The NetZeroToolkit

Since its launch in 2021, The NetZeroToolkit has seen over 670 businesses sign up to track their climate actions, and thousands more have used the resources available. This free online tool is perfect for businesses of all sizes, helping them develop effective sustainability strategies.

With SMEs making up 99% of UK businesses and contributing to 50% of CO₂ emissions, the toolkit breaks down sustainability into eight easy-to-understand components, with helpful resources and prompts for each one. Whether you’re new to sustainability or already on the journey, this toolkit will guide your business towards net zero. Learn more about the toolkit below.

Bringing Leaders Together from Around the World

At Edinburgh Science, we’re committed to driving meaningful climate action. Through our Climate Co-labs, we’ve brought together senior leaders from across higher education – small businesses and big corporations, third sector, policymakers, diplomats and more, to tackle the toughest climate challenges. From supporting small businesses to pushing for net zero, we’re all about making real change happen.

We run up to six round table events a year bringing together a curated group of senior leaders to discuss, innovate and collaborate, seeking solutions to difficult topics such as Financing the Energy Transition, Skills for a Just Transition, Sustainable Tourism and Events, and Will Technology Save Us. Speakers have included Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic, Kate Forbes, international diplomat Christiana Figueres, Dame Susan Rice DBE and John Lamont MP as well as a host of CEOs and senior leaders from across sectors.

In December 2023, we took this format to COP28 in Dubai thanks to funding from Wood MacKenzie. This event was a standout success, bringing global leaders together to address urgent climate issues. Our Co-Lab event, Delivering on The Promise of Climate Finance At Last, featured senior leaders – Nigel Topping CMG, Mohamed Sultan and Ambassador Patricia Espinosa – exploring the ever-evolving landscape of climate finance. You can listen to the podcast The Energy Gang below.

The success of our Climate Co-labs

Each event inspires rigorous debate and collaboration. Two particularly successful projects to have come out of our Climate Co-Labs have been Smart Green Shipping and Re-wilding in Scotland.

In November of 2021, we hosted two Climate Co-Lab events in Glasgow over COP26. The first was How Can International Collaboration Drive Forward Our Green Economic Future?.

Provocations were made by the then Minister of Finance – Kate Forbes MSP, Paul Dickinson and chaired by Dr Martin Valenti, who introduced us to Diane Gilpin. A key point within the discussion on that day was the challenges that many start-ups and those with innovative technological solutions can face when it comes to scalability.

As a result of participating in this event and meeting colleagues from PwC, Smart Green Shipping was added to The PwC Future Net Zero 50, highlighting their work, and resulting in the finance required being sourced to produce a scale test and demonstration FastRig wind sail. Wind-assist is one of best ways of meeting global shipping’s ambitious emissions reductions targets and has the potential to also reduce operating costs.

In 2021 we hosted a Climate Co-Lab on the subject Land Use: Financing Nature-Based Solutions. This discussion led to a meeting between James Oliver of The Hampden Group and representatives from NatureScot. As a result of this meeting, in March 2023, they announced a partnership. Together they are embarking on an ambitious re-wilding project that will create 185,000 hectares of native woodland with the potential to sequester 20million tonnes of CO2e over the next 30 years.