Adam Boddison - APM Scotland Branch Conference 2023: Net Zero Nation and Sustainability

Leading the Way on Net Zero
The Role of the Project Profession
Prof Adam Boddison OBE
Chief Executive

Adam joined APM as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in
September 2021 having formerly held CEO and senior
executive roles in multiple educational organisations.
He has a significant non-executive director portfolio that
includes being Chair of the Corporation at Coventry
College and Trustee at a multi-academy trust providing
education for around 32,000 pupils across 58 primary,
secondary and specialist settings.
Adam is a Visiting Professor at the Stranmillis University
College and the University of Leicester (School of
Business). In 2022, he was awarded the OBE for services to
children with special educational needs and disabilities.
© 2023 Association for Project Management 2

Helping the project profession deliver better…
• We’re chartered to build the profession’s profile and set the highest
standards
• We’re a registered charity and our activities are broad
• Sharing best practice and leading debate
• We’re about more than just process
• We challenge the status quo and champion innovation
• We’re helping the project profession deliver better
Because when projects succeed, society benefits
We’re APM, the
only chartered
membership
organisation
for the project
profession
in the world

Scotland Branch
• Our membership is widely dispersed, stretching from Dumfries and
Galashiels in the south, to Wick in the north, and beyond.
• Our principal concentrations of members are focused in the cities of
Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen and are drawn from a diverse
background, including
• The Public & 3rd Sectors
• Digital & ICT
• Defence
• Civil & Construction
• Transportation & Aerospace
• Energy & Utilities
• Financial Services
• Manufacturing and Retail

APM Scotland Events 2023
• Robotarium – 23rd March 2023
• Partnered event with CIOB
• Sponsored by Faithful+Gould
• 30 APM attendees
• Over 100 attendees in total
• APM Scotland Public Sector Event – 22nd June 2023
• 102 attendees

Gender Diversity

Immersion in the
project
profession
8

Immersion in the project profession

Immersio
n in the
project
profession
10

APM’s multiple identities…
11
© 2023 Association for Project Management
Volunteering

Net Zero
The current state of play…

McKinsey Insights

Average PM Salary: £47,500
Average MAPM Salary: £67,500
Average PM Salary (Energy):
£62,500

APM’s ‘Projecting
the Future’ Series
Current Energy
Sector Focus
Roundtables Outputs
• Launched in 2019
• Debated the
challenges and
opportunities for the
project profession
• Need to reflect on
way in which projects
are changing including
• Much stronger
stakeholder engagement
questioning
environmental and
sustainability aspects
• Increasing on
individual projects within
existing systems
• Digital tools for the
digital revolution
• What are the
challenges to
achieve net zero?
• What are the
responses and types
of investment
needed to address
these challenges?
• What are the skills
required to shape and
deliver these
projects?
• Mini reports to follow
first two roundtables
• Final White Paper on
future of projects in
the energy and
environment
sphere
Projects play a central role in responding to environmental challenges

APM Research Fund: environmental sustainability
goals

Scotland is leading the way...
Scotland’s targets are some of
the toughest in the world:
• Net zero by 2045, five years ahead of the rest of the UK
• Interim targets of 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2040

Leading the way…
Emissions of greenhouse gases such as
carbon dioxide have already been reduced to
about half of what they were 30 years ago.
Scotland produced the equivalent of 41.6m
tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021. A 49.2%
reduction from 1990, the benchmark year.

Leading the way…
26.7% of all of Scotland's energy
consumption came from renewables in 2020.
Ministers want renewable energy generation
to account for 50% of energy demand across
electricity, heat and transport by 2030.

Net zero is a significant driver of projects in Scotland
Onshore wind
• Delivers about 70% of capacity in the renewables mix
(followed by hydro and offshore wind).
• These projects have been credited with substantial
increases in green energy output this year.
• Beatrice Offshore Wind Farm is currently Scotland's
single largest source of renewable energy, generating
enough power for 450,000 homes.

Moving away from burning fossil fuels
• The last coal-fired power station, Longannet,
closed in 2016.
• The only remaining gas-fired power station is at
Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, which its owners
want to rebuild with carbon capture and storage
technology.

Transportation
• Transport accounts for about a quarter of
Scotland's greenhouse gas emissions.
• The Scottish government has said it wants to
phase out the need for new petrol and diesel
cars by 2030.
• Availability of publicly available charge points in
Scotland is now at 2,200 and increasing.

Heating homes
• About 13% of Scotland's emissions come from
housing, with most homes still relying on gas
central heating systems.
• Ministers have set a target of 50% of all homes
converting to a zero or low-emissions heating
system by 2030.

Planting trees
• The most effective way of absorbing CO2 from the
atmosphere.
• Most of the trees planted in the UK were planted in
Scotland, 10,480 of the 13,840 hectares planted,
between 2021 and 2022.
• The aim is to have 21% of Scotland's land covered
by forest by 2032.

What next?

Net zero policy is already shaping practice in Scotland
• A Fairer, Greener Scotland Programme for Government
2021-22 focused on Scotland as a Net Zero nation:
• Implement the first Just Transition Plan, the Scottish
Government's plan to transform the way Scotland
generates, transports and uses energy.
• Work with the Bus Decarbonisation Taskforce to shape a
greener, more efficient public sector bus fleet.
• Publish a new biodiversity strategy including changes in
the way land is managed and a new approach to
protecting habitats and ecosystems.

Net zero policy is already shaping practice in Scotland
Earmarked investment:
• £240 million for an energy transition
programme.
• £150 million towards 18,000 hectares
of tree planting a year by 2024.
• £250 million commitment to restore
250,000 hectares by 2030.

What is APM doing?
Net zero carbon and the project manager
We're funding research in this area, working with Heriot-Watt
University. The experiences of the profession in delivering these
targets remains under-researched.
We’re looking at readiness, challenges and pathways for the
delivery of carbon-free major projects.
Six main themes have emerged: carbon as a key parameter in
major projects, the nature of major projects, the scale of net-zero
transition challenge, the readiness of PM teams, effective project
strategies and the external environment.
The full study will be released early 2024.

What is APM doing?
Updating the theory
We are entering the fourth industrial revolution facing grand
challenges like net zero, but project management theory is
still geared up for the third industrial revolution.
We’re working with the University of Manchester to
understand what needs to change in our professional
practice so we're best placed to meet the challenges
presented by net zero today and in the future.
A focus groups is running here, today, on this very topic.

What is APM doing?
A policy priority for APM
We are hosting a fringe event at the Conservative party
conference titled ‘What does the UK government need to do
to ensure effective delivery of net zero?’
The government’s net zero strategy requires a huge range of
projects to be delivered at pace over the next decade. We will
look at the project delivery challenge of net zero and greening
the government’s project portfolio.
We have also been working closely with the Scottish
Government. A second APM public sector event is planned in
the new year.

McKinsey Insights

Chartered Project Professionals
are driving up ESG outcomes
Source: APM Salary and Market Trends survey, 2021

A projectified approach will support
delivery assurance…
We must first:
•
Address the major skills gap in the project
management sector.
• Increase the number of ChPPs in Scottish
Government.

Questions and
Accusations
Chief Executive
adam.boddison@apm.org.uk
@AdamBoddison

Adam Boddison - APM Scotland Branch Conference 2023: Net Zero Nation and Sustainability

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