Climate Change Day

Times: Registration from 8.30am, start at 9am with 3.15pm finish.

Networking lunch will be provided at 12.30pm.

Undeniably Climate Change is one of the greatest issues affecting the world we live in and the impact of this on our lives is only going to increase. Everyone has seen Greta Thunberg campaigning on the news, now it’s time to start thinking about how our own businesses/companies can step up to the challenge as well.

Come along to our seminar day to find out what our industry can and should be doing to manage their climate impact, think about ethical fund management, the challenges of the increase in working from home and explore the topic of flood as an example of the increasing extremes of weather.

The day will be split into 3 sessions as follows, you can either book onto the full day or come along for session 2 only, please make sure you select the correct option when booking:

Session 1: 9am to 10.40 (including Coffee break)
• Polly Cook Chief Officer for Sustainable Energy and Air Quality with Leeds City Council will explain why the Council declared a climate emergency, what they are doing about it in practical terms, what they are asking for from the government and what steps they have achieved so far.
• Richard Charlton will explore what insurance companies are being required to do in relation to Climate Change by the regulators both in terms of risk management and stress testing. As a key contact who has been working with insurers he can explain how these steps can be implemented in practice.
• Martin Watson will give an overview of what businesses across the UK are doing to try and reduce their own Climate impact.

Session 2: 10.40 to 12.30
• Oakwood Training will provide a session on Managing the Wellbeing of Lone and Remote Workers: although lone working can benefit the environment (cutting out travel costs) and employers/employees how do we monitor those lone workers wellbeing? This session will explore how remote workers are at risk of becoming stressed and isolated; understanding why remote workers can find it hard to ‘Switch off’ from work; recognise the impact on performance and productivity and then give practical advice and tips for employers/employees to manage the mental health and wellbeing of remote workers.
• Yasmine Svan is a member of the Sustainability & Responsible Investment Team at LGIM. She will be presenting on Ethically/Socially responsible fund management and how this can be integrated into an investment process

12.30 – 1.15 Lunch

Session 3: 1.15pm to 3.15pm
• Chris Sharp Community Curator at Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills will share a selection of photos and stories gathered from the Leeds community affected by the 2015 ‘Boxing Day’ floods in Leeds. Back in 2017 Chris curated an exhibition on ‘Flood Response’ in the local community and his presentation is based on this exhibition.
• Professor Stephen Bottoms will perform the performance piece created to be used in conjunction with the ‘Flood Response’ exhibition entitled ‘Too Much of Water’. This gives a view of how real businesses and individuals were impacted by an unexpected flood and the aftermath of the clear up procedure. It is hugely important working in the insurance industry that we are able to see the human side of a claim and what it is like to actually experience a situation that we often may just see from the claims handling perspective.
• Follow up review on how Extreme Weather events are increasing as a result of climate change and how this is impacting the insurance/re-insurance market.
• Paola Sakai, UKRI Research and Innovation Fellow from University of Leeds regarding Collaborative Strategic Planning at a City Level & Boosting resilience on SMEs through insurers, lenders and surveyors.

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