Our future in focus

31/05/2024

Hello and welcome to the June/July issue of Transform. We are so grateful to the hundreds of members who have taken part in questionnaires, focus groups, workshops and panels as part of our conversations about the future purpose of IEMA. One of the requests from members was for us to place a greater emphasis on social sustainability – ensuring that the transition to a net-zero economy is just and equitable. We now have a steering group on the subject, which meets regularly and is in the early stages of developing a work programme. One of the first outputs prioritised by the group is a ‘social sustainability 101’, which will capture key concepts and definitions. More to follow on that in due course. In our main interview, IEMA Fellow Beth Knight talks about the growing recognition of social sustainability and how it must become a bigger part of the conversation, as we look ahead to the launch of the Taskforce on Inequality and Social-related Financial Disclosures later this year. “We are so grateful to the hundreds of members who have taken part in … our conversations about the future purpose of IEMA” A really good example of where sustainability and social justice converge is in policy to retrofit homes with energy-efficiency measures. This can both reduce carbon impact and reduce energy bills for families in lower-income communities – something that is particularly important with the current instability of global energy prices. As Amanda Williams points out, the scale of the task requires a step change in skills and training. As many organisations are finding out, scope 3 emissions can be extremely difficult to calculate – despite the fact that they can account for the vast majority of a business’s carbon footprint. However, focusing on scope 3 emissions can be a very productive way of driving better business practices and investment decisions, as Susanna Jackson and Helen Sprakes explain. We hope you enjoy this issue. Please do get in touch if you have any thoughts, comments or ideas for articles – we are always interested in content from our amazing members! Have a great summer.