rounded the event off, thanking speakers for their contributions and HR Wallingford for hosting proceedings.
The afternoon session was dedicated to workshop to discuss a proposed new work theme on how to accelerate Circular Economy principles for the sector, facilitated by Martin Shouler (Arup). This included gathering and celebrating current best practice and looking at ways of connecting those both within and without the water sector to move to a system of practices that are less wasteful of materials, energy, and water.
For the recording of the event, follow the link below:
UKWP x British Water Event Recording
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