Making strides in sustainability: CommsCo Tech Chat with Buffy Price

With the prospect of a UK election currently looming, many of us are pondering what policies the main parties will campaign on. Will sustainability feature high on the list of priorities after being sidelined by countless leaders over the years?

We all know it should; according to NOAA’s 2023 Annual Climate Report, the combined land and ocean temperature has increased at an average rate of 0.06° Celsius per decade since 1850. The rate of warming since 1982 is more than three times as fast at 0.20°C per decade. 

One person who hopes that this alarming trend of political dismissal will be bucked is Carbon Re COO Buffy Price. With years of policy and human rights work under her belt, she joins the CommsCo Tech Chat this Earth Day.

Introducing… Carbon Re COO Buffy Price

Buffy’s background is intriguing and extensive; having plied her trade in neuroscience, NGO and human rights work, she also worked as a political researcher for Charles Kennedy MP in the early 2000s. A brief foray into the film industry as a production assistant on ‘Life in a Day’ followed, before Buffy met Sherif Al Sayyad Ali at Amnesty International.

Together, they founded Carbon Re, offering cutting-edge AI technology and decarbonisation solutions for industrial processes focusing on cement, steel and glass production sectors. Through the use of AI, the goal is to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and increase efficiency in existing infrastructures. Clearly, there are few guests better placed to chew the fat on sustainability with the CommsCo boys.

Collaboration is key

If we’re going to bring global warming under some sort of control, it requires a colossal team effort. Buffy is clear; the current progress of green policies is inadequate, especially when urgent and significant action is needed to combat climate change. That means substantial policies and actions, rather than just the minor adjustments we are seeing in recent times. And none of the major parties are giving cause for optimism just yet.

But how do we go about getting the public and industries on board in the face of skepticism? Buffy recognises the challenge but has also encountered support from building practices, who have shown keen interest in Carbon Re’s AI technology. As for the public, policy makers must set the tone from the top and translate hard decisions for those that are affected. It’s not sexy but the priority must be on deciphering the narrative for it to be fully understood.

And in asking for lasting change professionally, Buffy also backs up this passion personally. She reveals to Tom and Lee her personal commitment in fighting climate change and its impacts, as well as her plans to expand Carbon Re beyond cement to other industries. There’s even a sneak peek at the words to be added to Buffy’s epitaph, inspired by her Vampire Slayer namesake.

As always, the episode comes to a close with the CC Quickfire – and what follows is a first in Tech Chat history!

Listen to the full episode here. Get in touch with the CommsCo team here.