Archive for category: General News

COP 26: GOVERNMENTS ARE MAKING SOME PROGRESS. BUT ONLY SERIOUS BUSINESS ACTION CAN KEEP 1.5c ALIVE – CBI DIRECTOR-GENERAL

It’s time for firms to choose – lead the way or be left behind

CBI event to be addressed by John Kerry, Jacinda Ardern, Rishi Sunak & Kwasi Kwarteng

• Record levels of CEO attendance at COP 26 indicates that net zero is no longer about reputation, but about commercial opportunity
• Business ready, willing and able to deliver a net zero world. But Governments who want to “unlock trillions” need to “get serious” about how to do that
• UK is uniquely well-placed to succeed in green transition and is making Decarbonisation its “big bet” post-Brexit and post-Pandemic.

Speaking at COP 26’s largest business dinner – attended by an audience of business leaders, Ministers and foreign dignitaries – CBI Director General Tony Danker will tell delegates that ’this is a moment in history where every firm needs to step up and lead’.

The event, sponsored by the Weir Group, is deliberately timed as political leaders leave Glasgow at the end of the first phase of the Conference. With the exact outcome on international agreements in the balance, Danker will say that, “Regardless of political progress, we in business are ready, willing and able to deliver a net zero world. Bold targets or timid ones. Total agreement or partial agreement. I don’t believe any of you have come to Glasgow to give the job to someone else. This job is on us.”

He will also note how leaders such as UK Prime Minister Johnson, HRH Prince of Wales and Secretary John Kerry have both broken with traditional UN consensus to look toward business to deliver the capital and ingenuity needed to achieve climate change. But this will need governments to work differently: “Governments are used to being green rule-makers. Now they must learn to become green market-makers.”

Speaking about the importance of the COP26 Summit, Tony Danker, CBI Director General, will say:

“Whatever its formal agreements, this COP will be best-known as the moment we reached a consensus: that Governments can’t get to Net Zero without business. And that businesses who fail to embrace Net Zero will get left behind.

“Governments are making some progress at COP 26, but only serious business action can keep 1.5c alive.

“We cannot achieve Net Zero without clean energy to power our world. Without foundational industries – from agriculture, to mining, to building shifting to sustainable ways of working.

“Without cleaner transport, greener manufacturing, and more sustainable products. Without technological breakthroughs in every part of the value chain, to protect nature and sustain the resources we use every day.

“We cannot achieve Net Zero without markets and money that rewards those who move with the greatest boldness and deliver what they promise. We cannot achieve Net Zero without new services that make sustainable living viable, easy, and rewarding for consumers.

“Our success is therefore interdependent at this COP. Where governments have made progress – such as deforestation or technological breakthroughs – companies will immediately change policies and investments to follow suit. Where governments have yet to agree, such as on carbon pricing, then the private sector cannot solve these shortcomings. Delivery will be fragmented and patchy. Misalignment in policies and standards will undermine different industry sectors reforming radically enough.”

On business commitments needed to deliver Net Zero, Tony will say:

“This is a time for business leadership. We can’t do it without governments but nor can we wait for them to reach perfect agreement. This is a moment in history where every firm needs to step up and lead.

“For some of you I know this is a moral obligation; a commitment to business as a force for good or to leaving a sustainable legacy to future generations.

“Some have described this moment as the second industrial revolution. The first one – created here in the UK, created by us in business – brought opportunities and growth that no-one had expected or even dreamed of. Unfortunately, it also harmed our planet, in some ways irrevocably, along the way.

“But more prosaically, this is also a commercial imperative. As policy and market demands shift, we must transform our supply chains just to keep up. Our customers, clients, investors and shareholders expect nothing less.  

“And as boardrooms around the world run the numbers, they are realising that the business case has shifted. To put it bluntly, in purely commercial terms, the cost of inaction is, for the first time, higher than the cost of action. 

“Every business has faced strategic challenges of this kind before. When the future attacks the present, the answer is never to protect the present. It is always to run to the future.

“Yet there is an emerging gap now between firms who want to be at the forefront of the net zero transition and those who are resisting the inevitable. It’s time for firms to choose – either lead the way or be left behind.”

“The greenwashing of some firms is surely over. That’s clear from the new accountability regimes in place. But it’s also clear in the record CEO attendance at COP. Companies don’t send their bosses to secure reputations. They send their bosses to take action.”

On the role of governments,

“From our Prime Minister, to the Prince of Wales, to Secretary Kerry. Political leaders everywhere are starting to say that the role of governments on climate change is limited in scale and scope and that it is the ingenuity and financial might of the private sector that is required to get the world to Net Zero.

“We accept the challenge. We can make greater commitments, accept deeper accountability, and raise more capital for the task. But political leaders need to now get serious about what it will take to make this successful, and successful for every sector. Governments nationally must design the markets correctly to let that capital be deployed. And governments internationally must agree consistent commitments and standards to ensure that companies can move fast and green innovations can travel across borders.

“Governments are used to being only the green rule-makers. Now they must learn to also become green market-makers. They can pump prime nascent markets such hydrogen and battery cell production to make them grow. They can design market mechanisms that guarantee investible propositions with returns such as contracts for difference in offshore wind. They can rebalance economic regulation to give investment and innovation equal status. They can use taxation to incentivise those who make green choices and penalise those who don’t.

“Those that aren’t proactive in stimulating markets to flourish are willing the ends of investment in net zero but ignoring the means.”

On the UK’s journey to Net Zero, Tony will say:

“Post Brexit, Post Covid, Decarbonisation is our big bet. It is already driving a rebirth of innovation. It is bringing substance to the levelling up agenda – by bringing higher value industries and jobs to different corners of our country. And it gives definition to the idea of Global Britain – because it is the source of new products and services where we can lead the world.

“This can be a UK success story. Our climate politics are unique. Climate is not a right v left issue here, unlike many parts of the world. Our business mindset is far more advanced on net zero than in most other markets.

“And we are not only competing at the frontier – with new technologies and inventions. Our work on the transition to net zero – the hardest bit of all – is already underway.

“Every sector in our economy is grappling now with the real consequences of what decarbonisation does to our business models, our customer propositions, and our economics. I am convinced that the pain of doing this faster than others will bring us even greater opportunities on the other side.

“That is why we at the CBI have put decarbonisation at the heart of our economic vision for the UK. Why we are working tirelessly with the UK Government on how to ensure climate change policy unlocks green investment – nationally and globally.

“It’s why we’ve been working with other international business organisations and business leaders too – to drive collaboration and action now, whatever our political leaders agree. And it is why we see it as our job to support you – every firm in this room – on your own journeys. The CBI will regard it as mission critical to enable every firm in the UK to complete its successful net zero transition.”

After steering the economy and more specifically, the Government’s fiscal response to the Covid crisis over the past two years, today’s Budget will have widely enhanced Rishi Sunak’s reputation for imagination and compassion.

Furlough may have finished but the Chancellor chose to include a range of announcements within his autumn statement which either continued relief for the hardest hit sectors and the lowest paid, or set out new spending plans to boost investment in the UK’s infrastructure and services. The construction industry should see a number of real opportunities to increase its output, as well as encouragements to invest in its personnel and new innovations.

Some existing spending was re-announced or confirmed, but there were billions in new money for the NHS to cut waiting lists by building new facilities, as well as refurbishing existing buildings and boosting pay.

Housing has been a big winner with a £24Billion multi-year commitment to constructing some 180,000 new homes, with a further £1.8 Billion set aside to make brownfield sites across our towns and cities ‘shovel ready’.

5Billion will be made available – partly paid for by a tax on residential property developers with profits of over £24million – to help replace sub-standard cladding currently trapping many leaseholders in homes they cannot sell. And a move to tackle rough sleeping as well as homelessness generally receives £640million.

Transport was another major beneficiary of Treasury spending with £5.7 Billion for “London style settlements” plus a £2.6Billion pipeline to address local road improvements; and £3.8 Billion for the biggest prison building programme in a generation.

There is much needed reform to often crippling business rates with £750million to encourage landlords to make upgrades such as fitting solar panels, or for hotels to add more rooms; by deferring tax rises.

The skills shortage was also tackled with £3.8Billion for training and T courses as well as a new adult numeracy programme – named ‘Multiply’– being unveiled. Education spending also extends to investment in creating 30,000 new places for those with special learning needs and upgrades on school buildings across the sector.

The “Rabbit in the Hat” relief, as normal, was left to the end with Rishi Sunak announcing a cut in tax on Universal Credit Payments, as people’s actual earnings rise, from 63 to 55 pence: meaning a working mother will keep £1,200 a year more of her wages, while a couple with one partner working part-time will be around £1,800 a year better off. That’s a £2Billion a year tax cut which will encourage people to work more hours for their employers.

And for anyone who feels like celebrating, there were a number of changes to help level up alcohol levies: removing disproportionate duty on sparkling wines & cider and even cutting 3P off a pint of draught ale.

Main announcements relating to construction:

Housing – £24billion multi-year investment

184k new affordable homes

£1.8b to prepare Brownfield sites

£5b to remove unsafe cladding, partly raised from a tax on developers with profits over £25m.5

£4.7B for schools

Committing £3.8b for the largest prison building programme for a generation

Hundreds of regional museums and galleries to be renovated

£20b on Research and Development

£5.7 b for London-style transport settlements. Plus £2.6 b for a pipeline of local road improvements
Enough to fill one million more potholes a year!

The plans for jobs will include investment of £3.8b in training and T courses. Plus they’re launching a new numeracy programme for adults called Multiply.

£750m investment relief to encourage businesses to specify green energy such as solar panels – in line with requests from the FSB and British Property Federation.

New hub improves access to ROCKWOOL resources for education construction

As UK Governments place further investment in the quality of school buildings, ROCKWOOL UK has developed a new education hub to support specifiers in using non-combustible stone wool insulation to deliver thermal, acoustic and fire safety performance. The ROCKWOOL education hub contains a series of useful tools and guides covering exemplar case studies, product specifications and school building regulations.

The new hub grants easy access to ROCKWOOL for Education Environments, a comprehensive guide that assists the design and construction of learning spaces. From sector specific building regulations and best practice to case studies and future trends, ROCKWOOL for Education Environments is the go-to resource for construction stakeholders.

The education hub also enables specifiers to explore the ROCKWOOL Interactive City virtual school. The environment makes visualising and selecting insulation solutions quick and easy, while keeping teaching and learning experiences at the forefront. Through features like zoom, 360º views, pan-able application build-ups and augmented reality, users can explore the ROCKWOOL insulation range across a wide range of facades and applications within education settings.

For real world examples and inspiration of how stone wool insulation helps designers to create high-quality schools, colleges and universities, visitors to the education hub can also read a series of notable case studies.

Paul Barrett, Head of Product Management at ROCKWOOL, says: “The ROCKWOOL education hub acts as a central source of knowledge for professionals involved in school building projects, and will enable them to access all the relevant guidance and specification support they need to deliver outstanding education environments. We will continue to update the hub to ensure that specifiers always have access to the latest information and guidance, and to offer new resources which reflect developments in education construction.”

CLICK HERE TO  VISIT the ROCKWOOL education hub and download the ROCKWOOL for Education Environments guide today:

The production of renewable energy is increasing every year. But after analysing the growth rates of wind and solar power in 60 countries, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Lund University in Sweden and Central European University in Vienna, Austria, conclude that virtually no country is moving sufficiently fast to avoid global warming of 1.5°C or even 2°C.

“This is the first time that the maximum growth rate in individual countries has been accurately measured, and it shows the enormous scale of the challenge of replacing traditional energy sources with renewables, as well as the need to explore diverse technologies and scenarios,” says Jessica Jewell, Associate Professor of Energy Transitions at Chalmers University of Technology.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified energy scenarios compatible with keeping global warming under 1.5°C or 2°C. Most of these scenarios envision very rapid growth of renewable electricity: on average about 1.4 per cent of total global electricity supply per year for both wind and solar power, and over 3 per cent in more ambitious solar power scenarios. But the researchers’ new findings show that achieving such rapid growth has so far only been possible for a few countries.

Measuring and predicting the growth of new technologies like renewable energy is difficult, as they do not grow linearly. Instead, the growth usually follows a so called S-curve – at first it accelerates exponentially, then stabilises to linear growth for a while, and in the end slows down as the market becomes saturated.

“We came up with a new method: to use mathematical models to measure the slope of the S-curve, that is, the maximum growth rate achieved at its steepest point. It is an entirely novel way to look at the growth of new technologies,” says Jessica Jewell.

When analyzing the 60 largest countries the researchers found that the maximum growth rate for onshore wind power is on average 0.8 per cent of the total electricity supply per year, and 0.6 per cent on average for solar – much lower than in the IPCC scenarios. Sustained growth faster than 2 per cent per year for wind and 1.5 per cent for solar has only occurred in smaller countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Chile.

“It is likely that faster growth is easier to achieve in smaller more homogenous countries, rather than in large diverse systems,” says Jessica Jewell.

“Among larger countries, only Germany has so far been able to sustain growth of onshore wind power comparable with median climate stabilization scenarios. In other words, to stay on track for climate targets, the whole world should build wind power as fast as Germany built recently. There may be limits to how fast wind and solar can be expanded and thus we should systematically analyse the feasibility of other climate solutions, especially for fast growing Asian economies such as India and China,” says Aleh Cherp, professor of Environmental Sciences and Policy at Central European University and Lund University.

The article “National growth dynamics of wind and solar power compared to the growth required for global climate targets” was published in the journal Nature Energy, written by Aleh Cherp, Vadim Vinichenko, Jale Tosun, Joel A.Gordon and Jessica Jewell.