EDF Group Climate Day ahead of COP26

On Wednesday 13^th October, EDF's R&D UK centre organised the 2nd EDF Group Climate Day in London, ahead of the 26th United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP26), which will be held in early November in Glasgow, Scotland.  This round table brought together climate experts and EDF's key partners in the UK. It was an opportunity for us to reaffirm its strong commitment to the climate and carbon neutrality, which are at the heart of its raison d'être.

EDF, a responsible player committed to the climate

This round table aimed to discuss the theme of "The role of industry in building a sustainable future and adapting to climate change".

Key partners from the energy and environment sector in the UK were present, such as the National Grid, the Environment Agency, the environmental regulator for the nuclear industry in England, the Met Office and Anglian Water. The discussions were moderated by Liz Bentley, Chief Executive of the Royal Meteorological Society.

EDF Group executives also took part in the discussions, including Paul Spence, Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at EDF UK, Bernard Salha, Group Technical Director and Director of R&D at EDF, Rémi Bussac, Head of Climate at EDF's Sustainable Development Division, Sylvie Parey, Senior Climate Researcher at R&D, Dafni Sifnioti and Amélie Joly, Researchers on natural hazards and climate at the R&D UK Centre.

We recalled the actions taken by the Group to adapt to climate change, a constant concern at the heart of its strategy and raison d'être. EDF is pursuing the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, notably through a mix of nuclear and renewable energy generation and the development of low-carbon services.

EDF Group leaders understand importance of climate change

Bernard Salha: "Our researchers, who are present throughout the world in our six international centres, are working every day to find innovative solutions to minimise greenhouse gas emissions from all power generation and operating activities, to electrify uses as soon as possible and to deal with the Group's residual CO2 emissions.

Patrick Dupeyrat: "At EDF's R&D UK centre, we are working on a wide range of activities related to climate change and providing technical and scientific support to our generation entities (nuclear and renewable) on this extremely important issue. In preparation for COP26 and in perfect alignment with EDF UK's ambitions to Help Britain Achieve Net Zero, we are particularly proud to have been able to organize this high-level expert roundtable. This 2nd EDF Climate Day, very rich in exchanges, will certainly allow us to develop new collaborations to build together a sustainable and resilient system ".

 Amélie Joly: "At the R&D UK Centre, the Natural Hazards team supports the UK's existing nuclear fleet and those under construction. For example, we are defining future climate risks such as heat waves and sea level rise for the Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C projects. We are also working closely with the Climate Department for EDF to support Group-wide climate change adaptation actions.”

Explore Innovation