“Critical minerals, semiconductors and data are the oil, steel and electricity of the 21st century.”

Lord Sedwill, Former National Security Advisor

Welcome to Ambassadors’ Day: Corporate Net Zero. Strategic Elements & Critical Materials. On 19 January we are bringing together world-leading research organisations and prominent industry minds to address 3 critical challenges:

1. Critical materials in transport and energy transition to Net Zero. Featuring industry discussion on net zero supply chain. 

2. Critical materials in consumer products, corporate environment and everyday life. Impact on environment. Featuring industry discussion on achieving net zero in manufacturing processes.

3. Improving circularity and corporate sustainability. Featuring industry discussion on improving circularity in corporate environment.

Presented by:

EVENT HOST

Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials (BCSECM), University of Birmingham will be hosting Ambassadors’ Day and will be introducing this section during 9.00 – 10.30 followed by industry discussion around Net Zero Supply Chain 10.30 – 11.20. 

Meet our host: view here.

Prof. Paul Anderson, Director and Founder of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials (BCSECM), Professor of Strategic Elements and Materials Sustainability in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham and his team will hold expert talks and share latest industry insights into:

• Why are Materials Critical to the Net Zero transition
• Rare Earth Permanent Magnets: From Off-Shore Wind to Electric Motors, Driving the Electric Revolution
• What does it take to deliver Zero Emissions Personal Transport
• Solving the Criticality Challenge through alternative Future Battery Chemistries
• Market Failure: Policy and Legislation Challenges

“Critical Materials are crucial enablers of many of the key technologies that will help us to achieve Net Zero. The Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements & Critical Materials (BCSECM), the first UK Research Centre of its type, has provided interdisciplinary national leadership in raising awareness of, and developing approaches to mitigate, the constraints of finite resources. The BCSECM invites you to the University of Birmingham to hear first hand about the legal, regulatory and economic challenges posed by the supply of materials that are critical to a clean transition. As old technologies and processes give way to new ones, new supply chains must be created rapidly to service our inexorable appetite for these materials, however, there are problems on the horizon matching the burgeoning demand with available supply. It is clear that much smarter and more efficient husbandry of the earth’s elemental resources will be required. In guided tours you will experience some of the innovative technologies being developed at the University to make sustainable Net Zero a reality.”

Prof. Paul Anderson, Professor of Strategic Elements and Materials Sustainability in the School of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham, and Director and founder of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials 

The Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials (BCSECM) was established to unite the significant research activity at the University of Birmingham in the area of strategic elements and critical materials and provide a forum to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in this field. The University of Birmingham has a 40-year history in magnet manufacturing.

The BCSECM was launched in March 2017 and it encompasses expertise from across the University of Birmingham and the Birmingham Energy Institute in Biosciences, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Earth & Environmental Sciences, Economics, Law, Materials Science, Physics and Social Science. The experts within the centre all have the common aim of addressing the challenges posed by supply constraints for strategic elements and critical materials.

If you would like to support this section and enrich it with your expertise we can offer a dedicated 30mins presentation time (Sponsor level) or an exclusive 1hr Audience time (Partner level) for your company to present and hold Q&As around your leadership approach to driving Corporate decarbonisation and environmental efforts to Net Zero. Enquire for further details here.

Presented by:

Natural History Museum and British Geological Survey will be introducing this section during 11.40 – 12.30 followed by industry discussion around Achieving Net Zero in Manufacturing 12.30 – 13.20.

Prof. Richard Herrington, Head of Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum and Andrew Bloodworth, Honorary Research Associate, British Geological Survey will hold expert talks and present the latest industry findings addressing:

• Role of critical materials in consumer products and corporate environment
• Impact of mining and processing on environment
• Can our planet, people and prosperity really support the need to mine?

The Natural History Museum is a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use our unique collections and unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. 

We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually.

Natural History Museum’s Earth Sciences Department has expertise in responsible use of natural resources.

The British Geological Survey is a world-leading geological survey and global geoscience organisation, focused on public-good science for government and research to understand earth and environmental processes. 

We are the UK’s premier provider of objective and authoritative geoscientific data, information and knowledge to help society to use its natural resources responsibly, manage environmental change and be resilient to environmental hazards.

To underpin the long-term country’s Critical Minerals strategy, the UK will evaluate the criticality of minerals on an annual basis. British Geological Survey will be leading on this function together with newly established Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre.

If you would like to support this section and enrich it with your expertise we can offer a dedicated 30mins presentation time (Sponsor level) or an exclusive 1hr Audience time (Partner level) for your company to present and hold Q&As around your leadership approach to driving Corporate decarbonisation and environmental efforts to Net Zero. Enquire for further details here.

Presented by:

CHAIR OF THE DAY

Sebastian Munden, Chair, WRAP will be Chairing the Ambassadors’ Day. 

WRAP will be introducing this section during 14.10 – 15.00 followed by industry discussions around Improving Circularity in Corporate Environment 15.00 – 15.45 and Net Zero lessons from other business sectors 15.45 – 16.30.

Keith James, Head of Policy & Insights at WRAP will hold expert talks and present the latest industry findings on improving circularity in corporate environment.

WRAP is a climate action NGO working around the globe to tackle the causes of the climate crisis and give the planet a sustainable future. Established in the UK in 2000 WRAP now works in 40+ countries.  

We shouldn’t waste our natural resources. Everything we use should be re-used and recycled.  

Working around the globe with governments, businesses, and citizens, our mission is to make the world a more sustainable place. We bring people together, we act on the facts, and we drive change.

The time to act is NOW.

If you would like to support this section and enrich it with your expertise we can offer a dedicated 30mins presentation time (Sponsor level) or an exclusive 1hr Audience time (Partner level) for your company to present and hold Q&As around your leadership approach to driving Corporate decarbonisation and environmental efforts to Net Zero. Enquire for further details here.

Other industry organisations supporting Ambassadors’ Day:

See links to our previous Ambassadors’ Day Antarctic: Effecting Transformational Change held on 19 January 2023 at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Innovation Centre, Cambridge:

Brochure: view brochure.| Event summary: summary.| Media coverage: in the news.

Venue

Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT