Leading industry figures respond to yesterday ‘Green Day’ announcements

  Posted by: electime      31st March 2023

A flurry of energy and climate announcements were released by the Government yesterday (March 30) on what was billed as “Green Day”.

Kristin Baker – VP Strategy UKI at Schneider Electric, said:

“The UK has been a key promoter of climate action from being the first country to legislate a net zero target to recently achieving record-breaking levels of renewable energy generation. However, we need to build on this with clear and targeted support to make the most of existing technologies that can make an immediate difference and ensure decarbonisation progresses quickly and in the most cost-effective way. A renewed focus on energy efficiency will not only help reduce energy costs for consumers in the immediate term but will also help reduce the system wide costs of net zero.

“Achieving system-level change towards sustainability and circularity can create tangible value for both consumers and businesses. The energy crisis has increased the commitment of so many UK businesses to creating a sustainable future but for the UK to truly ‘power up’ to meet its net zero commitments, we need policies and well-funded initiatives that work together to create action.

“There is also an urgent need for investment to train or upskill the existing workforce to be able to accelerate the green economy, including the rollout of heat pumps and solar panels that help bring down the long-term cost of energy efficiency.

“Ultimately, there must be clear targets and roadmaps, to ensure accountability among all leaders or we run the risk of not acting fast enough on the greatest challenge facing our planet”

Philip Dingle, Director of Future Networks, Lucy Electric commented:

“While we welcome the government’s commitment to drive investment in renewable energy generation, we cannot ignore the urgent issue that remains at distribution level of existing lead times and getting new connections to the network. Today’s announcement outlines reforms to the planning process to enable the building of more energy infrastructure (including solar power and offshore wind projects more quickly) and boosting EV charging points to support the rollout of electric vehicles. However, it is critical for the industry and its supply chain to understand when expenditure will take place on the networks to link generation to customers. Limited current visibility of when infrastructure will be put in place, increases the challenge for essential supply partners like Lucy Electric to meet demand.

The electricity system is facing an evolving set of demands and it will have to undergo a significant expansion as well as adaptation to deliver on our net zero future. We need to fast track the future system operator (FSO) role to get to point where the market is receiving much clearer signals for near, medium and long term investment. Similar to the UK, Europe will double energy consumption by 2050 and is looking to the same sources for raw materials, manufacturers and skills to deliver net zero. Without the correct framework for investment in the UK, investment will undoubtedly move to Europe where there is a clearer plan.

Bold decisions and commitments are needed now to secure the investment quickly and to ensure the lowest possible cost to UK customers. The longer we delay, the steeper the hill we have to climb.”

 Mireille Meneses Campos, Carbon Offsetting Strategy Senior Lead at EcoAct, an Atos company said:

“In light of this month’s damning IPCC and CCC adaptation reports, today was an opportunity for the UK government to make a clear statement of intent to change the country’s direction of travel in its transition to net-zero. However, with the majority of ‘Green Day’ policies lacking ambition and new funding, today points more towards failure to achieve science-based climate goals.

“The UK consultation on a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) is a positive development. Robust implementation of such a system will promote domestic decarbonisation while ensuring the international competitiveness of UK businesses. To the greatest extent possible, the revenue generated should be used towards enhancement and delivery of the UK’s net-zero plan. Otherwise, the country risks falling behind in the global race to net-zero. The EU is already in the process of implementing its own CBAM, while the US green financial package passed last year dwarfs anything the UK government has proposed so far.”