Earth Set

Decarbonise or Deindustrialise? Is this really the choice facing Britain?

The UK has set ambitious targets to decarbonise its economy and transition to clean energy. Yet alongside this ambition is a growing unease: that energy-intensive industries are quietly shrinking, relocating, or closing altogether.

At its core lies a difficult question: as we decarbonise, can Britain retain the industries that underpin its economy — or are we, in practice, forcing a trade-off between climate ambition and industrial competitiveness?

This Earth Set evening will explore what this tension looks like in reality. What is actually driving the pressures on sectors such as chemicals, steel and cement? Are high energy prices the central challenge, or the way policy is being designed and implemented? And what determines whether industrial capacity is maintained, transformed — or lost?

We’ll examine how these decisions are made in practice. What makes a project financeable in the UK today? Where are the barriers to deploying low-carbon industrial processes at scale? And to what extent are we simply shifting production — and emissions — elsewhere?

Bringing together perspectives from policy, infrastructure and investment, the conversation will focus on the practical conditions required to decarbonise without deindustrialising — and whether a credible pathway exists to achieve both.

📍 Location: Octopus Energy, UK House, 2 Great Titchfield Street, London W1D 1NN
🕒 Time: 6.30–9.00pm (panel discussion 7.00–8.15pm followed by drinks & networking)

This event is supported by Clean Air Task Force (CATF), a global nonprofit organisation working to safeguard against the worst impacts of climate change by catalysing the rapid development and deployment of low-carbon energy and other climate-protecting technologies. With more than 25 years of internationally recognised expertise on climate policy, CATF is a pragmatic, non-ideological advocacy group committed to exploring all potential solutions to climate change.
Visit catf.us and follow @cleanaircatf.

Earth Set: Build - Series 2

This spring we’re bringing back Earth Set: Build, a short series of practical lunchtime sessions for early-stage climate founders and aspiring founders.

As well as technologies, markets and policy, building a climate company requires founders to understand credibility, structure, narrative, hiring, fundraising and leadership.

Across six sessions we’ll hear from experienced founders, investors and operators who have spent years working alongside early-stage companies. Each conversation will focus on a specific challenge founders face in the early stages of building a business: how to establish credibility before traction exists, how to structure a young company sensibly, how to hire the first few critical people, and how to navigate the uncertain stretch between idea and functioning organisation.

The format is deliberately simple. Each session is a 45-minute lunchtime discussion, combining practical insight with open Q&A.

Sessions will take place online on the following dates:

📅 Sessions 12.30–1.15pm (online): 

Mon 27 April:Kate Tyrrell - How do I get taken seriously before I have customers?

Thu 30 April: Katharine Keddie - How do I generate demand before I have proof?

Mon 11 May: SearchWorks - How do I hire my first 5 people?

Thu 14 May:Matthew Williams & Luca Mezossy-Dona (IONATE) - How do I close my first climate customer?

Mon 18 May:Erica Neve - How do I structure a mission-driven company without regretting it later?

Thu 21 May: Tim Rault-Smith - When is it too early to raise?

Max Bray, Partner, Kindred Capital

Mat Ilic, CEO & Founder Greenworkx

Sarah Mackintosh, Director, Cleantech for UK