What is this?

You are invited to attend this upcoming 3Ci Site Visit with Glasgow City Council which will culminate in a roundtable discussion with the Leader of the Council, Susan Aitken. The activities will explore Glasgow’s Net Zero investment plans and opportunities with a chance for delegates to see the plans for themselves and discuss them with both the Leader and senior officials.

The site visit will focus on Govanhill and the surrounding area, which was selected as a Net Zero Neighbourhood due to its proximity to key infrastructure sites including a district heating network opportunity, as well as its diversity of built environment and demand, and opportunities for retrofitting.

The key areas of focus identified are building retrofit, implementation of heat networks, heat pumps and renewable energy sources, increasing active travel via pedestrian and cycling lanes, implementing circular economy practices.

To register your interest please fill in the form below and a member of the team will get back to you.

Please note that spaces are limited and filling in the form does not guarantee a place!

When & Where:

Wednesday 5th February

9.30am – 2.30pm

In-person event: Glasgow, Scotland

What is this?

Hounslow will share their environmental plans and investment opportunities including their development of the Net Zero Neighbourhood approach. Within the neighbourhoods, there will be a focus on retrofitting domestic, commercial, and public buildings, boosting active travel, increasing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and implementing projects to enhance the neighbourhood. 

The visit, as well as providing an opportunity to walk round some of the neighbourhoods under consideration for the NZN feasibility, will hear from the council’s Resident Researchers who will talk to us about what they have learned from their research and the things that they believe will be critical in resident support and therefore making the approach a success.

3Ci members and invited guests will be guided by colleagues from London Borough of Hounslow including their Leader and Chief Executive. The visit will start with refreshments and presentations in the Feltham area before finishing with a light lunch near a Tube station in the Cranford area.

To register your interest please fill in the form on the Contact Us page.

When & Where:

Thursday 28th November

9.30am – 1.30pm

In-person event: Hounslow, London

What is this?

Trillions will be required annually by 2050 to address climate risks for urban infrastructure, and yet despite vast pledges of financing for decarbonisation initiatives we still have a significant gap to overcome.

One of the most significant challenges to overcome, is funneling private investment into these initiatives at the scale needed to meet our joint objectives.

In this session we will take a look at how innovative financial mechanisms which can be used to unlock private finance that will enable cities to implement their ambitious climate programmes from a neighbourhood and city region level.

In a bottom-up approach, the conversation will start from the example of decarbonisation at the micro urban level, starting from the CPC experience, and will then zoom out to the municipal and national  level with the Climate City Capital Hub.

Focus on the Net Zero Neighbourhood (NZN) Model Background

The NZN concept aims for comprehensive neighbourhood level decarbonisation across multiple asset classes simultaneously: domestic and commercial retrofit; transport; energy; and waste.  NZNs can create an investment vehicle using a blended, place-based financial model which can use returns from high-yield assets like renewables to pump-prime lower-yield areas like waste and retrofit. 

This innovative financing model for retrofit has been developed to HMT Green Book Standard funded by DESNZ, which recommended a series of demonstrators.  The model is supported by investors, and is the subject of investigation and refinement by 3Ci’s Net Zero Investment Task Force.  It can be scaled across several locations to create far larger investment portfolios across multiple asset classes, increasing attractiveness to larger scale, patient investors and reducing costs, for example from repeating diligence, legal and procurement work multiple times.

The foundation of the model is predicated on creating a repayment mechanism for the residential retrofit which is relatively straightforward so that residents can understand it, encourages take up for residents, addresses the differences in property types, and balances affordability for residents with long-term financial sustainability for the project.

When & Where:

Tuesday, Sept 24th, 2024

New York

In-person event: Closed

What is this?

3Ci and Net Zero APPG are hosting “BIG Net Zero Breakfast” at this year’s Labour Party Conference. This high-profile and interactive session will welcome new Labour MPs and members of the Net Zero APPG, providing a valuable opportunity to meet with investors and stakeholders.

This event will feature a keynote speaker and an “in conversation” session, followed by a discussion on how to accelerate Labour’s clean energy mission in towns, cities, regions, and neighbourhoods across the UK.

We believe that the benefits of Labour’s clean energy mission—green jobs, skills, and growth—should be felt in all UK cities, regions, towns, and neighbourhoods. We also recognise that the cost of decarbonisation cannot be borne by the public sector alone, so we must explore new ways to unlock investment and turn costs into opportunities.

3Ci and the Net Zero APPG have been collaborating on strategies to unlock Net Zero investment, and this session is designed to provoke debate on Labour’s mission to make Great Britain a clean energy superpower. Unlocking investment is key, and the BIG Net Zero Breakfast will provide a forum for business, city, and civic leaders to join us in this important discussion.

When & Where:

Monday, Sept 23rd, 2024

Liverpool

In-person event: Closed

What is this?

This roundtable is for the leadership of Sheffield City Council to discuss the opportunities to invest in the decarbonisation of the city. We will be joined by Cllr Tom Hunt, Leader, and Kate Josephs, Chief Executive, who will share the Sheffield story and how they are looking to achieve Net Zero in the city. There will be an opportunity to network over a light lunch.

Contact Ian Binns for more information.

ian.binns@cp.catapult.org.uk

When & Where:

Thursday 14th November

12 – 2pm

In-person event: London (members only)

What is this?

Context

The time has come to unlock climate finance for cities. On all continents, there are cities ready to take climate action. Their leaders have developed climate strategies and detailed plans that will allow urban emissions to be reduced significantly – from housing, transport and industry. These city climate plans also set out how the daily lives and climate resilience of citizens and communities will be improved at the same time, with better designed neighbourhoods and services that enable low-carbon, climate resilient living and working. What’s needed is public funding and private finance. This roundtable is an opportunity to bring together representatives of cities and investors, as well as a small number of supply chain leaders, to explore several innovative climate finance initiatives and demonstrators and to determine what is needed to bring more finance forward for implementation without delay.

There are several UK partners attending New York Climate Week who have been driving forward the climate finance agenda in the UK including 3Ci, Arup, the former Deputy Mayor of London and SDCL who partnered with Greater London Authority to create London EDGE fund (£100 million for decarbonisation projects across London), Ameresco, and the former Mayor of Bristol who led Bristol City Leap (£1billion low carbon energy infrastructure public-private partnership with Ameresco).

When & Where:

Wednesday, Sept 25th, 2024

New York

In-person event: Closed

What is this?

3Ci is excited to announce the launch of our new guide: “The Path to Net Zero: Three Steps for Effective Community Engagement.”

We will share the key strategies outlined in our guide and explore how it has been successfully implemented.

During the event, we will present the three crucial steps for fostering community engagement on the journey to net zero. You will also hear from representatives of the Sheffield and Doncaster councils, who have utilised our guide and received our support in developing their community engagement strategies for net zero projects.

The event will conclude with a discussion session, followed by an optional lunch, offering an excellent networking opportunity.

If you are an investor or local authority eager to participate in shaping the future of sustainable investments, please contact zoe.jennings@cp.catapult.org.uk

When & Where:

25th July 2024

10 – 12pm

In-person event: Sheffield

What is this?

Private members are invited to join us on a site visit to Arsenal Net Zero Neighbourhood in the London Borough of Islington to learn about the opportunity to decarbonise the Arsenal area, which is a densely populated neighbourhood marked by a mix of residential, commercial properties and public facilities. 

Islington is investing across its estate and is working on opportunities to scale up different approaches to decarbonise its neighbourhoods. In the Arsenal neighbourhood the investment opportunity is focused on building a district heating network supplied by low carbon heat sources, improving the energy efficiency of homes and connecting them to the network, and installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging. Islington’s People Friendly Streets program is well advanced, and the borough has identified low carbon heating sources in the neighbourhood building on its unique experience extracting heat from London Underground vents. 

3Ci is a partnership between Connected Places Catapult, Core Cities UK, London Councils, Key Cities, Scottish Alliance, and other local authorities across the UK aimed at supporting local authorities secure the necessary long-term finance for achieving net zero. 3Ci members and invited guests will be guided by colleagues from London Borough of Islington. The visit will start with refreshments and presentations at Connected Places Catapult’s office 1 Sekforde Street, London, EC1R 0BE and conclude with a light lunch at a venue in the Highbury area. RSVP to ian.binns@cp.catapult.org.uk 

3Ci members and invited guests will be guided by colleagues from London Borough of Islington.

Contact Ian Binns for more information.

This event is the third in a series for our private sector members with key decision makers.

When & Where:

Wednesday, July 10th 2024

10am – 13.30pm

In-person event: Arsenal, Islington