#SustyTalk: Jacobs’s Zoe Haseman on net-zero strategies during the coronavirus lockdown

With the UK on lockdown and edie readers working remotely or on furlough, this brand new series of video interviews keeps you connected to the inspirational business leaders who are continuing to drive sustainability and champion climate action from their own homes.

#SustyTalk is all about keeping edie’s loyal readers connected to sustainable business leaders across the world, whilst reminding us all that sustainability and climate action must go on, through the current Covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

edie’s content editor Matt Mace discusses the lockdown with engineering firm Jacobs’s vice president for global sustainability Zoe Haseman

Jacobs’ Climate Action Plan commits the company to achieving and maintaining 100% renewable energy use and reaching net-zero emissions across operations and business travel by the end of the year. From 2021 onwards, Jacobs will target carbon-negative status by 2030 for its operations and business travel.

In 2019, Jacobs set a goal to reduce business travel emissions by 20% by 2022. Scope 3 emissions are still be quantified by the company, but science-based targets for both operations and supply chain will be set.

Haseman also discusses how nations and businesses can take lessons from the approach and measures implemented to combat Covid-19 and use them to strengthen global efforts to combat the climate crisis.

“There are so many parallels and lessons to be learnt from what is happening,” she said. “There are physical shocks and systemic shocks from what has happened with the pandemic and we can anticipate much more of this with climate change further down the line.

“In a way, the shock that people are feeling now, they can relate to it as something to expect in the future if we don’t start acting now. Boundaries have to be thrown out of the window; it takes cooperation and cohesion to solve this issue today, and that’s the only way we’ll solve the climate crisis.”

Click here to see our catalogue of #SustyTalk video interviews.

View more coronavirus-related content here. 

Want to be featured on a future episode of #SustyTalk? Email newsdesk@fav-house.com.  

edie staff