Sustainability expert praises King’s ‘Countdown Clock’ event

The founder of a London-based sustainability company has praised a London climate event at which King Charles activated a climate ‘countdown clock’.

On Wednesday, King Charles met Mayor of London Sadiq Khan at the Climate Innovation Forum in London, the flagship event of London Climate Action Week (June 24 – July 2). The King’s task was to activate the ‘National Climate Clock’, with the King warning that the world has just six years and 24 days to limit the heating of the earth to 1.5 degrees centigrade.

Chris Bennett, founder of sustainability services company Evora global, praised the event for its showcasing of London-based clean tech companies.

“Some brilliant, innovative companies developing clean technologies were present at the Climate Innovation Forum event and it’s exciting to witness our tech industry take centre stage. My own belief is that our innovations have huge potential to build for a greener future.

“Close to 40 percent of emissions come from real estate. London is, of course, home to some very prominent and well known real estate. If some of our landmark buildings could become more sustainable then that would set a great example for the whole world.”

Evora’s client list include Hines, Invesco and M&G. Founded in 2011, the company has over 200 staff and is a major proponent of the use of ESG data. Evora also recently made it into the FT 1000, as the 2nd fastest growing UK company in the real estate sector.

The company’s SIERA software enables its clients to make investment decisions regarding climate change and sustainability. With Net Zero Week (1-7 July) fast approaching, Evora has unveiled a new feature within its SIERA software, allowing users to understand their progress towards net zero more easily.

Kaylash Patel, Head of Software Product at Evora, said: “As the world focuses on achieving a net zero and sustainable future, the investment community is demanding solutions that help with their capital allocation decisions.

“Evora’s mission is to establish sustainability and carbon as foundational factors for investment decisions, innovating decision making tools alongside thought leaders in the space and pioneering technologies.

“As fund managers raise the priority of sustainability in their management process, the size, quality and decision making ability of their sustainability management teams has risen. Analytics platforms need to rapidly evolve and innovate to deliver an expanded set of analytics and tools that support the in-house process.

“The industry and regulatory standards in the space are rapidly changing. Over the next few years, we will see the US and UK follow the EU in setting up disclosure regulations for funds marketed as having a sustainability focus.

“As the industry matures, best practices will rapidly change. Analytics platforms need to be designed with flexibility in mind, such that new analytical requirements can be met quickly.”