Freelance broadcaster and journalist, Tom Heap, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the second day of the Resourcing the Future Conference next week, as CIWM announces the event will be free to attend.
Tom created and presented BBC Radio’s flagship climate change podcast, ‘39 Ways to Save the Planet’. The series, produced in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society, explores ideas to relieve the stress that climate change is exerting on the planet, including climate friendly rice and the benefits of introducing mass grazing to the Artic tundra.
He is a regular presenter on BBC1’s Countryfile, specialising in the more investigative films, and has made many BBC Panorama documentaries on food, energy and the environment. Tom also hosts BBC Radio 4’s regular environment series, ‘Costing the Earth’.
I also want to tell the audience why I’m hopeful for the environment and why I believe a number of factors have aligned to give the potential for real change as we rebuild from the pandemic and move towards COP 26 later in the year
Commenting on his upcoming presentation, Tom said: “I’m looking forward to sharing some of the insights gained from making 39 Ways and discussing how the waste and resource management sector can be increasingly proactive in decarbonising the planet.
“I also want to tell the audience why I’m hopeful for the environment and why I believe a number of factors have aligned to give the potential for real change as we rebuild from the pandemic and move towards COP 26 later in the year.”
‘Critical’
CIWM has also announced that this year’s Resourcing the Future Conference will now be free to attend for all delegates.
CIWM says the decision reflects its belief that the need to come together has never been more pressing but also recognises the scale of the challenges we all face as we emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic.
RTF, with its change focused agenda, will add essential value for members and our sector in what are uncertain and challenging times, and contribute to our purpose, to move the world beyond waste.
Collective knowledge and expertise are ‘critical’ to meeting global targets and delivering vital initiatives, CIWM says and also that it is keen to ensure that financial pressures ‘do not stand in the way of progress to a world beyond waste’.
Sarah Poulter, CEO of CIWM, comments: “As a not-for-profit professional body, we must achieve a balance between generating funding from activities and investing back in valuable initiatives to support members and achieve our purpose. RTF, with its change focused agenda, will add essential value for members and our sector in what are uncertain and challenging times, and contribute to our purpose, to move the world beyond waste. Hence, we are investing, to make RTF accessible to all.”
Hybrid event
This year’s Resourcing the Future Conference takes place as a hybrid event on the 20th and 21st October at One Great George Street, London.
The event will explore how the role of the waste and resource management industry has escalated from being an essential service to a critical solution in the delivery of more circular economies and net zero.
Participants will better understand the environmental, technological and political changes impacting the sector while discovering how they can embrace and capitalise on this change to deliver a world beyond waste.
The event’s hybrid format means that, for the first-time, delegates can choose whether to attend in person or join online from the comfort of their home or office.
