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Fair heat: how do we make the transition to low-carbon heating work for all?

Nesta at Labour Party Conference

In A sustainable future

30 Sep 2025 10:00 – 11:30

Arena Room Tees, ACC Liverpool (secure zone)

Over 1 million households need to replace their fossil fuel boiler with low-carbon heating in the next 5 years. To make that happen, it must be affordable, attractive and easily accessible for everyone.

We’re at this year’s Labour Party Conference to discuss how to make this happen, with an expert panel including; Katy King, Deputy Director of Nesta’s sustainable future mission, Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke, Matt Copeland, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, National Energy Action and Anna Railton, Cabinet Member for a Zero Carbon Oxford, Oxford City Council. The panel will be chaired by Ravi Gurumurthy, Nesta’s Chief Executive.

Our panel will explore key policies that can make clean heat work for all kinds of households, and look back at what has already been achieved to see how to influence change in policy and government.

This event is for policymakers, net zero campaigners and all those interested in a workable solution to the clean energy transition.

This event is taking place on Tuesday 30 September in Arena Room Tees at the ACC Liverpool (secure zone) from 10:00-11:30 BST.

Ravi Gurumurthy

He/Him

Ravi Gurumurthy is Group Chief Executive Officer, joining Nesta as Chief Executive in December 2019. Ravi was previously responsible for the International Rescue Committee’s work in designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries - from reducing acute malnutrition and intimate partner violence, to expanding employment for Syrian refugees. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK Government, including Director of Strategy at the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and as a strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary. Across many departments, Ravi led a number of major social and environmental reforms including the development of the world’s first legally-binding carbon emissions targets and the integration of children’s services. Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London. Ravi writes a fortnightly substack on policy innovation.

Katy King

She/Her

Katy is deputy director on Nesta's mission to create a sustainable future, which focuses on decarbonisation and economic recovery. Her team focuses on setting up innovation projects and partnerships that reduce carbon emissions from homes, which is a key part of the UK reaching net zero. Katy has a background in energy efficiency and behavioural science. Katy joined Nesta from the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), where she worked across a number of policy areas including household energy efficiency, consumer issues and COVID-19. Prior to working at BIT, Katy worked as a strategist for a leading advertising agency. Katy holds a first class degree in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Matt Copeland

He/Him

Matt is the Head of Policy and Public Affairs at National Energy Action (NEA), having worked there for over six years. He has led NEA’s work to ensure that we move towards net zero in a fair and affordable manner, helping to secure key commitments in the Government's manifesto towards warm homes. His work to ensure that the energy market results in affordable energy for low income households has included advocacy throughout current energy crisis, ensuring that financial support reaches the most vulnerable. Prior to NEA, Matt worked as a Policy Manager at EON, where he worked on issues across the spectrum, including retail market regulation, renewables markets, and electricity network price controls. He has a bachelor’s degree from Durham University in Natural Sciences

Luke Murphy

He/Him

MP for Basingstoke.

Anna Railton

She/Her

Cllr Anna Railton is a deputy leader of Oxford city council and the cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford. Her day job is working in machine learning for a biotech start up.

Fair heat: how do we make the transition to low-carbon heating work for all?

About Nesta

Fair heat: how do we make the transition to low-carbon heating work for all?