Download the full report here: Financing zero carbon heat turning up the dial on investment
Foreword
The 2020s were dubbed the ‘decade of action’ for tackling the global climate crisis and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals. This time last year, few were predicting that an imminent global crisis – the Covid-19 pandemic – would demonstrate so profoundly the need for resilience in protecting our communities and economies from environmental tail risks and catalyse unprecedented levels of action by governments, businesses and individuals.
The ensuing recovery needs to incorporate resilience, climate action and social inclusivity. The world’s major economies are already signalling their ambition; from the EU’s pledge that 30% of the Covid stimulus package will fight climate change and President-elect Biden’s $2 trillion climate action plan, to the UK Prime Minister’s ten point plan for a green industrial revolution. These ambitions must be matched with robust, granular and practical ‘action plans’ that can deliver tangible outcomes.
A pragmatic and outcomes-focused approach is critical to decarbonise the built environment, where an estimated £65 billion of investment is needed to improve the UK’s housing stock to EPC C by 2035. Achieving this goal will require innovative financial mechanisms as well as an enabling policy environment. For this reason, the Green Finance Institute established the Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings – to bring together the public and private sectors to co-create the solutions needed.
As part of the Coalition’s work, more than 50 industry experts were brought together in the Zero Carbon Heating Taskforce to identify and unlock the investment barriers to heat decarbonisation. This report outlines the market insights, financial solutions and enabling policies that were designed by the Taskforce to mobilise capital towards a greener built environment.
As 2020 draws to a close, we look forward with optimism to a new year of continued collaboration and thank all our Coalition and Taskforce members for their enthusiastic commitment despite the many challenges of the past year, in pursuing practical climate action.
Dr Rhian-Mari Thomas OBE
Chief Executive, Green Finance Institute
Chair, Coalition for the Energy Efficiency of Buildings
Download the full report here: Financing zero carbon heat turning up the dial on investment