NEWS.

Building on COP26 to Achieve Net Zero - Simon Monaghan

02nd Mar 2022

The recent COP26 event held in Glasgow in November 2021 has been seen by many commentators as a successful step towards securing global net-zero by mid-century.

The need for change has been widely accepted by the business community and a large number of initiatives are underway at all levels of the economy. The government is leading the way by setting challenging emissions targets and supporting the development of innovative technologies.

Achieving Net Zero requires actions, not words. The question which arises is what can SMEs do to monitor and reduce their emissions? Workaround Net Zero initiatives are creating exciting a myriad of opportunities and Innovate UK EDGE is working with a number of companies in this space.

 Reshift Limited is a case in point, a new company led by a young entrepreneur Naseef Ahammed, striving to help society address pressing climate concerns. The company was born in the Spark InTechnology Incubator at the University of Leeds with the goal of supporting the market transition towards sustainability.

Support from Innovate UK EDGE has led to the creation of their Free Carbon Dashboard, which helps SMEs better understand their carbon emissions and begin their sustainability journey. The dashboard is the first of a suite of Net Zero products and is free to Xero users through the Xero app store.

 The funded support from EDGE played a key role as Naseef acknowledges:

 "I have been a part of multiple accelerators in my start-up journey, but the EDGE programme is the one that has helped me the most. Simon, Andy, and the rest of the team offered me a critical analysis of my original business model and has been instrumental in Reshift's pivot towards developing the Small business Carbon Dashboard and Net Zero strategy tools."

 Innovate UK EDGE is a key part of the UK innovation agency’s deep investment in the pioneering businesses that drive economic growth. It is a publicly-funded service available to all high potential small to medium sized innovation-driven companies, including Innovate UK grant winners.

 

Return to list