As a country, as a planet, we must reach net zero carbon emissions – but that is certainly easier said than done.
At Innovate UK, our view is that the journey to net zero is a race against time, not against each other, because it’s a race we all need to win. To do this, we have to do things differently – which means we have to innovate.
Innovate UK exists to make sure that happens, by inspiring, involving and investing in innovation and knowledge sharing across the country.
We want to help innovative businesses grow, and, to do that, we also want to help open new markets for that innovation. Work with consultants PWC, published in December, shows that local markets for decarbonising places across the UK could amount to £500 billion.
But there are significant barriers preventing the take-up and efficient deployment of decarbonisation solutions at a local level. Our aim is to help unblock these barriers.
Local authorities are at the heart of local decarbonisation of heat, power and transport. Done well, this work will create better net-zero places across the country. However, as you may well know, it is not easy to plan and deliver decarbonisation programmes right now. Why is this?
There are often gaps in knowledge, skills, resource, and evidence of approaches that work well in practical application. Structuring projects for financing remains problematic, and engaging local people in a positive way needs continued experimentation and learning.
All is not lost, however, and we can seize the opportunity to work together to share knowledge, skills, techniques and technologies to accelerate progress towards our collective goal.
That’s why Innovate UK has issued a package of targeted support to help places all around the UK to tackle their individual challenges, prove what can be done, share experiences, and speed up their journey to net zero.
As part of our Net Zero Living scheme, we’re working with around 50 local authorities on a two-year programme of practical support and shared learning, as they take the steps needed to become net-zero places in the coming years.
We have also recently announced that seven local authorities will each receive Innovate UK funding of between £2 million and £5 million, totalling £25m-plus, to run practical demonstrator projects, showing how the non-technical barriers to implementing carbon-cutting measures can be overcome.
All of this comes together through the Future Ready programme, which will provide technical help to councils in the form of training, skills building, and one-to-one support.
Future Ready will focus particularly on five areas most important for net-zero progress: visioning and citizen engagement; planning; finance and investment; data; and policy and regulation. Beyond technical help, it will create a strong community of practice across the UK as the councils work together, generating insights, sharing learning, helping each other, and coming up with new solutions.
The information and learning generated by the programme will also be made available to all local authorities across the UK, to help speed up their transition to net zero.
We encourage all local authorities to get in touch with Innovate UK to see how we can support you in your transition to net zero.
You can find out more about the Net Zero Living programme at iuk.ktn-uk.org/programme/net-zero-living.