Chamber AGM leads Humber’s net-zero carbon ambitions as it branches out with £1,000 donation to ‘One Hull of a Forest’

Dr Kelly and Dr Steel – putting down roots for the future.

THIS year the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce is doing something different at its AGM and taking the lead in the Energy Estuary’s ambition to become the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by backing the One “Hull” of a Forest initiative.

The Chamber is putting down its roots with a £1,000 donation to the Plant a Tree Today Foundation and its Director, Dr Andrew Steel from East Hull, will be the speaker at the Chamber’s AGM lunch.

The event will take place at the KCOM Stadium from noon on Friday, February 28, and Dr Steel is keen to highlight the Foundation’s projects in Northern Lincolnshire, too.

Hull West and Hessle MP Emma Hardy is also backing the project and will introduce Dr Steel, who will tell his audience why Hull is the least forested city in the UK, why it matters, and what is being done to plant more trees on both sides of the Humber.

In his early career, Dr Steel served in Royal Navy training as an engineer before working at a refinery in Asia. He then turned over a new leaf in deciding to help change the world “one tree at a time”. He now intends to put the Humber back on the map for its reforestation efforts as part of the Government’s Northern Forest Initiative to plant 50-million trees along the M62 corridor.

The project aims to involve schools, businesses and the general public to increase woodland coverage in the Humber which is one of worst polluting areas of the country.

Dr Steel said: “Trees not only help the environment, but they also give us the oxygen we need to breathe and provide a natural habitat for lots of wildlife.

“New woodland and good management can also help to achieve flood alleviation, which is particularly relevant to the Humber, and a person’s proximity to trees can significantly reduce mental health issues and anti-social behaviour”.

Chamber Chief Executive Dr Ian Kelly said: “We have a lot of heavy industry in and around the Humber Estuary, and I believe we all need to do our bit to reduce our carbon emissions and improve our environment.

“After the terrible floods across the country following the recent storms, there can be no doubt that global warming is affecting us now and we all need to do something about it”.

“This is why we are opening up what is usually a Chamber members’ only event to any business which would like to join us for our lunch and hear more from Dr Steel - you can book by clicking this link”. https://rb.gy/nuqcmq

Budding environmentalists can get involved, or find out more about the Plant a Tree Today Foundation, by emailing info@pattfoundation.org or visit www.pattfoundation.org