Magazine April - May 2021
Transform Magazine April - May 2021
Featured Magazine article
Biodiversity: Nature's new allies
Business initiatives on climate change are now being repurposed to prevent the destruction of nature, reports Catherine Early
In the build-up to COP26, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Race to Zero campaign (racetozero.unfccc.int) is gaining real traction and mobilising commitments. Unlike other races, it can be joined at any stage. How is it going?
The government has announced a delay to the Environment Bill’s passage through Parliament, due to COVID-19 restrictions and a bottleneck of legislation making its way onto the statute book. It is expected that the Bill will receive significant interest in the Lords, and the pause means it will carry over into the next parliamentary session, rather than being rushed through without proper scrutiny, or risking being dropped.
The UK government published a paper on its proposed English planning reforms, Planning for the Future, on 6 August 2020, setting out its vision for the most radical reforms to England’s planning system since the Second World War.
Reaching net zero will require collaboration between business leaders, policymakers, SMEs, the financial sector and societal stakeholders. A webinar was held in January as part of the British Standards Institute (BSI) Net Zero Week, focusing on legislative drivers that are framing the UK government response to net zero, the tools and techniques organisations can use, and how to prioritise green investment.
During the past few months there has been a great deal of talk about the need for the UK’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to be powered by investment in sustainable projects and programmes across all parts of the economy. Few would argue with this approach, but making it a reality will be challenging. We must align the appropriate enabling policies, regulations and standards, along with the support of businesses and consumers. We will also need a workforce that can deliver projects and services in a sustainable way.
A quarter of workers in the UK’s construction, manufacturing and transportation sectors will require upskilling if the country is to deliver net-zero emissions, suggests a study by the Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN). These workers are likely to see significant changes to their jobs, and will need different skill, but will be in high demand.
The UK’s energy sector could attract £350bn of private capital during the next three decades if it does more to develop attractive assets for investors, according to research by Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP).
Global energy-related CO2 emissions rebounded sharply at the end of 2020 following the largest annual decline since the Second World War, recent analysis has found.
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