Flexible Work, SBTi, Escape School, Heat Pumps & Beer Bags

1. Flexible futures

Great news! Starting a new job in England, Scotland, or Wales? You've got the green light to request flexible working right from day one. And when we say flexible, we don’t just mean working from home. You can opt for part-time hours, flexitime, job sharing, staggered shifts, or hybrid working. With the UK's average commute clocking in at a hefty 59 minutes, flexible working is a game-changer, improving work-life balance and accommodating workers with additional responsibilities outside of work.

Flexibility isn't just about convenience, it's about inclusivity too. By embracing flexible working, businesses open their doors to a whole new pool of talent while also promoting gender equality. In the UK, 38% of women in employment worked part-time, compared with 14% of men.? This imbalance perpetuates the gender pay gap and penalises women in retirement while also entrenching social norms surrounding women and part-time work. Normalizing and enhancing flexible working options can encourage more men to seek flexible arrangements and share caring responsibilities. Additionally, it can help ensure that flexibility does not necessarily equate to reduced hours or pay, circumstances that often lead to women facing limited job opportunities and earning potential after having children.

But while we are cheering on this new law, let's remember, asking for flexible work doesn't guarantee you'll get it. Employers still have the final say and are not required to accept these requests if business conditions don’t permit it. So, while it is easier than ever to request flexibility, there's still work to be done before flexible working isn’t seen as just a perk but a fundamental part of how we work.

2. Science Based Disaccord

Has the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) taken a step forward or made a misstep that could cost the planet? Last week we discussed the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)'s controversial decision to extend the use of Environmental Attribute Certificates (documents certifying specific environmental benefits, such as sustainable land management or the generation of renewable energy) to achieve scope 3 reduction targets. This move has since sparked intense debate across various sectors and within the SBTi itself.

Undoubtedly, the SBTi’s Board of Trustees delivered this bombshell poorly – sidestepping the technical council’s input and alleged influence from Jeff Bezos’ Earth Fund has not helped matters. However, the initial knee-jerk negative reaction to this news might benefit from further consideration.

Critics argue allowing EACs could enable companies to merely offset rather than reduce emissions, potentially undermining genuine sustainability efforts. There's fear this could serve as a loophole, leading to continued high emissions under the guise of compliance.

Despite initial backlash, integrating EACs into emissions accounting could be beneficial. Market-based accounting is already standard practice for electricity emissions, whereby EACs are used to prove renewable energy purchases, allowing for zero emissions in accounting despite mixed grid sources. This approach supports funding and incentives for significant carbon reductions in complex global value chains. In industries like food and drink, challenges with tracing direct emission sources hinder investment in farm-level emission reductions. EACs encourage immediate sustainability investments, such as sustainable agriculture, enhancing the funding and pace of climate-positive projects and accelerating sector-wide decarbonization by supporting financially challenging innovations.

Although the SBTi should not have excluded key stakeholders from the delivery of this new announcement and must enforce strict guidelines to restore support, dismissing EACs risks ignoring a crucial tool for combating climate change.

3. The Escape School

Frequent Friday 5 readers might be familiar with Escape the City – whose mission is to liberate one million people to do work they love. Not just find more fulfilling work but create it too. They do this by connecting purpose-led people with purpose-led companies – and that can take many forms!

That’s why it’s hugely exciting news that Escape the City have decided to bring back The Escape School’s Career Change Accelerator Programme! Maybe we’re a little bias having featured in Escape the City’s top 100 companies list twice, but we think this is a fantastic opportunity for those looking to transition to a purpose-led career, but aren’t sure how to take the first step.

The fully remote (and free) programme starting in June will include weekly live sessions, on-demand catch up, weekly workbooks and bitesize videos. The experience will guide, inspire and give you the tools you need to realign your future and redesign your career. If you would like to know more, sign up here to register your interest.

4. Pump it up

April 22nd is Earth Day – a reminder of the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability. So, we thought we’d send you into the weekend with some pre-Earth Day reflections on climate-friendly living.

‘The Climate Question’ podcast on the BBC regularly taps into this theme, with a recent episode that explores different ways of living a ‘green’ life and how people are taking individual responsibility for their carbon footprints. Making better choices –? how we travel, build, eat, and power our homes – could drastically cut global carbon emissions.

One person leading the charge is Jurgen Huber, a recent podcast guest, who shared his journey towards a lower-carbon lifestyle in London. For Jurgen, the journey involves conscious shopping and considerable investment in renewable energy solutions like solar panels and an air-source heat pump: a crucial technology to help cut carbon emissions from domestic heating.

Heat pumps can yield long-term benefits, but there are huge barriers that deter us from taking the plunge, including financial constraints, lack of information, and uncertainty about their effectiveness. Enter Nesta’s pilot platform, Visit A Heat Pump, where people with heat pumps sign up so people considering installing them can go to have a look and ask questions. It’s a good example how to tackle misinformation relating to transition technology and a people-centred approach to change.

Initiatives like Nesta’s platform highlight the importance of learning from each other to encourage lower-carbon lifestyles. As Jurgen put it, we don’t need perfection, but trying to get there and minimise impact is the first step. Individual changes can only go so far, but hearing from others’ experiences is a good way to overcome barriers and empower us all to make better choices – big or small.

The Goods: Arda Biomaterials

Did you know that beer can be turned into a bag? Neither did we.

For every 100 litres? of beer brewed, 20 kilos of spent grain are discarded as waste and sent to landfills or fed to livestock?? as cheap, low-quality feeds.

Arda Biomaterials, conveniently based on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, has found a new purpose for the spent grain - "New Grain”. Through processing and upscaling, it produces a leather-esque fabric that mimics faux leather and can be used in making leather bags.

Most faux leather products are plastic, which can have significant environmental implications. IThe "Arda Biomaterials" leather bags are highly sustainable, and desirable – a real win-win for vegans and environmentalists alike. Arda Biomaterials Leather Bags are currently in development phase and not yet available to buy. But you can sign up to the mailing list to be kept up to date when they are. And the next time you drink your beer, remember you’ll soon be able to carry it too!