The Leadership Vanguard

Over the last few decades, emissions from transport (including aviation and shipping) have rapidly increased to the point where transport accounts for over 20% of global greenhouse emissions today. Of this, a huge 75% is from road transport.

With the IEA's Net Zero Emissions 2050 Scenario requires transport emissions to reduce by 20% by 2030, it is therefore critical to the climate transition that we find ways of creating clean and safe transport, logistics infrastructure and systems that are greener and free up urban space for people.

Renewables like solar and wind can are already supporting the decarbonisation of our homes and many industries and businesses. But for heavy industries like steel and cement, and transport like long-haul and aviation, the option to electrify with renewables doesn't exist.

For heavy industry, the heat temperatures required mean that electrification isn't possible, and for aviation battery storage isn't yet possible. Hydrogen and CCS have a lot of promise, so how might we accelerate the scale up and cost reduction of these technologies for hard-to-abate industries?

As the global population is projected to hit 9 billion by 2050, the demand for food is expected to increase 59-98%. The food system is already responsible for 34% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which make this a critical sector to decarbonise and find ways to reduce the impact on land health.

Evolving the way we grow, transport and consume food will be one of the biggest challenges of this century, but how do we move to more local and environmentally friendly production and shift consumer preferences towards sustainable, regenerative and resilient food systems?

As populations continue to move from rural areas to cities, 96% of urban growth is expected to occur in East Asia, South Asia and Africa. Demand for new housing and development will be especially acute in India, China and Nigeria; accounting for as much as 35% of the increase by 2050.

With the building and construction industry responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions, how might we design buildings, produce the materials, and implement sustainable construction processes that regenerate nature and build more vibrant communities?

Overcoming the barriers to adoption of circular supply chains in a given system continues to prove challenging as businesses struggle with the level of investment and effort required to find ways to amend complex value chains.

But with 16.5 tonnes of plastic going into our oceans each year, and with 73% millennial shoppers saying they are willing to pay more for sustainable goods; now is the time to investigate how we close the loop on material throughputs in supply chains while building economic and social value.

Building and scaling smart and flexible energy distribution systems will be essential to enabling greater penetration of renewables within our system. According to the IEA, to achieve our net zero goals, annual clean energy investment will need to triple to $4 trillion by 2030.

While supportive of the transition to green energy, the public has proven less enthusiastic about the investment required and the impact on energy bills. How might we enable new forms of energy exchange within communities to activate prosumers and scale investment in clean energy?

An opportunity for emerging/high potential leaders from each partner organisation to develop their effectiveness as system change agents through facilitated virtual learning and development as part of a diverse cohort of like-minded talent.

Open participants work both independently and in tandem with participants on the Accelerator programme to develop their transition leadership will and skills.

A dedicated online community for both current Leadership Vanguard participants and alumni, designed to maximise collaboration, action and learning.

Reef enables users to network with others, form groups around common interest, complete courses, participate in ideation challenges and access live virtual events.

A facilitated rapid impact ‘sprint’ across 4-6 week, Labs enables rapid collaborative exploration of a specific high-potential commercial opportunity.

In a fully facilitated process, participants form hypotheses about opportunities for positive growth, undertake exploration exercises designed to test them, capture insights and re-orient towards as the opportunity comes into sharper relief. At the end they are able to present their proposition to internal stakeholders or others with greater confidence and surety.