Have we left it too late to reach Net Zero?

No-one said going Net Zero would be easy, but it seems right now that legislation - or rather lack of legislation - is making it so much more difficult.

It's been five years since Theresa May made the UK the first major country to pledge "Net Zero by 2050" and in that time we have seen the Zero Carbon Homes Standard scrapped, more fossil fuel development allowed and - bizarrely - the lowering of taxes on short haul domestic flights while enabling the increase in fares for public transport.

Six months after the Select Committee roundly criticised the Planning White Paper, challenging it's lack of commitment to low carbon homes, we are yet to see the Government's response. At the same time, the disastrous Green Homes Grant has been scrapped only to be replaced by an inadequate plan to help people afford heat pumps, by helping them pay a small portion of the costs for a limited number of homes.

So, is there much hope of us achieving Net Zero in our homes?

According to this well written article by Ljubomir Jankovic published in the Independent, it's a long shot. Even if all new homes are net zero in operation - and without radical and rapid change to the building regulations as well as planning law this is unlikely - there is the issue of embodied carbon, and the retrofitting of the 91% of homes that are already constructed.

I have personally improved the insulation in my own roof and walls at home, and have invested in solar panels, but before the pandemic I was unaware of just how leaky my home was. Sitting in my makeshift 'office' I have become aware of how cold some of the windows are, where there are gaps around sockets and have noted the blasts of cold air through my loft hatch when the wind blows in a certain direction. There are fixes like draught excluders and tin foil behind my radiators but decent resolution to some of these problems is expensive; having been quoted over ￡2,000 to replace the window in one room I would have to live a long time to see the saving from this investment, while it looks and feels little different from before.

Unless we make it easy for homeowners to address the carbon reduction in their homes by taking the smaller actions what hope is there that they will commit to the major changes in their lifes?

The Levelling Up Paper promised a rosy future for us all, high skilled well paid jobs wherever you live, but there was precious little about updating the skills of those already in the building industry, ensuring the energy efficiency qualifications are fit for purpose and inspiring the next generation to train in the green building sector.

I am thrilled my own daughter has secured a place to study environmental management so she can do her bit to reduce the impact of climate change, but I was shocked at how few courses specialising in climate science are available at Undergraduate Level. With all large companies how required to map their journey to Net Zero and over 90% of councils (and many other public sector institutions) having declared a climate emergency, the need for professionals to map, assess and reduce the carbon emissions of organisations has never been higher.

The new Cratus Climate Emergency Database has shown us, that in many cases, councils do not have a dedicated senior officer responsible for leading this work - there needs to be someone in the Corporate Management Board who is holding the authorities feet to the flames - or as is more likely for the UK, the rising flood waters! As was published in The Guardian recently, 1 in 5 councils do not yet have a climate plan, despite us being only 8 years away from the date most have committed to reach Net Zero!

Checking the local college courses isn't encouraging either; search 'green jobs' and nothing comes up. Eventually I found a one-day course for electricians so they can meet higher regulations, and a degree course in architecture that mentions sustainable building but that was it. What's even more worrying according to Ljubomir Jankovic is the ease with which people can get a certificate to become an energy assessor which means there must be a real risk that advice being given to unsuspecting property owners is either wrong or missing the obvious or low cost actions, wasting money and damaging the credibility of what we all know is an urgent problem.

According to analysis by Nature, carbon emissions dropped by around 7% in 2020, caused primarily by the almost total cessation of travel, reduction in industry and restrictions on activity from Covid-19.

The bounce-back in 2021 was significant, giving an overall drop across the two year period of around a 2% fall but this is nowhere near enough to make genuine progress.

The emission reductions of 2020 were only achieved through fairly radical change in our behaviour as a society and this demonstrates how hard we will need to work to reduce our carbon footprint permanently.

We owe it to future generations to pressure those in power to take the bold political decisions despite the short term backlash or unpopularity of these decisions, the corporations who have R&D capabilities to focus their innovation on those that will reduce CO2 emissions, and the financial organisations to influence the markets to investments in the most ethical projects rather than focus purely on profit.

Every organisation, large or small, has the opportunity to act by committing to act now by joining schemes like Race To Zero and adding the issue to the agenda of their board meetings and to encourage their employees, shareholders, customers and competitors to make changes in their everyday lives as well.

I am delighted that Cratus has embraced Net Zero and through the establishment of Cratus2050 to support private businesses, especially those in the built environment and infrastructure sectors, to lift their ambition and offer the products and services we so desperately need. We will also be providing local authorities with access to training and reviews as well as setting up events with innovation leaders and partners so they can move their Climate Plan from a document in the cloud to trees planted firmly in the ground.