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Lobbyists oppose climate change
A new study argues that 19 out of 20 financial industry lobby groups are actively opposing an ambitious climate change outcome, with all but one of those surveyed lobbying to dilute and delay key regulations designed to align the financial system with the Paris Agreement. Many of these “hidden” opponents are to be found in the City of London.
The research by climate analysts Influence Map reveals that, while a few financial institutions are found to be actively pushing for progressive policy - including BNP Paribas, Aviva, and Groupe BPCE - most institutions have tended simply to offer highlevel words in support of advancing sustainable finance. But they have rarely engaged at the detailed, tactical level.
Moreover, Influence Map accuses many of the associations representing specific industrial sectors of actively seeking to undermine proposed regulations. These bodies tend to offer high-level support for green finance policies, while lobbying to weaken the stringency of proposed regulations.
The investigation details examples of hostile interventions from a number of powerful finance industry associations, including the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), and the European Banking Federation (EBF).
All these pushed back against the expansion of the EU’s policy taxonomy to cover environmentally harmful activities (see EiBI October 2019). They argued it should be limited to identifying certain financial products to be marketed as positively “sustainable”, rather than assessing all financial products on the established A to G basis.
“The greatest pushback from finance industry associations appears to be in areas that would either increase transparency of financing of damaging activities (e.g. the expansion of the taxonomy to cover environmentally harmful activities),” the report observes. “Or require consideration of environmental (ESG) factors in mainstream financial decisionmaking (e.g. updating investor duties to incorporate ESG issues). These are also the areas where the least progress has been made.”
REPORT WARNS UK HAS NOT CONFRONTED SCALE OF THE TASK
Net zero ‘needs stronger leadership’
Stronger leadership and co-ordination from the prime minister is needed if the UK’s commitment to reach net zero by 2050 is to be credible, according to a report from the Institute for Government.
The report warns that over a year on from adopting the target the UK has not yet confronted the scale of the task.
A lack of co-ordinated policies, constant changes of direction, a failure to gain public consent for measures and too little engineering expertise and delivery capability has left the UK well off track to meet its target, the report adds. The absence of a comprehensive plan for achieving net zero has deterred private sector investment.
The report recommends that the government should: • take responsibility for net zero out of BEIS, which lacks the clout to develop and implement the necessary plan, and create a new net zero unit in the Cabinet Office with a senior Cabinet Office minister given responsibility for net zero; • ensure that the Treasury makes net zero a big theme of the spending review and produces a tax strategy to support net zero; • build on parliament’s climate assembly initiative to maintain public support for action; • create a climate change cadre,
with science and engineering expertise at its core, within the civil service; • build on the successful model of the Olympic Delivery Authority to ensure big changes like housing retrofit and the switch to electric vehicles happen smoothly; and • support the creation of a dedicated parliamentary net zero committee to hold the government to account.
It calls on government to publish a clear plan setting out, sector by sector, how emissions reductions will be achieved and when decisions will be made where technology is uncertain. The Cabinet Office should be made responsible for co-ordinating the plan and holding departments to account for delivery.
Polling suggests two-thirds of people have not heard of net zero, despite the fact that it will mean changing the way they heat their homes, the cars they drive and what they eat.
Architects call for VAT boost for refurbishment
Footage of buildings being flattened in a noisy demolition may be a popular feature of local TV news. But a new coalition of award-winning architects argue such structures should be protected to save energy and fight climate change.
They say property owners should be incentivised via the VAT system to upgrade draughty buildings, rather than knock them down. That is because so much carbon is emitted when creating the steel, cement and bricks for new buildings.
In the past there was debate about whether it was better to demolish an old energy-hungry building, and build a well-insulated replacement. But that is now widely considered a serious mistake because of the amount of carbon emitted during the construction of the new building.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) estimates that 35 per cent of the lifecycle carbon from a typical office development is emitted before the building is even opened. It says the figure for residential premises is 51 per cent.
These calculations mean it will be decades before some new buildings pay back their carbon debt by saving more emissions than they created - and these are decades when carbon must be sharply reduced.
The architects’ coalition wants the government to change the VAT rules which can make it cheaper to rebuild than to refurbish a standing building.
The architects argue that VAT on refurbishment, repair and maintenance should be cut from 20 per cent to zero. This would match the standard rate for new-build.
Alex Green, from the British Property Federation,
admits that sometimes the different VAT level is the key factor in determining whether a building is felled or saved for a new purpose.
But Treasury Minister, Jesse Norman, maintains that property owners already benefit from a reduced VAT rate on installing insulation under certain conditions. He said: “Going further would be very expensive: reducing VAT on all property renovation, repairs and improvements would cost the Exchequer approximately £6bn per year.”
“The government has no plans to review the VAT treatment of construction.”
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is now arguing in favour of easing planning rules for owners wanting to demolish offices and replace them with new-build homes.
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ANALYSIS OF ENERGY PERFORMANCE CERTIFICATE DATA
Little improvement in EPC ratings
Now that half of buildings have acquired an Energy Performance Certificate since its launch in 2008, the Office for National Statistics has published its first ever analysis of EPC data.
Unsurprisingly, new homes are mostly far more efficient than older homes, producing less than half the carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs. However, the median energy efficiency rating bands for both types of homes have not changed in recent years.
Surprisingly, 14 local authorities have managed the unfortunate feat of having lower median energy efficiency scores for new flats than for existing ones. Harlow, Essex, had the biggest energy efficiency score difference between new flats (a derisory 61, EPC band D), and existing flats (71, band C).
Last year, the average EPC rating issued for an existing house was band D; this is lower than the current target of having as many homes as possible in EPC band C by 2035.
During 2019 there were big differentials for new flats. Cambridge had the highest median energy efficiency score for new flats, with 89 (EPC band B), and North Lincolnshire the lowest, with an astonishingly poor 59.5 (band D).
On average, in both England and Wales, social rented flats and houses with an EPC are rated more
energy efficient than privately rented flats and houses respectively. There remain major concerns regarding the large numbers of buildings still being rented out without any EPC, reckoned to be approaching half in the private rented sector.
Almost 80 per cent of homes with an EPC use mains gas to power central heating. Around 11 per cent have electric heating. Just 0.8 per cent have a heat pump. And in 2019 the small number of new homes where a heat pump is installed halved in Wales, and dropped by onethird in England.
Smart meter installations top 1m in 2020
Over 1m smart meters have been installed in GB in 2020 so far following a recovery from a massive drop in installations due to COVID-19, according to ElectraLink, the body responsible for operating the data hub that underpins the UK energy market.
Just under 183,000 smart meters were installed in August – 20 per cent more than July. The figures for last month still show a 17 per cent drop against the same period last year, but the gap is closing. Over the same eight months last year, 1.761m smart meters were installed.
East England had the highest figure with 24,000 installations, southern England followed closely with 22,000 installs and east Midlands with 18,000.
The fall in installations seen in 2020 were as a result of lockdown, with installations pausing from March before restarting again in June.
As a result, the government extended the obligation for suppliers to take all reasonable steps (ARS) to install smart meters by six months, with suppliers now having until July 2021 to meet the installation milestones required for the ARS stage of the smart meter rollout.
August was not the only month to see a resurgence in installations, however. Installations in July grew by 120 per cent compared to June, with 52,000 meters installed.
The cumulative number of installations since the programme began is now 13,806,000.
Scotland pledges £1.6bn to tackle fuel poverty
Nearly £1.6bn to directly support up to 5,000 jobs and tackle fuel poverty is at the heart of plans to drive Scotland’s green recovery.
Part of an enhanced Green New Deal, the investment will transform heat and energy efficiency of buildings and rapidly accelerate the decarbonisation of an area which makes up a quarter of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions.
An additional £500m is being invested in Scotland’s natural economy including £150m to help deliver a 50 per cent increase in woodland creation by 2024 and an extra £150m for flood risk management, vital to increasing climate change resilience.
The plans, outlined in the Programme for Government 2020/21, are among a range of measures to protect biodiversity, create green jobs and accelerate a just transition to netzero.
Other commitments include: • £100m Green Job Fund; • £60m to help industrial and manufacturing sectors decarbonise, grow and diversify; • boosting youth employment opportunities in nature and land-based jobs by expanding apprenticeship and undergraduate schemes in public agencies, including Scottish Forestry, Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot; and • £70m to improve refuse collection infrastructure and develop a new route map to reduce waste and improve recycling as part of plans to drive a thriving circular economy.
IN BRIEF
DSM provider sold in £15.4m deal
Demand side management specialist Flexitricity has been sold in a deal worth £15.4m. Switzerland-based parent company, Alpiq Digital has signed an agreement with Reserve Power Holdings, which is owned by investment manager Quinbrook, for the sale of the company.
Edinburgh-based Flexitricity partners with businesses throughout Great Britain to provide reserve electricity to the National Grid. It became the first virtual lead party to trade in the UK’s balancing mechanism after it was opened up to allow independent aggregators to take part. Centrica snaps up ailing supplier
Centrica plc has agreed to acquire the energy supply customers of Robin Hood Energy Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
Robin Hood Energy currently serves around 112,000 residential customers, and 2,600 business customers across 10,000 sites.
Robin Hood Energy posted a £23.1m loss in its April 2018 to March 2019 results. Nottingham City Council – which owns the company – has been looking for ways forward for the company which was launched in 2015.
But despite changes, the supplier continued to struggle, leading Nottingham City Council to write off £24m of debt in August.
Primary energy infrastructure win
Vital Energi have won the £17m contract to deliver the primary energy infrastructure package for the Greystar and Henderson Park, Nine Elms Park plots B and D development between Battersea and Vauxhall, south London.
The 14-acre development, situated on the former Royal Mail centre, will create a total of 894 rental homes in plots B and D with the addition of high spec amenity areas and retail units at ground floor. Each block will be served via their own district heating, chilled and water services plant and the development will be future proofed to enable easy connection to a wider district heating network in the future.
news update
Manchester clean energy funding
Energy Systems Catapult and five local authorities in Greater Manchester have won funding for a pioneering clean energy project that will develop 10 renewable schemes across the city. It is hoped it will create a blueprint that can be replicated in other regions across the UK aiming for net zero carbon emissions.
Unlocking Clean Energy in Greater Manchester (UCEGM) brings together five local authorities that have declared a “climate emergency” – Manchester, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, and Wigan.
The three-year £17.2m project – led by Energy Systems Catapult and part-funded with £8.6m from the European Regional Development Fund – will capitalise on under-utilised council-owned sites and buildings, to develop: • 10MW of solar PV and hydroelectric generation; • battery storage; • electric vehicle (EV) charging, and • smart energy management systems.
Energy Systems Catapult will focus on the development of innovative new business models to maximise the value from the electricity generated, for example by taking advantage of regulatory changes, or utilising flexibility between clean energy assets distributed across the city as part of Manchester’s emerging local energy market.
Richard Halsey, capabilities director at Energy Systems Catapult, said: “This project represents the opportunity to create a blueprint that is replicable and can help delivery of smarter cleaner local energy systems, minimise costs and carbon emissions.
“It will deliver new renewable energy generation on underutilised public land. It will incorporate energy storage and electric vehicle charging using digital systems to better align variable renewable generation to meet future local energy demands.
“Finally it will develop innovative business models that can unlock private sector investment and grow local businesses.”
Trial cuts homes energy use by 68%
A study led by Nottingham Trent University has trialled a project which is cutting energy use and carbon emissions from heating and powering 463 homes in the Shenton area of Nottingham by 68 per cent.
Installing measures to improve the building fabric, including “wraparound” insulation for solid walls on older Victorian properties and other houses where appropriate, then adding ground source heat pumps, has generated the energy savings.
Overall, the upgrades cut carbon dioxide emissions from the properties by 550 tonnes a year.
They also boosted people’s wellbeing, with 86 per cent of the householders involved reporting an improvement in the quality of their
BP is predicting that global demand for oil will drop by up to 80 per cent by 2050 if governments around the world boost their climate targets and take action to bring about a green recovery from COVID-19.
The energy giant’s 2020 Energy
Outlook Report focuses on three different potential scenarios; rapid, net zero and business as usual (BAU). The Rapid Transition
Scenario looked at the impact of significantly higher carbon prices, along with specific, targeted measures that would help carbon emissions from energy use to fall by around 70 per cent by 2050.
The Net Zero Scenario assumes the same high prices and policy measures, but reinforced by significant shifts in societal behaviour and preferences, which ITV has committed to becoming a net-zero carbon business by 2030. The television company says it will work alongside colleagues, suppliers, programme makers to achieve net zero across its scope 1 and 2 emissions, business travel and all produced and commissioned programmes, by 2030.
ITV will require all programmes it produces and commissions to meet Albert certification. BAFTA’s Albert is a carbon calculator that provides businesses and individuals across the broadcasting sector with resources
home and more than half (52 per cent) saying it was significantly improved. The researchers said a national programme of retrofitting homes with measures such as solid wall insulation, heat pumps and solar panels is needed to meet goals to cut the UK’s carbon pollution to zero by 2050.
Professor Anton Ianakiev (left), of the university’s School of would allow carbon emissions from energy to fall by 95 per cent globally in 2050.
The BAU Scenario government policies, technologies and social preference follow the same trajectory that they are on currently. While this to help them not only minimise the environmental impacts of their operations, but change the narrative around sustainability issues. The Albert Creative Offsets programme will be utilised to invest in certified tree planting projects.
As a core component of ITV’s social purpose strategy, the ambitious commitment will be achieved through a reduction of 46 per cent in emissions from ITV’s buildings and energy use, in line with limiting Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, who led the study, said: “We need dramatic improvements in our housing stock if we are to meet the net-zero target by 2050.”
Prof Ianakiev said the project has revealed both the practical difficulties that must be overcome in terms of retrofitting homes en masse, but also the benefits. He hoped it would provide many lessons for others to roll out efficiency improvements. “Making homes fit for the future needs of society is a major challenge that cannot be ignored,” he added.
The study, in partnership with Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes, was a five-year, £5m scheme as part of the
Global oil demand ‘could plummet by 80%’
Europe-wide Remourban initiative. would mean carbon emissions fall – peaking in the mid-2020s – progress would be slow, with emissions less than 10 per cent below 2018 levels by 2050.
The report states that under all scenarios oil demand will remain “broadly flat” on 2019 levels until a slight peak in 2030, followed by a decline of 10 per cent between 2030 and 2050. This assumes that “government policies, technologies and social preferences continue to evolve in a manner and speed seen over the recent past”.
The report concludes that renewables will be the “fastestgrowing source of energy” in the coming decades in all
Programme maker commits to net zero by 2030
scenarios assessed. global temperature rise to 1.5oC, and
a reduction of 28 per cent in business travel and supplier emissions. ITV’s science-based targets will be submitted to the Science Based Targets Initiative partnership later this year.
ITV will achieve net zero on all programmes it produces and commissions by requiring all programme makers to achieve Albert certification and therefore reduce the impact of their production. In addition, it will take part in Albert’s offsets programme that invests in certified tree planting projects.
