OVO Energy launches initiative to encourage cycling & sustainability
To launch its OVO Energy Innovators initiative, which aims to encourage greater cycling participation and promote a zero carbon footprint, OVO Energy held a kick-off event at Plexal, in the Olympic Park.
Special guest speakers Chris Boardman MBE and leaders from OVO Energy discussed the importance of addressing barriers to cycling as well as the pursuit of achieving a zero-carbon footprint future.
On offer is a grant from OVO Energy to help companies develop their ideas to inspire greater cycling participation and in turn, help encourage a lower carbon footprint.
The initiative, OVO Energy Innovators, is a series of events working with technology and innovation focused companies. Each participant responded to the following challenge: how can OVO Energy inspire greater cycling participation, overcome the barriers to cycling and reduce our collective carbon footprint in the process?
The same brief has been put to STEM in a bid to inspire the next generation to be conscious about carbon footprint reduction.
CIN spoke to Boardman at the event: “OVO is the biggest independent supplier of energy in the UK, so a big player like this getting involved and saying they think this is the future carries a lot of weight. This encourages people to go and look for ways to make it happen, rather than look for reasons why we can’t.
“We already have the Bicycle Alliance, made up of British Cycling, Cycling UK, Sustrans and all the big players, and I think very soon we will have a business alliance that does the same thing. I think that kind of lobbying voice is quite possible and in fact, quite likely in the near future.”
Last month, OVO launched a series of Night Rides in the capital, aimed at addressing the gender imbalance in cycling and encouraging more women to cycle.
