Baku Briefing & Christmas Drinks

Amy & Fiona chat with Prashant and Camilla

December 2024

Earth Set's Amy and Fiona were in conversation with Prashant Rao, Senior Editor Semafor and Camilla Born, CEO Electrify Britain

Climate in Real Time: Inside Earth Set’s Emergency Briefing on COP29, Northvolt & the ZEV Mandate

Some events take months to plan, but sometimes, the climate news cycle moves too fast for that. Last week, Earth Set tried something new—an emergency briefing designed to break down the latest climate developments as they were happening.

With breaking news on the ZEV mandate, Northvolt, and COP29, we gathered a panel of true experts to help us make sense of it all:

🔹 Camilla Born – Speaking in her former role as a key COP organiser (she helped bring COP26 to Glasgow!), Camilla shared her reflections from Baku—just one day after being announced as CEO of Electrify Britain.

🔹 Prashant Rao – Senior Editor at Semafor, Prashant gave us deep insights into Northvolt and what its latest developments mean for the future of battery tech and Europe’s green transition.

🔹 Fiona Howarth – CEO of Octopus EV, Fiona unpacked the ZEV mandate, explaining what it means for the EV industry, policy landscape, and consumers alike.

I had the pleasure of hosting the discussion, and from the very first question, it was clear: this wasn’t just a panel—it was a room full of experts, including the audience. The depth of knowledge in the room was striking, leading to an incredibly high-level, detailed discussion. So much so that… we completely overran.

The energy felt like a live podcast, with real-time analysis rather than pre-prepared keynotes. This kind of rapid-response format is only possible with people who are deeply embedded in the climate and policy space, living these stories as they unfold.

For Earth Set, this was an experiment—but a successful one. It may not be an every-month kind of event, but as the climate landscape continues to shift at speed, we’ll definitely be looking at more ways to bring real-time, expert-led discussions to our community.

(And yes, the recording failed. But if you were in the room, you know: this was a conversation you had to be there for.)
AR