Thank you very much for joining us today for the first of the spectator conference fringes.

Thanks to Drax for making this possible.

And today we're going to be asking the question, can green growth supercharge to the north?

Now, will the green agenda really create new jobs or will the cost of net zero dampen economic growth? It's a question we're hearing asked a lot. And I think we know that reaching net zero will demand record spending across the UK's infrastructure and economy, but could decarbonisation help drive regional economic growth, reinventing towns and

cities as hubs for low carbon technology? And if so, what balance do we need to strike between

private companies, the government, business, central government to make this possible to make the most

of it? And we'll also be talking about the potential net zero bill.

Now, to discuss all this, I'm happy to be joined by a brilliant panel today.

We have Will Gardner, CEO of Drax, Jake Berry, who's chair of the Northern Research Group,

and the founder of a new slogan.

Don't get me in trouble.

You can say it. Jake has gone viral today by talking about woking from home.

It's a new Tory buzzphrase apparently.

Maybe we'll get more.

Tim Maff Alami, chair for the Parliamentary Newfound Unustainable and Sustainable Energy Group.

Shaforn Havlin, Director General of the British Chamber of Commerce,

and Ben Houchon, of course, the Tees Valley Mayor.

To begin with, I'm just going to get each of our panel to give us two to three minutes opening remarks.

I'm going to go to a couple of questions, and then we're going to take some audience questions,

and this will all be done by 2pm.

So to kick us off, can we start with Will? Thank you, Katie. And thank you all for coming and it's a great pleasure and honor for us to be hosting this event. And I guess my emphatic answer to that question, which is can green growth supercharged in North is absolutely yes.

In my two minutes, a few words about Drax and what we've done, and then just a few minutes on

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