A call to put net zero at the heart of the planning system has been welcomed by the industry, as former energy minister Chris Skidmore published his net zero review.
As well as laying out plans for a shift to renewables, the report calls for a comprehensive reform of the planning system and incentives for decarbonisation.
Titled Mission Zero, the 340-page review makes 129 recommendations aimed at improving the UK’s approach to tackling climate change.
John Davies, head of sustainability at Derwent London, said: “While the report itself wasn’t as tub-thumpingly radical as some had hoped for, or indeed wanted, perhaps that’s not what was needed?
“What this report has done very well is lay out all the net zero parts and issues in the right order and talked to practical action to move them forward.”
The government launched the report with an optimistic fanfare, focusing on comments about grasping the “historic opportunity” offered by the commitment to net zero. It pointed out that Skidmore has confirmed that the government’s net zero strategy “offers the right direction, and the right policies” to be a world leader.
Delay is a significant risk
But Skidmore cautioned more needs to be done. Phrases including “delay is a significant risk” and “this is too important to get wrong” pepper the pages of the report.
“While 42 months may have passed since the UK signed net zero into law, there remain just 324 months until 2050,” Skidmore said in his introduction to the report. “Planning effectively for that net zero future must be our priority.”
Janine Cole, sustainability and social impact director at GPE, said: “GPE has been talking about the economic opportunity of net zero carbon for some time. We are therefore pleased to see this emphasised in the Skidmore review. Hopefully the findings of the review will persuade the government to act to provide the clarity and direction so desperately needed from business if the economic opportunity is to be realised.”
The meat of the report goes even further. “The need for further action is clear,” it states. “For all the UK’s successes and clear ambition shown by government, it is not on track to deliver on all of its commitments, according to the latest progress report by the CCC, which shows risks across most sectors, but particularly agriculture, aviation, waste and buildings decarbonisation.”
The first part of the review focuses on the opportunity and benefits, both to individuals and the economy, of the path to net zero. The second half sets out a six-pillared plan to achieve that opportunity.
Rob Wall, assistant director of policy at the British Property Federation, said the review was focusing on the right areas. “The Skidmore review has highlighted several of the barriers the property industry is experiencing as it looks to transition to net zero. A lack of regulatory and policy certainty is impacting the ability for businesses to make long-term investment decisions, while the significant cost of retrofitting and improving assets can be prohibitive. We recognise that the property industry has a significant role to play in decarbonising, the review recommends the creation of an overarching finance strategy to provide valuable support and for the tax system to be reviewed so it incentivises changes, both of these are essential.”
Raising the stakes
Reform of the planning system is always on a government’s to-do list, but the Skidmore Review has raised the stakes. “Reform the local planning system and the National Planning Policy Framework now,” it says, or the chances of reaching net zero by 2050 are zero.
“The planning system should be an essential tool in delivering the changes needed for net zero,” it says. “A system that appears ambivalent to net zero will not be capable of delivering the scale of change required.”
Steve Malkin, chief executive at net zero and sustainability certification group Planet Mark, said: “Today’s net zero review proves the private sector’s ambition and determination to go further, faster on net zero and it is now up to the government to match this ambition.”
But Wall thought the report pulled some punches. “The planning system is a vital component of ensuring we deliver the necessary green infrastructure to move away from a reliance on gas. However, the review could have gone further on mandating renewable energy sources, such as solar panels, on new developments,” he said
UKGBC boss Julie Hirigoyen echoed that sentiment: “Many of our members would even support going further in several areas, including introducing a net zero test for the planning system, requiring solar power on new homes, and an end date for new fossil fuel boilers in homes by 2028.”
Skidmore, the Conservative MP for Kingswood, was commissioned by former prime minister Liz Truss to conduct a review of the government’s policy to reach net zero for carbon emissions by 2050. The process has involved more than 50 roundtable meetings with experts and 1,800 submissions.
Skidmore said: “My recommendations are designed to make the most of this historic opportunity, covering the length and breadth of our economy, so that people in every part of the country can reap the benefits of this both in their communities, and in their pockets.”
The report proposes a review of incentives for investment in decarbonisation, including via the tax system. It also recommends reforming the planning system to put net zero at its heart nationally and locally. Alongside this it advocates backing at least one “trailblazer net zero city, local authority and community that can work towards reaching net zero by 2030”.
Solar revolution
The review also says the government should adopt the mission of a “solar rooftop revolution”.
It proposes removing the “existing constraints and barriers to solar panel deployment across residential and commercial buildings in the UK”.
To achieve this, it calls for planning permission to be scrapped for solar installations on the roofs of domestic and commercial buildings.
New regulations and business models should be implemented to sweep away the current barriers to deploying energy back on to the grid from solar arrays. This, in turn, would require a major improvement of the current grid.
Solar farms in the countryside should be not be planned piecemeal, it adds, but “in a co-ordinated fashion as part of a land use strategy”.
Skidmore also recommended legislating for the Future Homes Standard, outlawing gas boilers in new homes from 2025, and adopting a 10-year mission to make heat pumps a widespread technology in the UK.
A Landsec spokesperson said: “We are pleased to see the detail and positive intent underpinning today’s independent review of net zero. It clearly sets out the opportunity achieving net zero provides the UK and the need to balance prompt action with careful decision making to ensure we focus our efforts on what works.”
Nick Molho, executive director at Aldersgate Group, said: “The Skidmore Review is absolutely right to emphasise that the net zero transition is a major pro-business and pro-investment opportunity. The government should use the recommendations of this review to produce an updated and strengthened net zero strategy early this year.”
As Skidmore himself said: “The review’s findings are unequivocal: we must grab this opportunity, there is no future economy but a green economy.”
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