£300m to power 100,000 homes in 2025

Go-ahead for £300m South Humber Bank Energy Centre

The business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng has given the green light for plans to deliver the South Humber Bank Energy Centre

The application for the South Humber Bank Energy Centre has been granted development consent.

The order grants development consent for this significant infrastructure project comprising the construction and operation of an energy from waste plant of up to 95 megawatts gross capacity and associated development including an electrical connection, landscaping and access.

The plant will be built next to the existing power station and produce electricity for around 100,000 homes which is around .4% of the total homes in the UK.

Construction will now start early next year on a programme expected to last three years.

The South Humber Bank Energy Centre project will support 600 construction jobs before the plant becomes operational in 2025.

The application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for consideration by EP Waste Management Ltd on 09 April 2020 and accepted for examination on 04 May 2020.

Following an examination during which the public, statutory consultees and interested parties were given the opportunity to give evidence to the Examining Authority, recommendations were made to the business secretary on 10 August 2021.

‘A nationally significant infrastructure project’

Sarah Richards, the Planning Inspectorate’s chief executive, said: “The Planning Inspectorate has examined more than 100 nationally significant infrastructure projects ensuring local communities had the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them.

“Local people, the local authority and other interested parties were able to participate in the examination.

“The Examining Authority listened and gave full consideration to local views and the evidence gathered during the examination before making their recommendations.”

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Will Boris’s Heat Pumps go the Way of the Butter Mountains

Mike Foster CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance

Remainer Whitehall officials plan EU policy embarrassment for PM Johnson

Fresh from allegations that Whitehall officials are blocking Boris Johnson’s hydrogen plans (Sunday Telegraph 31.10.2021) it now appears that officials are planning to embarrass the Prime Minister by adopting the much ridiculed industrial policy that gave the EU “milk lakes” and “butter mountains”.

Hidden in the detail of the recently published Heat and Buildings Strategy, officials at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are plotting to force British heating appliance manufacturers to make heat pumps, regardless of whether the public want to buy them or not.

Under what is known as the “market mechanism” current boiler manufacturers will be told by Whitehall officials how many heat pumps they need to make or risk being heavily fined if they don’t obey the instruction.

Similar policies adopted by the EU in the past, led to excess supply over demand and the obscene creation of wine lakes and butter mountains.

Commenting on the policy, Mike Foster CEO of Energy and Utilities Alliance said:

“This is the most un-Conservative industrial policy I have ever seen. To force successful British businesses to make what Whitehall officials want, rather than what consumers want, is an extraordinary degree of state-meddling.”

“If consumers want heat pumps, then these manufacturing businesses will make and sell them. But to be fined for not selling something the public currently don’t want is bizarre, more so when Cabinet Minsters accept that heat pumps aren’t yet ready for the mass market. It is almost as if Whitehall officials are deliberately trying to embarrass the Prime Minister by using the tactics he has previously derided the EU for using. It’s the Revenge of the Remainers within BEIS.”

“But the most disturbing aspect of this policy is the sheer lack of understanding in how markets work. If the Government want heat pumps installed, it needs to make them more attractive to consumers. According to the PM, they cost ‘ten grand a pop,’ well beyond the reach of most. People can’t afford them. Without consumer demand, business won’t supply products for fear of creating a mountain of unsold heat pumps filling warehouses across the land, all because Whitehall thinks it knows best.”

For more information, visit, https://eua.org.uk/

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‘The Cheapest Energy, is the Energy we don’t use’

Increasing building renovation rates is central to achieving net-zero carbon targets.

A new report released today by ROCKWOOL Group and Cambridge Econometrics.

  • Buildings are responsible for 36 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU; 40 percent in the United States; and 42 percent in the United Kingdom.
  • New global data shows 79 percent of people would renovate their homes to make them more energy efficient, if adequate financial and administrative support is available; 73 percent support mandatory energy efficiency improvements.
  • In a new report, ROCKWOOL Group and Cambridge Econometrics set out policy solutions to achieve effective retrofit plans for greener homes and buildings and reducing energy-related costs.

The report released today by ROCKWOOL Group and Cambridge Econometrics maps a clear path to greener buildings and shows strong support from the public to renovate their homes, if adequate financial and administrative support is available.

Including data from a global first-of-its-kind survey of 14,000 people in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States, the report confirms the public appetite for energy efficient buildings, while also showcasing the need for governments to develop fit-for-purpose renovation programmes.

The polling by OnePoll shows eight of 10 (79 percent) people would renovate their home, given the right assistance. In an even stronger show of support for greening the built environment, 73 percent believe energy efficiency improvements should be mandatory, provided financial and administrative support is available. Sixty-two percent believe it is their social responsibility to make their homes climate friendly, given the same support is available.

ROCKWOOL Group CEO Jens Birgersson comments, “It may be a cliché, but it is also true – the cheapest, cleanest and safest energy is that which we do not use. Global leaders have to remember that ideas are cheap, but energy is expensive. If we prioritise renovation, we send a clear message that we are investing in the future of people and our planet. And that is a winning formula that we can act on now.”

The new data forms part of a report by Cambridge Econometrics on behalf of ROCKWOOL Group, which details the challenges to funding renovation programmes and explores the solutions to help overcome them.

In the report ‘Unlocking the Benefits of Building Renovation’, ROCKWOOL and Cambridge Econometrics urges policymakers to develop the long-term renovation programmes that manufacturers need to plan production capacity and properly train more installers; team up with banks to combine public grants and low-interest loans; and make it easier for households to apply for subsidies and find qualified workers.

Jon Stenning, Associate Director at Cambridge Econometrics, says, “Renovating the built environment is a key challenge on the road to decarbonising our economies. The consumer poll carried out for this report shows that there is substantial consumer appetite for retrofitting, but that much more must be done to match up financing with renovation projects. Well-designed policy can play a major role in bringing the whole value chain together, ensuring that resources are well-targeted and help to build up capacity and interest at a local level to ensure that the benefits of energy retrofits can be realised.”

Jens Birgersson continues, “Money is not the problem. While there will always be a debate about the costs of climate action – and hopefully also about the costs of inaction – the fact is that there is plenty of money available for building renovations and other green investments. And renovation itself is not rocket science. It requires using well-known materials and building practices, and that is a big advantage. The issue is connecting the funding sources with the on-the-ground projects, and ensuring we have the skilled workforce in place.”

The report stresses the need for governments to do more to make already-available funding accessible to building owners. This is a clear priority in the eyes of homeowners, with 51 percent citing costs as the main barrier to renovating, and 53 percent believing that governments need to support home improvements with grants or loans.

  • Consumer survey conducted by OnePoll of a sample size 14,000 Adults in the UK, EU and US. Field work took place in September 2021.
  • Report created by Cambridge Econometrics on behalf of ROCKWOOL.
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Flying High for 30th Anniversary

Catherine (centre) with employees of Strand Hardware

Up, up and away! Strand Hardware is celebrating its 30th anniversary as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of door and window hardware including finger protectors, emergency exit and panic hardware, window control systems and glass fittings.

The family-run business, based in Walsall, West Midlands, is marking the occasion by sending a gift to customers and suppliers as a thank-you for their continued support.

 

Over the years, Strand Hardware has grown – extending its operations, workforce and premises –while managing to maintain the family ethos on which it was based. Many of its employees have worked for the company for more than 20 years – a loyalty matched by a commitment to staff development and welfare.

Said Catherine: “We are not an enormous company; everyone knows everybody else and looks after each other and that has created a sense of team.

“Even though our staff are not directly involved in scheduling, we invest in training so they have a full understanding of the market and extensive knowledge of our products to best advise customers. The key to our success is customer service – we take care of our customers and protect our reputation by going above and beyond supply.”

CLICK TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Strand Hardware is now the sole UK distributor for leading European manufacturers including Athmer (finger protection) and Antipanic (panic hardware). It also manufacturers its own range, Duoflex – adjustable folding openers for timber, aluminium, steel and PVCu windows.

Its expertise in ‘niche’ but highly technical products means that it has extensive reach. Walk through the doors of many of the UK’s popular fast-food outlets and it’s likely that you will pass by products it supplies to developers, fabricators and installers through its network of trusted distributors. Likewise, buildings within health and education which require entrances with durable fittings to meet safety and accessibility requirement – are also likely candidates.

In contract, the company also supplies its D-fine range, which is made entirely from 316 stainless steel for specialist installations. Its anti-corrosive properties mean they have been installed in wind farms, oil rigs and costal operations around the globe.

The extensive use of its products has led to it becoming members of a number of industry associations including the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, the Door Hardware Federation and Council for Aluminium in Building.

Catherine plays an active role among them and will once again sit on the judging panel for the GAI/RIBA Spec Awards taking place next year.

Earlier this year, a sister company, Strand Technologies was launched, offering technology-based solutions for safety, security and control of electro-mechanical devices, including (but not exclusively) windows and entrances. The COVID pandemic propelled demand including fail-safe diagnostics for automatic door systems and occupancy management systems.

Just like its products, Strand Hardware has demonstrated a lasting durability. It has travelled a road with many milestones – chronicled in an illustrative timeline on its website to mark its anniversary www.strandhardware.co.uk – and remains buoyant with a positive future ahead.

 

For more information email: info@strandhardware.co.uk

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SIKA DEMONSTRATES EXTENSIVE FIRE SAFETY COMPLIANCE

SIKA DEMONSTRATES EXTENSIVE FIRE SAFETY COMPLIANCE USING EXTENDED APPLICATION ASSESSMENTS, AS BROOF(T4) IS CONFIRMED FOR ALL SARNAFIL SINGLE PLY SYSTEMS

Market-leading roofing manufacturer Sika has now completed Extended Application Assessments, testing to CEN/TS 1187:2012 Test method 4 for the entire Sika Sarnafil range of PVC single ply membranes. Subsequently, the most common Sika Sarnafil roof systems are now all classified under BSEN 13501-5 as BROOF(t4).

Working closely with independent global fire safety testing, inspection and certification company Warringtonfire – part of the Element Materials Technology Group – Sika has undertaken significant investment to attain the BROOF(t4) classification across all PVC membrane systems. This covers a range of permutations, including membrane type, thickness of PIR insulation, up to a 70-degree pitch and on any structural substrate.

A project spanning over two years’ work, Sika has invested a substantial amount of time and resource, utilising the EXAP standard CEN/TS16459, which is available as a means of covering ranges of system permutations.

Dean Grady, project leader and Senior Product Engineer at Sika, comments on why Sika has opted to invest in this type of testing: “The market has become acutely aware of fire safety and it is looking to industry leaders to help. We have seen for a while now that specifiers, architects, clients and building control are increasingly insisting on fire test certificates that directly reflect the exact system being installed. As it is very problematic to test every single permutation of a system, when you factor in multiple substrate types, insulation thickness and membrane type/thicknesses, EXAP testing through an independent body allows us to cover most variations of the system being installed. With Sika Sarnafil roof systems classified as BROOF(t4), we’re able to demonstrate and facilitate regulatory compliance for fire safety and satisfy current market demand.”

Continuing, he explains how the update will affect specifiers: “Having this comprehensive BROOF(t4) classification, which indicates the highest external fire performance for roofs, means that specifiers and other stakeholders can use Sika Sarnafil on their roofing projects with a very high degree of confidence, assured that they’re complying with fire regulations.”

The only people who are permitted to undertake any degree of desktop/extrapolation studies now are accredited, independent fire test houses. This clearly removes the ability for anyone else to interpret or extrapolate the fire test data that may have been practiced in the past.

“We are not offering a view, we are offering wide-ranging test data and evidence that covers most permutations and situations – all with third-party verification, which is key. It’s a clear way forward in terms of mitigating roof fire risk and helping support those with the heavy responsibility of ensuring people’s safety,” he adds.

The project involved taking a huge existing body of fire testing reports into consideration and conducting further, more extensive physical testing. On completion of the programme, Sika now has independent test reports readily available on request.

With plans to extend the initiative across the entire Sika roofing range, Sika looks forward to increasing the confidence and reassurance specifiers are looking for and strengthening its position as an expert and leader in testing and compliance.

If you would like to find out more about Sika’s roofing solutions and services, call 01707 394444, email enquiries@uk.sika.com or visit www.sika.co.uk/roofing.

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Have your say on the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill

Do you have relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill 2021-22, which is currently passing through Parliament?

If so, you can submit your views in writing to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee which is going to consider this Bill.

The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee is expected to be on Tuesday 16 November. Written evidence can now be sent in to the Public Bill Committee. The Committee is scheduled to report by Tuesday 30 November. However, please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Tuesday 30 November. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration.

Aims of the Bill

The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill aims to provide for a new model for financing new nuclear power stations in the UK.

The Bill creates a framework for a Regulated Asset Base (RAB) model to be used. The RAB model is expected to allow new nuclear projects to be financed via private investors such as pension funds and insurers and reduce reliance on overseas investors. It would be funded by a charge on electricity suppliers, who are expected to pass the cost on to consumers.

The Bill allows for eligible nuclear generation companies to be given a right to a regulated revenue stream during the construction, commissioning, and operation of a new nuclear project.

The Bill does this by:

  • Allowing for the Secretary of State to ‘designate’ an eligible nuclear company to receive the benefit of the RAB special licence conditions. Once they are ‘designated’ the Secretary of State will be able to amend the company’s existing generation licence to insert the special conditions of a RAB that sets out how the project will be regulated.
  • Allowing the Secretary of State to regulate for revenue collection contracts, which will be used to provide the funding to a nuclear company. Payments will be managed by a ‘revenue collection counterparty’. Projects will be paid an ‘Allowed Revenue’ which is broadly the agreed capital cost of a project along with other relevant costs. This would be paid over a period agreed with the Government. Payments will be made by electricity supply companies who are expected to pass the cost on to consumers. Costs will start to be charged to consumers during construction based on the Allowed Revenue due for the period. During operation the cost will be the Allowed Revenue due minus the value of selling the energy generated.
  • Creating a Special Administration Regime, modelled on that already in place in other parts of the energy industry. If a generator with a RAB contract becomes insolvent (which the Government considers very unlikely), the Government can apply for a court order to appoint a special administrator to manage that generator and the plant. They would have the objectives of maintaining (or restarting) energy generation and rescuing the generator.
  • Amending the Energy Act 2008 in relation to Funded Decommissioning Programmes. This would ensure clarity on how decommissioning programmes would apply to certain finance sources in nuclear projects.

The Bill does not cover the actual investment decision for a specific project, the level of expenditure and payments, provisions to manage risk and overall value for money. The Final Investment Decision (FID) would be made after designation and any final licence amendments; following this the revenue collection contract would be made.

Territorial extent

Energy is generally a reserved matter. Most of the Bill (parts 1, 2 and 3) extend and apply to England, Wales and Scotland.

Northern Ireland does not share the energy infrastructure of Great Britain and is therefore not included in provisions related to new nuclear power funding.

The provisions relating to funding decommissioning programmes apply and extend to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Background papers

Alongside the Bill, the Government published a series of documents related to it:

Follow the progress of the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill

The Nuclear Energy (Financing) Bill 2021–22 was introduced to the House of Commons on 26 October 2021. This Bill was debated at second reading on Wednesday 3 November 2021 and has now been sent to a Public Bill Committee which will scrutinise the Bill line by line and is expected to report to the House by Tuesday 30 November 2021.

Oral evidence sessions are expected to be held on Tuesday 16 November.

Guidance on submitting written evidence

Deadline for written evidence submissions

The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee is expected to be on Tuesday 16 November. Written evidence can now be sent in to the Public Bill Committee. The sooner you send in your submission, the more time the Committee will have to take it into consideration and possibly reflect it in an amendment. The order in which amendments are taken in Committee will be available in due course under Selection of Amendments on the Bill documents pages. Once the Committee has dealt with an amendment it will not revisit it.

The first sitting of the Public Bill Committee is expected to be Tuesday 9 November and the Committee is scheduled to report by Tuesday 30 November. However, please note that when the Committee concludes its consideration of the Bill it is no longer able to receive written evidence and it can conclude earlier than the expected deadline of 5.00pm on Tuesday 30 November. You are strongly advised to submit your written evidence as soon as possible.

Your submission should be emailed to scrutiny@parliament.uk

Further guidance on submitting written evidence can be found here.

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Contract Awarded for UK’s Commercial Fusion Plant

K-based engineering company, Assystem, has been awarded two contracts by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) to support the development of the Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP).

STEP is the UK’s prototype fusion power plant designed to demonstrate the commercial viability of fusion energy.

In the first contract, Assystem will partner on the STEP Fuel Cycle Tritium Engineering Framework. This work will concern the inside the plant at temperatures expected to reach around 150 million °C.

The second contract involves the assessment of different designs for STEP’s ‘breeder blanket’, the first-of-a-kind component responsible for creating the tritium fuel required for successful fusion.

Matthew Gallimore, Assystem’s Chief Sales Officer said: “STEP is a globally significant project in the development of fusion energy as it takes us a step close to the commercial phase of this new technology.

“The teams at Assystem bring strong experience in fusion gained on JET and ITER and we are excited to be creating more jobs in fusion development through these latest contract wins.”

Assystem and their partners, Thornton Tomasetti, will work with STEP’s research team to develop software capable of undertaking simulations to help define breeder blanket designs that can produce enough tritium to advance the project to the next phase of simulation and testing, moving us closer to achieving commercially viable fusion energy.

 

Source: Power Engineering International

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COAL OR CLIMATE

Plans for a £165M coal mine in Cumbria may finally have been sunk after prime minister Boris Johnson condemned the proposal while speaking at COP26.

It is the first time Johnson has offered an opinion on the controversial scheme which its opponents claims undermines the UK’s carbon net zero emissions targets.

Johnson said that he is “not in favour of more coal”, when quizzed on the Cumbria scheme. However he added that “it is not a decision for me, it is a decision for the planning authorities.”

Plans for the £165M mine were originally approved by Cumbria County Council in October 2020.

Since then, former communities secretary Robert Jenrick called in the decision and asked the Planning Inspectorate to carry out a formal evaluation of the scheme.

In February, Cumbria County Council said it would reconsider its decision to give the project the go-ahead in order to take into account “new information” in the Climate Change Committee’s Sixth Carbon Budget, and in May the council announced that it will remain “neutral with regard to the mine”.

A public inquiry into the proposed developed was conducted in September and a planning inspector’s report will now be submitted to the secretary of state to inform a final decision on whether the scheme can go ahead.

Project promoter West Cumbria Mining said ahead of the hearing beginning that the mine would feed the British and European steel industry with locally produced metallurgical coal essential for the manufacture process.

British steelmakers currently import all of the metallurgical coal needed for plants at Scunthorpe and Port Talbot, said the body, creating carbon emissions from thousands of miles of ship and rail transportation. The Woodhouse Colliery would create 532 direct jobs, it added.

West Cumbria Mining chief executive Mark Kirkbride said before the inquiry got underway: “We have considered the climate impacts of the project in great detail and implemented significant and world-leading techniques to demonstrate that the resources industry can also achieve net carbon zero operations.”

Source: New Civil Engineer

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UK construction works remain strong despite material price inflation and labour shortages

  • Increasing workloads led by new infrastructure projects
  • Problem’s reported sourcing materials, rising costs as well as labour shortages amongst skilled trades
  • Over half also said impact on biodiversity wasn’t taken into account or featured in fewer than half of construction projects

UK RICS Construction Survey – Q3 2021

Supply chain disruption, material price inflation and a shortage of skilled labour continued to intensify in Q3 2021, which could challenge strong workloads led by new infrastructure schemes underway across the United Kingdom – this according to a survey of experts and professionals working in the construction sector by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

While the pace of total activity slipped slightly from +38% in Q2 to +33% in Q3, respondents are reporting strong levels of construction work, which is mostly led by infrastructure projects (+47% in Q3 from +45% in Q2) – with energy, roads and water revealing the strongest outputs. Forward-looking indicators point to the sector continuing to experience strong growth over the course of the next twelve months.

Unsurprisingly, private commercial (such as office and retail developments) showed the slowest uplift in activity, but the +19% net balance indicates that even this area is seeing business improve and projects resume.

The availability of construction materials was the biggest challenge cited amongst respondents as supply chains across the UK struggled to re-establish themselves post-Brexit and the pandemic. In the final quarter of 2019, just 14% of respondents indicated that this was an issue for them. Fast forward to Q2 2021 and it had jumped to over half of all respondents identifying this issue and, since then, it has continued the rise. These results also show that 89% of contributors believe this to be a problem, which is the highest proportion since the survey began in 2012.

Alongside materials, there are increasing concerns about being able to source sufficient people with necessary construction skills. In the latest survey, labour shortages were cited by over 80% of respondents which compares with two-thirds in Q2 2021 and 42% in the first three months of the year. Respondents said bricklayers appear the standout problem with 69% of contributors drawing attention to shortages of this particular skill but carpenters, plasters, electricians and plumbers are not far behind.

Business enquiries remained firm in the third quarter (+40%) which is consistent with the upbeat expectations for activity into 2022, and while the headline workload expectations metric slipped slightly from Q2 at +44%, it remains indicative of a firmly positive trend.

There were fewer positive expectations around profits recovering amongst construction firms given the increases in material prices across the sector. Tender prices are projected to increase by close to 5% over the period, with materials costs viewed as likely to rise by around 8% – posing a headache for construction firms as this could make the delivery of some projects unviable.

With the COP-26 conference currently underway in Glasgow, respondents reported a reluctance amongst investors to adopt green building designs or carbon neutral construction practices. Around 22% said they’d seen no shift in support and nearly 40% saying only niche investors had shown an interest in building more sustainably. Added to this, 56% of respondents confirmed that biodiversity was not taken into account at all or in fewer than half of the schemes on their books – painting a challenging picture that the construction sector is playing catch-up* with wider concerns around sustainability and the impact of climate change.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, said:

“Activity remains strong in the construction sector with infrastructure projects, including the Thames Tideway Tunnel, Hinkley Point C and HS2, continuing to drive momentum alongside residential developments. However the feedback from respondents to the survey is unsurprisingly now also highlighting increasing challenges around sourcing key building materials and skilled labour.

“The impact of these trends on costs is expected to continue through the coming year and is reflected in a mixed picture around the likely improvement in profitability accompanying the broader recovery in the sector.

“The responses to the survey also identify ongoing issues around moving the industry towards adopting more sustainable practices in the week of COP26.

“The inference of the insight provided to us is more needs to be done to encourage the industry to transition from the current approach to the embedding of more carbon neutral techniques in the build processes, something RICS is working with others in the sector to change, which includes developing a new carbon emissions database as well as a carbon reporting framework through the new International Cost Management Standard.”

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COP26: It’s time for firms to choose – lead the way or be left behind

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.”

 

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