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Top stories from Sat 12 Jul – Sat 19 Jul

  5. #5

    How resilience, data, and governance can build the business case for decarbonisation

    Latest BusinessGreen event sees experts explore how shifting the focus of arguments in support of sustainability can help overcome cost barriers to climate action A focus on 'resilience' and an ability to access increasingly granular data to demonstrate returns on investment can play a key role in helping businesses overcome the cost barriers that are threatening to derail corporate decarbonisation efforts. That was the message from leading green economy experts speaking at the latest BusinessGreen and Sustainable Ventures 'Evening With' event earlier this week, which was hosted in partnership with sustainability consultancy Verco. The event at Sustainable Ventures' London climate tech hub brought together green business leaders to explore how cost challenges are hampering the adoption of energy and carbon-saving innovations, with experts sharing advice on overcoming the financial barriers and cost-saving blind spots companies face as they embark on the next phase of their net zero strategies. Andrew Todd, director for corporates at Verco, argued that framing the business cases for climate action around the potential to enhance energy security and mitigate climate risks can sometimes prove more fruitful than fixating on sustainability benefits. "A good way to start to address this problem is to talk in terms of risk," he said. "I think businesses are much more comfortable, they understand risk, and they understand how to manage risk." His comments were echoed by Aldersgate Group executive director, Rachel Solomon Williams, who urged business leaders making the business case for decarbonisation to refocus their efforts on the "triple meaning" of sustainability, rather than focusing exclusively on the environment. "It's important to remember what sustainability really means," she said. "It means something is sustainable in a practical, economic, and also an environmental sense. But we've lost that. We should be thinking about business sustainability, and that includes resilience." The panel noted that corporate backing for sustainability strategies remained encouragingly robust, despite plenty of 'noises off' from those politicians opposed to climate action. Sarah Mukherjee, CEO at the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) - formerly known as IEMA - pointed to new research from the group releases this week which found around half of environmental and sustainability professionals say their budgets have increased over the past year, with fewer than two per cent experiencing cuts in 2024. However, Solomon Williams warned that the given the bulk of "low hanging fruit" initiatives for cutting emissions have already been planned or put in place, sustainability professionals now face the looming challenge of making the business case for more costly projects that are likely to involve more technology risk and longer payback periods. Dave Worthington, Verco's managing director, argued it was still possible to make a compelling business case for more ambitious decarbonisation projects, as part of a wider net zero strategy. He highlighted how there was a first mover advantage to energy-saving projects that can cut costs, as cumulative savings can stack up before competitors have made similar moves. He also stressed how increasingly sophisticated software that can track energy use, costs, and emissions could provide a "magic bullet" that demonstrates how promised savings over time are really delivered. His comments were echoed by Inder Poonaji, director of sustainability and ESG at Modulaire, who stressed the importance of having "great data" to drive investment. "The last thing the investor wants is to see the data we're giving is rubbish," he said, as he explained how the conditions for the company's €3bn ESG bonds meant the firm was regularly audited to demonstrate it was making clear progress against its sustainability targets. Poonaji added that strong internal governance was likewise a core component of the business case for successful decarbonisation projects. "If you don't have strong governance, you can forget anything else," he said. "Businesses move up and down. When things are hard, you've got to know the three or four priorities which you've got to stick to. I think trying to be everything is a bit of a mistake." The combination of a focus on resilience, robust and reliable data, and strong governance processes increases the chances of board-level support for decarbonisation projects, which all the speakers agreed was critical to the success of corporate sustainability efforts. "Getting CEO support is probably the best step," said Worthington. "All of the examples where we've had successful programmes have had CEO commitment behind them." However, Mukherjee stressed that top level support had to be accompanied by investment in sustainability skills and training right across an organisation, adding that tackling green economy skills shortages will be key to driving down the cost of decarbonisation. "If you don't have the skills and you don't have the people, you can't make the money," she said. Relatedly, Solomon Williams argued that "more creative and make radical collaboration" between businesses and throughout supply chains had a key role to play in unlocking clean tech innovation and reducing the cost of decarbonisation projects. By working together, even at times with competitors, businesses can share best practices, maximise economies of scale, and curb the cost of finance, all of which can serve to reduce the upfront costs associated with clean tech deployments and other carbon-saving projects. The adoption of these various best practices can go a long way towards reducing the upfront costs associated with green projects, in the process strengthening the business case for climate action and demonstrating that attractive returns on investment. As such, they go a long way to explaining how leading businesses are continuing to ramp up investment in sustainability, creating a widening gap between the leaders that are driving down emissions and operational costs and the laggards that remain wedded to environmentally damaging business models. It is a disconnect that begs the question as to how more businesses can be encouraged to adopt sustainability best practices and ramp up investment in clean technologies, despite various economic headwinds. The speakers were in broad agreement that it is here that more effective policy interventions are required. Helen Clarkson, CEO at the Climate Group, argued external factors such as greater "policy certainty" could strengthen corporate climate plans further, help de-risk clean tech investments, and make the costs of decarbonisation easier to justify. As such, she acknowledged the perceived political backlash against environmental, social, and governance efforts had the potential to undermine such certainty and push up the cost of capital - a fear that was amply demonstrated by Reform this week through its threat to try and unpick future clean power contract auctions. Solomon Williams concurred that while mandates and targets "work", it is only through the hard wiring and entrenching of effective policies that businesses and investors can be provided with the certainty they need to justify projects that can have long payback periods. "The UK has been incredibly bad at that for as long as I can remember, but I think this government does get it, and they're trying to do that," she added. Get the policies right - and there was broad agreement on the urgent need to bring down the cost of electricity to help enable investment in electrification - and it becomes a lot easier to make the business case for investment in a wide range of clean technologies, including some of those early stage projects that will be required in hard to abate sectors. But several panellists also stressed that even without perfect policies in place, there are lots of proven technologies now available that can drive down emissions and costs, while enhancing competitiveness and reducing climate risks. Upfront cost barriers remain, but with the right data, the right finance packages, the right governance, and the right arguments, a compelling business case can still be presented for carbon-cutting projects that will have to be delivered sooner or later if net zero goals are to be met. Keep up to date with all the latest green business news by signing up to the free Daily and Weekly BusinessGreen Newsletters.

    Business Green

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  21. #20

    No 'waste' should be wasted in the circular economy

    Partner Insight: Carbon capture and storage from energy from waste plants can help support a truly circular economy, writes enfinium CEO Mike Maudsley For too long, we have relied on a linear model of consumption: make, use, and dispose. This approach has delivered convenience and economic expansion but at the cost of resource depletion and rising carbon emissions. A circular economy is not just a waste management strategy; it is a blueprint for innovation and sustainable growth. By extracting the maximum value from every resource, the problem of waste is transformed into an opportunity. Crucially, a circular economy also recognises that some waste is unavoidable but that none of it should be wasted. After all, waste can be a valuable resource. It contains energy, reusable materials and embodied carbon that can be extracted using the right technologies. With a new government focused on creating a circular economy, fostering sustainable growth, and achieving net zero, the moment to act is now. Although it may be surprising, given that I run a company in the business of waste management, I believe we must reduce the amount of waste we produce in the UK. Despite our best efforts over the previous 30 years, our society has never produced more waste. There are complex reasons for this – a combination of consumer behaviour, manufacturing practices, rising consumption, and the complexities of recycling and waste management. It is well understood that there is a link between waste and consumption. As societies become wealthier and their GDP increases, so too does their consumption - and with it, waste. This is a difficult link to break. However, I believe that you can empower people to create less waste. For example, rather than merely instructing individuals to consume less, we should provide opportunities to take practical action – demonstrating how simple and rewarding it can be to reuse, repair and repurpose goods. Introducing robust 'Right to Repair' legislation would support this shift, covering a broader range of products which can both benefit consumers and business. These measures, alongside policies like Extended Producer Responsibility and a nationwide Deposit Return Scheme, will support the reduction of waste. My business, enfinium, have been providing grant funding to community Repair Cafés for this reason. These largely volunteer groups repair faulty household items free of charge, providing the communities they serve the chance to extend the life of cherished items and prevent waste heading to landfill. However, reductions in waste can only go so far. The reality, unfortunately, is that there will always be some waste that cannot be prevented through repair, reuse or even recycling. This is because there are limitations in recycling. Some materials cannot be recycled at all. Others will degrade over time and will eventually become unrecyclable. This is the second law of Thermodynamics: energy (matter) cannot be continually recycled without reducing its density or quality. The reality is that ‘zero waste' is an aspiration and this hard truth is one we must face if we are to build a circular economy in practice. To address this, we are proposing a new principle, alongside reducing waste, that can be the foundation of a circular economy: that zero waste is wasted. ‘Waste' can be a valuable resource. It contains important materials, energy, and embodied carbon – all of which, if treated in the right way, can be used to support wider circularity and decarbonisation goals. To ensure that zero waste is wasted, there are a few steps we can take. The most obvious is that we must stop burying waste in the ground. Landfill doesn't just take up space and is unsightly – it also produces vast amounts of methane, not all of which is captured. Methane is around 80 times more climate damaging than carbon dioxide. And, even with good containment, there is always a risk of soil and water contamination from leachate. For waste that cannot be recycled, landfill is not circular. It is the full stop of the linear economy. Other countries around the world, including leaders in waste management such as the Netherlands and Belgium, recognised this fact a long time ago – introducing landfill bans in the 1990s. Yet here in the UK, the most recent data shows that we sent 13.1 million tonnes of waste to landfill. The alternative to landfill is energy from waste. The UK has over 60 energy from waste facilities that currently turn unrecyclable waste into electricity. For every tonne of unrecyclable waste that enfinium processes, we generate 600kWh of energy. That's enough to power a home for two months. Energy from waste plants – like the one we're currently building in Skelton Grange in Leeds – don't just generate electricity, they also produce heat. This can be supplied to nearby business through heat networks to support further heat decarbonisation, offering a reliable and sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. In the future, we can go further. By implementing carbon capture and storage technology, we can capture carbon emissions produced during energy recovery - ensuring carbon released from unrecyclable waste doesn't end up in the atmosphere. This would ‘close the loop' for waste sector emissions and is something we're proud to be leading on. Creating a circular economy will not be easy. It requires the combined efforts of the government, private sector, local communities, and individuals. It also requires recognising that no waste should be wasted – and to build a system capable of delivering on that. Mike Maudsley is CEO at enfinium. This article is sponsored by enfinium.

    Business Green
  24. #23

    UK’s clean electricity growing too slowly to meet climate targets

    UK’s energy system operator forecasts emissions a third over target by 2035 in second official warning in a month Britain is expected to fall short of the progress needed to meet its climate targets over the next decade because it is not growing its supply of clean electricity fast enough, according to the government’s energy system operator. The latest 10-year forecast of Britain’s carbon emissions by the government-owned body has revealed that by 2035 the UK will be producing almost a third more carbon emissions than in scenarios where it is on track to meet its legally binding climate targets by 2050. Continue reading...

    The Guardian Environment