Congress of Business (COB) returned on Tuesday 14 May 2024 during Glasgow Climate Week.
Building on COB's successful launch last year, we partnered with British Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Chambers of Commerce and University of Glasgow to ignite purpose-led conversations for one common goal, accelerating action on net zero.
Cities are hubs for innovation and growth. The vast number of buildings in our cities which we design, build and occupy have a vital role to play in decarbonising our planet.
COB brought together global influential leaders from the urban development and finance sectors, to equip businesses with the tools to accelerate change towards the Glasgow Climate Pacts established at COP26.
If you missed any of the speaker sessions or panel discussions, or simply want to revisit the day, all live content is available on our YouTube channel.
HEAR FROM OUR SPEAKERS
Prior to COB24, we spoke to Anna Campbell-Jones, Designer, Retailer and Presenter:
"Occasions such as COB24, where businesses can gather together to talk about sustainability and imaginative ways of achieving net zero, will contribute to finding long-term solutions."
Anna Campbell-Jones
As COP26 legacy city, Glasgow launched its first Climate Week in 2024.
A pacer event between COPs, the week featured a suite of activities aimed at progressing action and making a powerful and lasting commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
Find out more
Anna Campbell-Jones | Designer, Retailer and Presenter
Anna is an interior designer and design consultant who runs Habitus, an interior design business based in Glasgow. Anna has been designing homes since 2000 and since 2016 she has been director of Habitus Design Ltd. Anna is currently judge/presenter of Scotland’s Home of the Year on BBC1 Scotland and was awarded Scottish Influencer of the Year, Interiors and Design in 2022.
In October 2023, Anna launched her own sustainable Scottish made interiors brand inspired by the Dazzle Camoufleurs of WW1 bringing together her love of bold pattern, 20th century art & design and boats.
[Photo credit to Andrew Jackson]
Professor Greg Clark CBE FAcSS | Host of COB24
We were delighted to welcome renowned urbanist and leading innovator, Greg Clark, to moderate and host COB24. Greg is chair of Connected Places Catapult and 3Ci (Cities Commission for Climate Investment) and a non-executive director for Transport for London.
He is an Honorary Professor at UCL STEaPP, a visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde, a senior fellow at the Urban Land Institute and a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.
Emma Howard Boyd CBE | Chair of the Green Finance Institute
Emma Howard Boyd is Chair of the Green Finance Institute, and formerly Chair of the Environment Agency and Ex officio board member of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Emma, with a background in finance, is a board member or advisor to many organisations which include the UK Board of Trade, The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project, the Council for Sustainable Business and the European Climate Foundation. Emma was the UK Commissioner to the Global Commission on Adaptation, and a Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience ahead of COP26.
James Close | Head of Climate Change at NatWest Group
James is committed to working on some of the most challenging global issues focusing on sustainable development and climate change, supporting the implementation of the bank’s purpose-led strategy. Prior to this role, he was the Head of the Circular Economy Programme for London.
Will Hutton | Political Economist, Journalist and Author
As one of the leading economics commentators in the UK, Will is regularly called on to advise senior political and business figures and comment in the national and international media. He began his career in the City before moving to the BBC where he became Economics Editor of Newsnight, then went on to be Economics Editor at The Guardian. He spent four years as Editor-in-Chief of The Observer and was Chief Executive of The Work Foundation 2000-2008.
Will has chaired two government commissions and has chaired four think tanks – the Employment Policy Institute, the Work Foundation, the Big Innovation Centre and the Purposeful Company. He was a trustee of the Scott Trust 2006-2017.
Nick Cochrane-Dyet | Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce, Abu Dhabi
Nick Cochrane-Dyet joined BP in the UAE in 1989 having spent the previous four years working as the Representative of Citicorp Investment Bank in Abu Dhabi. Prior to that he had managed the President of the UAE’s Royal Stud Farm and had been a Captain in the British Army.
He currently Chairs the Middle East Advisory Board of the Energy Industry Council and is on the advisory board of New York University, Abu Dhabi Center for Smart Engineering Materials. He founded the UAE-UK Business Council in 2012 and was awarded the MBE in 2013.
Sarah Howard MBE | Chair at British Chambers of Commerce
Sarah has a long history in the Chamber Movement and is a great advocate for the power of business for good. Sarah became Chair of the British Chambers of Commerce in 2019, is a Past President of Suffolk Chamber and sat on the board of the London Chamber. In challenging times for business, she has supported the BCC and international network's growth and is working with her teams to ensure they support the growth and prosperity of their members. She co-chairs the BCC’s Workplace Equity Commission and sits on the Steering Board of HM Government’s Lilac Review into Disabled Entrepreneurship.
She has a particular interest in skills development and bringing more diversity into the Boardroom and works closely with Neurodiverity in Business. She was awarded the MBE in 2015 for her work on skills development for young people. With a background in management consultancy, Sarah has worked for high profile organisations including JP Morgan and KPMG. She works with a couple of British tech startups looking at international markets. She is also the Chair of Abbeycroft Leisure, a large not for profit Leisure Trust and is a Governor of the Eastern Education Group.
Catherine McGuinness CBE | Non-Executive Director Catapult Connected Places
Catherine brings a wealth of experience to the role having worked for decades across finance, law and public policy. She is the immediate past Chair of the City of London’s Policy & Resources Committee, where she served a five-year term from 2017 – 2022.
As Policy Chair she played a leading role in the City’s work with the financial and related professional services sector. Catherine provides crucial insight having worked on initiatives that align with the Catapult’s innovation imperatives of levelling up and net zero.
She has been closely involved in a number of green finance initiatives, was a director of the Green Finance Institute and is a member of the UK Voluntary Carbon Markets Forum, and the Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services.
Our inaugural COB in 2023 saw almost 400 delegates come together with climate conscious individuals to exchange ideas and tackle the challenges of achieving net zero.
Speakers included
Congress of Business 2024 was held at:
SWG3
100 Eastvale Place
Glasgow G3 8QG
(This was an in-person and virtual event)
Congress of Business 2024 was held in partnership with
