Article from BTNews 20 JULY 2020
British-Irish EXPO speakers
With the cancellation of the World Aviation Festival, the British-Irish EXPO at ExCeL London in October is expected to be the first proper gathering of the commercial aviation industry since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March. 
Business Travel News is the official media partner.
A full list of speakers will be published over the coming months but is likely to include some of the top executives in the industry.
The EXPO is expected to spearhead the rolling recovery of UK-Irish airports, backed by a four-airport “common interest hosting coalition” comprising Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick and London City airports, alongside RABA, the regional airports trade association.
Key speaker is Lord Deben, Chairman of the Committee on Climate Change – the body that statutorily advises the UK Government on how to achieve its 2050 Net Zero target.
As John Gummer, Lord Deben was dubbed “the best Environment Secretary we ever had” by Friends of the Earth and was originally set to address the United Nation’s COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November – but that has now been pushed back a year.
Deben’s opener to the EXPO will assert “Aviation should achieve net-zero emissions by 2050” – currently both aviation and shipping are exempt from the 2050 targets.
Deben’s speech will be followed by a multi-stakeholder UK-industry roundtable entitled: “Real Zero, Net Zero 2050, or Year Zero?”
Participants are expected to include:
• Jonathon Counsell, Group Head of Sustainability, International Airlines Group
• Matt Gorman, Director of Sustainability, Heathrow Airport
• Rachel Thompson, Head of Sustainability, Gatwick Airport
• Capt David Morgan, Director Flight Operations, easyJet (easyJet low-carbon technology lead)
• Neil Robinson, Group CSR & Future Airspace Director, Manchester Airports Group
• Rachael Everard, Head of Sustainability, Rolls-Royce
• Prof Iain Gray, Director of Aerospace, Cranfield University
A full list of speakers and presentations will be published nearer the opening date. Entry is free by registration on the EXPO website.
www.airports-expo.com
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