CEN Talks

Panel: Sam Hall (CEN Director, Chair), Michael Liebreich (Chairman and CEO, Liebreich Associates), Barney Wharton (Director, Future Electricity Systems, RenewableUK) & Louise Burrows (Policy Advisor, E3G)

With closing remarks from Philip Dunne MP (Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, CEN).

The UK has a significant opportunity to lead the way in clean, free trade and increase international ambition on climate by reforming UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK’s export credit agency, an agency dedicated to supporting British business abroad. Despite our net zero emissions target, 97% of UKEF’s energy support in recent years has gone to fossil fuel projects, with only around 3% going to renewable energy. What reforms are needed to align our trade policy with our climate goals and shift export financing away from fossil fuels to clean energy?

The Government has already begun to reform UKEF. During the Budget, the Chancellor gave UKEF an additional £2 billion to support British business in creating clean energy projects abroad. Recently the Prime Minister announced a review into export finance and it has been reported the government is on the verge of agreeing to end support for fossil fuels via UKEF. This would put the UK in a world-leading position on the issue of phasing out public finance for fossil fuels overseas.

Fossil fuel projects risk undermining the UK’s climate diplomacy, and tying developing countries into expensive fossil fuel dependency as solar and wind costs fall dramatically. A reformed policy would not only demonstrate the UK’s climate leadership, but also create a jobs dividend for the UK’s low-carbon economy, growing trade flows, and leveraging the UK’s climate ambition to drive action globally.

As host of the UN Climate Conference, COP26, in Glasgow and the G7 Presidency in 2021, how can the UK leverage its reforms of UKEF to encourage other export credit agencies to follow suit? To maximise the benefits for the government’s levelling up agenda, what other support does the UK clean energy supply chain need to grow and export more around the world?

Panel: Rosa Stewart (CEN Steering Committee, Chair), Virginia Crosbie MP (CEN), Greg Jackson (Founder and CEO, Octopus Energy), Guy Newey (Energy Systems Catapult) & Lord Ian Duncan (former Minister for Climate Change)

Extensive electrification is needed to reach net zero by 2050, in order to heat our homes and businesses, and move to cleaner forms of transport such as electric cars. But in order for this transition to be successful, we need to rapidly digilitise our energy system, encourage more consumers to embrace these new technologies, and move to a smarter, more flexible grid.

Renewables-based electricity generation has grown significantly in recent years, powering an average of 37% of the UK’s electricity mix in 2019, compared to just 6.5% in 2010. With a target for 40 GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, renewable generation is expected to increase even further over the next decade. As we decarbonise our energy system, flexibility - underpinned by digital technology - will be key to meeting this increased demand. This panel will consider how the digital revolution and rapid development of smart and flexible low-carbon technology in the energy sector can help us reach net zero, and what policy changes are needed to unleash its full potential.

A shift to a smarter energy system could save consumers up to £8 billion per year and give people more control over how they consume energy. The Government is driving private-sector investment into energy storage by removing regulatory barriers and reforming market frameworks. This panel will also explore how the flexible, low-carbon energy system required for net zero could change consumers’ engagement with their energy. It will also consider opportunities and barriers to enable domestic demand-side response (DSR) and its role in providing flexibility to the future low-carbon energy system.

Panel: Sam Hall (CEN Director, Chair), Kate Norgrove (Executive Director of Advocacy and Campaigns, WWF), Anthony Browne MP (CEN), Bernice Lee (Executive Director, Hoffmann Centre for Sustainable Resource Economy at Chatham House), Rt Hon George Eustice MP (Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As a nation of nature lovers, the British public were horrified by the images of fires burning through the Amazon rainforest last summer, which sparked widespread demands for more to be done to protect the world's largest and most precious tropical rainforest. But it is not just the Amazon which is under threat - 420 million hectares of global forest have been lost through land conversion since 1990. 90% of global wetlands have disappeared since 1700, with catastrophic consequences for wildlife - with an 84% in freshwater species since 1970. The seriousness of the problem has become increasingly apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic, with scientists pointing to a clear link between habitat loss and the emergence of animal-borne diseases. So what contribution can the UK make to halting the destruction of these biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems, which millions of people rely on for food and shelter, and what policies are required to reduce our overseas land footprint?

Deforestation and land conversion is a global problem driven by international consumption - more than 50% of this change is the result of commercial agriculture and forestry. In the UK, we use an area almost the size of our own land mass to satisfy our annual demand for commodities such as palm oil, timber and soy, and that number is increasing. The government has recognised the need to reduce our global footprint, and is now consulting on a new world-leading law requiring large businesses to end deforestation in their supply chains. Building on this leadership, this panel will consider how a newly independent and truly global Britain can use levers such as trade policy, alongside its presidency of COP26, to further encourage sustainable production and development overseas.

With deforestation accounting for 11% of greenhouse gas emissions and the most recent Living Planet Index showing a 68% decline in species population sizes, protecting and restoring nature worldwide is essential if we’re to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and reverse biodiversity decline. What can the UK do to scale up investment in nature-based solutions at COP26, and how can we support an ambitious post-2020 framework to restore nature at the international biodiversity summit (CBD) in China?

Panel: Rosa Stewart (CEN Steering Committee, Chair), Alexander Stafford MP (CEN), Emma Toulson (Lead Stakeholder Advisor, Ørsted UK), Jennifer Powell (former special adviser) & Peter Lyburn (founder, Stonehaven)

After winning the largest majority since Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 victory, the Conservative Party now has a huge responsibility to deliver on its promises to new ‘red wall’ voters, particularly in the North and Midlands, who shaped the outcome of the last election. Alongside Brexit, these communities expect to see increased infrastructure investment and many more jobs. Building back greener from Covid-19 with a huge boost to renewable energy capacity can deliver both of these goals by creating new green jobs, getting us on track to net zero and securing these ‘lent votes’ for the future.

Decarbonising the power sector has been a Conservative success story, with renewables now making up 37% of the electricity grid. The UK now boasts the largest offshore wind capacity in the world, employing 11,000 people directly in many coastal areas and former industrial heartlands. It is particularly a Northern success story, which is the home of the majority of the UK’s offshore wind sector and which has huge potential to lead in new technologies like green hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and low carbon steel manufacturing. Research estimates that the low carbon and renewable energy sector could support almost 45,000 jobs in the North East alone by 2030, many of which will be highly skilled roles in technology, science and manufacturing. But what additional policies are needed to ensure former red wall areas continue reaping the economic benefits from the transition to renewable energy? How significant are renewables to the government’s levelling up agenda?

CEN’s recent polling shows clear support for an economic recovery that also tackles climate change. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor have both made clear their intention to build back greener, backed up a £2 billion grant for home energy efficiency upgrades and a £100 million investment into direct air capture technology. This panel will explore what steps should be taken in the Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review this autumn to deliver a green recovery, and scale up public and private investment in renewable energy and storage to benefit all regions of the UK.

Panel: Sam Hall (CEN Director, Chair), Housing Minister Christopher Pincher MP, Julie Marson MP (CEN); Laura Sandys (NED, Energy Systems Catapult), Rob Cheesewright (Director of Corporate Affairs, Smart Energy GB)

With energy use in UK homes accounting for 14% of the nation’s total emissions, decarbonising the UK’s housing stock is vital to getting on track to net zero emissions. Through the move to greener, smarter buildings, consumers can take back control of their energy and reap the benefits of lower bills and warmer, healthier homes. This event will consider what the transition to net zero will mean for households in practice, the political challenges with delivering it, and what consumers want most from their homes in a net zero world.

Retrofitting homes with insulation and other energy saving measures will not only help deliver a green economic recovery from Covid-19 through creating net zero jobs, it will also cut energy consumption and so help efforts to address fuel poverty, which currently impacts some 2.5 million households. In the summer economic update, the Chancellor announced a £3 billion Green Homes Grant, which is set to support 140,000 green jobs while saving households £350 a year on bills. However, with around 19 million homes still at an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of lower than C, this event will consider what a longer term strategy for delivering energy efficiency improvements might look like.

The rollout of new technologies such as smart meters can equip consumers with more information to make smarter energy choices and reduce their demand. Smart meters are the foundation of a smarter and more flexible energy system, however the rollout has faced a number of challenges. What lessons can we learn from this experience for the remainder of the smart meter rollout and the wider home retrofit programme, and how do we bring the public with us in this essential part of the energy transition? This event will also consider how consumers are likely to respond to other low carbon technologies being introduced into the home, such as heat pumps and hydrogen boilers, and what obstacles they might face.

Panellists: Dr Ben Caldecott (Chair, CEN Board & founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme), Guy Opperman MP (Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion), Gareth Davies MP (CEN); Rhian-Mari Thomas (CEO, Green Finance Institute), Will Martindale (Director of Policy and Research, PRI)

Private finance has a vital role to play in delivering net zero, levelling up the regions of the UK through the construction of new clean and resilient infrastructure, and delivering a green economic recovery from Covid.

Particularly important in the lead up to COP26, this discussion will explore the need for greater transparency around climate-related risks, including the potential to make the voluntary TCFD reporting framework mandatory, for further measures to align capital flows with desirable outcomes, and for financial institutions to establish credible net zero targets and plans. It would also explore the need to support green finance with ‘real economy’ policy change, and the potential consequences of the “inevitable policy response” to climate change.

There is also scope to explore some of the government’s achievements on green finance, the role of a potential new government-backed infrastructure bank, “GIB 2.0”, in building back better, and how we can promote the UK as a green finance hub of expertise at COP26.

COP26 will be a pivotal moment in global climate action. In this episode we explore the impact of Covid-19 on international climate action in the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference, COP26, which the UK will host in Glasgow next year, and what role the UK must play in leading the global push for a clean economic recovery.

In this episode, we explore how the ‘levelling up’ agenda can support the goal of ‘building back better’, by delivering a clean and resilient economic recovery that works for all regions of the UK.

Listen to a recording of our first webinar with our great guest speakers:

Lockdown has drastically reduced transport emissions as people have stayed home to protect the NHS. This has led to noticeably cleaner air, with quantifiable health benefits, including reports of improved outcomes for those who have suffered from Covid and related respiratory issues. In the short term, many will be encouraged to turn to active travel such as cycling and micro-mobility solutions like e-scooters for their socially distanced commute. Long term, there is an opportunity to change the way we travel, particularly how we get to work, and lock in the cleaner air and the better health outcomes it brings.

The shift away from the internal combustion engine and the adoption of active travel are also vital steps on the road to net zero. With this in mind, the Department for Transport recently published a high-level vision for the future of transport and have sought ideas from across society and the economy on how to decarbonise our transport system. The response to Covid-19 could help accelerate the strategy’s ambition for ‘public transport and active travel [to] be the natural first choice for our daily activities’.

From the provision of cycling infrastructure and layout of roads, to planning decisions over new housing developments and bus policies, local authorities have a key role to play in making our communities cleaner, greener, and healthier places to live. Although local and metro mayor elections have been postponed until next year due to Covid-19, there is now a vibrant debate on how best to transform urban and suburban areas, so that the pollution doesn’t come back as our economies reopen.