What still needs to happen to reach Net Zero?

Evaluations in the Gap Analysis were made as part of a research process undertaken by the IES staff team, primarily through document analysis and the review of other secondary data. Evaluations reflect the degree to which commitments and expected actions align with the recommendations presented in the IES Manifesto for Transformative Change, rather than an objective measurement of progress towards 'Net Zero'.

Primary data was not collected and where this was a barrier to making an accurate evaluation, the evaluation is listed as "unclear", with relevant analysis provided in the commentary. These areas may be appropriate for further research by researchers or organisations which are better placed to collect primary data.

After an initial research stage, each evaluation was reviewed for accuracy by the research team as a whole. The evaluations and commentary were then reviewed by climate professionals from the IES Climate Action Community, providing an expert perspective on the UK's progress towards meeting the recommendations of the Manifesto.

Each recommendation is listed below alongside its evaluation. Where further explanation of the evaluation is necessary, clicking on the recommendation provides additional comments.

Our goal must be transformative change of the systems of consumption and production which embed unsustainable consequences for our climate, society, and natural world.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy does not make transformative change the goal of UK decarbonisation efforts. The Strategy sets ambition at ensuring "government takes net zero into account when taking decisions" and "embedding net zero in ... decision-making levers", rather than seeking to transform decision-making processes or the systems of consumption and production underpinning them.

Systems thinking must be a core part of our approach to addressing all social and natural challenges at every level. Barriers should be broken down between disciplines and government departments to reorient decision making towards functionality and systems thinking.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy identifies the need for a systems approach. However, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that barriers have been broken down between disciplines and government departments, or that systems thinking is effectively embedded in decision-making.

Wherever possible, we should seek multiple benefits or functions from our solutions to climate change, even where it costs more in the short-term to avoid increased costs in the long-term.

While the UK's Net Zero Strategy recognises the importance of securing multiple benefits in the specific context of land use (as well as through the UK COP26 Presidency's support for nature-based solutions), this understanding is not yet systematically reflected across the UK's approach to policy making. 

To be fully met, further steps must be taken to ensure a cross-governmental approach to identifying the potential for multiple environmental or social benefits wherever possible. For example, the Government's draft Policy Statement on its Environmental Principles does not currently provide the necessary framework to consistently identify and capture the potential for multiple environmental benefits.

Policy should be science-led wherever possible, with stronger collaboration between science and decision makers across disciplines and policy areas.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy correctly recognises that "science and innovation are essential to achieve global climate goals." The Strategy also commits to knowledge exchange to ensure global efforts are underpinned by science, and the Strategy provides an annex on climate science.

The UK Government also receives advice from the independent Climate Change Committee. While the Climate Change Committee reported that it believes the Climate Change Act 2008 "has kept UK climate policies rooted in ... scientific realities", there is not sufficient data to demonstrate that policy is science-led, rather than science-informed.

Where appropriate, climate solutions should be co-created with stakeholders who are needed for implementation and communities who must live with the consequences of those decisions.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy commits to "work in partnership with people and communities across the country", including by "establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to ensure that there is direct input from local leaders". 

To be fully met, further steps must be taken to systematically engage relevant communities in decision making, beyond local authorities or individual stakeholder events. For example, the Department for Education's Draft Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy had a limited engagement process and was not sufficiently co-produced with stakeholders.

Governments, international organisations, and businesses should work together to develop and align taxonomies and definitions for green finance, responsible investments, and ‘net zero’ commitments to create a certain and stable market. Definitions should be specific enough to prevent ‘greenwashing’ but not so specific that they preclude potentially positive financial instruments.

The UK has committed to developing a green taxonomy with the support of its Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). While the Net Zero Strategy commits to independent expert advice from GTAG supporting the taxonomy's development, there is not yet enough information to confirm that the taxonomy will sufficiently prevent greenwashing. 

The proposed EU Taxonomy has not taken ambitious enough measures to prevent greenwashing, which will make it difficult for the UK's Taxonomy to be simultaneously robust enough to achieve its goals while also being aligned with other taxonomies to provide businesses with necessary certainty.

Governments should support funding for green finance projects, mobilising private sector funds by creating facilitating infrastructure, supporting innovation funds, and setting clear sector-by-sector strategies, roadmaps, and skills pipelines.

The UK has committed to increasing International Climate Finance to £11.6 billion by March 2026, and the UK estimates that it mobilised £4.8 billion public and £3.2 billion private finance for climate change purposes in developing countries between 2011 and 2021. Whilst the Independent Commission for Aid Impact determined in 2019 that "UK investments are contributing to transformational change – particularly by building the willingness and capacity of financial markets to take on low-carbon investments", the ICAI's concern that "lack of a clear public narrative for International Climate Finance" may be hindering private investment has not been fully addressed. 

There is evidence that UK public finance is beginning to drive private investment, for example through GFANZ, though funding gaps remain, including the UK's contribution to the global commitment by developing countries to provide $100bn of climate finance a year by 2020, which COP26 President Alok Sharma described as being "just a fraction" of the investment needed. If continued acceleration of public finance is met with a clearer and more coherent public narrative, this recommendation is likely to be met by the UK in the future, particularly if initiatives in the Net Zero Strategy, such as the UK Infrastructure Bank, are able to achieve their stated goals.

Governments should work together to create a global ‘level playing field’ for finance, dis-incentivising high emissions projects while setting appropriate regulations, including further requirements for transparency and disclosures. Where transparency frameworks are not yet mandatory, businesses should voluntarily opt-in.

The UK has committed to mandatory climate finance disclosures for some of its largest companies. Additionally, the UK has committed to developing a green taxonomy with the support of its Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). However, further steps must be taken to ensure that the increased move to a 'level playing field' within the UK extends to a global 'level playing field'.

For this recommendation to be fully met in the UK, greater regulatory dis-incentives for high emissions projects are required, and the UK should take additional steps to support the global community's move to a regulatory 'level playing field'.

Businesses need clear, credible, meaningful ESG strategies across their assets, investments, and value chains. Businesses should utilise science-based targets and strategies, providing transparent explanations for the sustainability choices they have made and adopting best practice, making additional commitments wherever possible.

The UK does not centrally assess the robustness of corporate ESG strategies. However, the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor assesses the commitments made by 25 major multinational companies, including from the UK. It determined that "Headline pledges are often ambiguous and emission reduction commitments are limited". 

Whilst the UK Government has taken steps to encourage more robust ESG strategies from businesses, including through its Greening Finance Roadmap, Sustainability Disclosure Requirements, and the UK Stewardship Code, available evidence indicates that this has not yet led to widespread adoption.

Where appropriate, businesses should finance carbon offsetting to account for the residual emissions which they cannot mitigate after transitioning to more sustainable business models. Offsetting should not be a substitute for action to reduce the carbon impact of a business, or used as an excuse for inaction.

The UK does not centrally assess the robustness or appropriateness of corporate commitments to carbon offsetting. However, the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor assesses the commitments made by 25 major multinational companies, including from the UK.

It assessed the transparency and integrity of both companies' offsetting plans today as well as their offsetting plans for the future as "very low". Currently, the available data suggests more must be done by the largest UK corporations make appropriate carbon offsetting commitments. For this recommendation to be met, best practice will need to be more widespread.

Governments must support the rollout of large and small-scale renewable energy which is aligned with the needs and resources of the locality it is serving; a ‘one size fits all’ approach will not be effective. 

The UK's Net Zero Strategy states that by 2035, the UK will be powered entirely by clean electricity, subject to security of supply. There is some recognition of the needs of local communities, such as the commitment to "tak[e] account of the environment and local communities" in the Government's approach to electricity networks, but a lack of guidance in how this will be done practically.

In terms of small-scale renewables, the Smart Export Guarantee was established in 2020 to create a market for renewable exports, though concerns have been raised that prices may not be high enough to encourage the implementation of small-scale renewables and therefore deliver new renewables.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy carried out workshops in January 2022 to support the creation of community-led local energy strategies and planning policies for the hyper-local level. Local Authorities need to be properly resourced to allow for this level of engagement and development of Local Plans and the Government should use this information to support a just energy transition.

CCUS should be used as a last resort and investment should instead be focused on phasing-out the use of fossil fuels.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy commits to phasing out coal completely by 2024 but the UK Government did not secure international agreement on phasing-out fossil fuels as part of the UK presidency of COP26. The wording of the Glasgow Climate Pact was softened to "phase-down" rather than "phase-out" fossil fuels. As part of the G20, the UK has agreed to phase-out subsidies for fossil fuels abroad, but this has not yet been realised, with G20 countries still spending an estimated $150 billion annually in subisidies, ten years after the agreement was made.

Despite failure to meet that goal, CCUS currently plays a significant role in meeting the UK's sixth Carbon Budget, while the Net Zero Strategy lays out plans to capture 20-30 million tons of CO₂ by 2030, nearly doubling existing operational capacity. CCUS continues to be prioritised over efforts to phase-out the use of fossil fuels, with the Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund (CIF) announced in March 2020, allocating £1bn towards the deployment of CCUS.

Governments should promote the benefits of renewable technology and support implementation through clear communication and education, financial support and improved accessibility, and modification to the needs and resources of particular communities.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy correctly recognises the need for "consumers ... to be engaged with positive choices about their energy supply" and that to support these choices they "should receive accurate information about the carbon content of their energy products". The Strategy lacks practical information about how this will be supported, or specific actions which will be taken to support the education of people in this area. See the commentary under recommendation 19 for more information about the Government's attempts to improve climate literacy. 

The Strategy also acknowledges the need to ensure that "the planning system has the capacity to support the deployment of low carbon energy infrastructure, while also representing the interests of ... local communities" but does not specify how this will be achieved. The Government has committed to updating the energy National Policy Statements to provide greater clarity on the need and urgency for low carbon infrastructure. Some financial support is being made available through the Contracts for Difference Scheme, which re-opened in December 2021, with £285 million funding per year for low-carbon technology which moves the UK away from fossil fuels.

Governments should make significant investments in robust renewable energy infrastructure, research and innovation, and continual supply chain optimisation. 

The UK's Net Zero Strategy commits the Government to "ensure a market framework which ... delivers an affordable, secure, and reliable system ... consistent with net zero emissions" and to "invest in innovation which helps commercialise new technologies”. The Strategy also recognises that new critical supply chains need to be resilient and reliable, though more focus is required on implementing and delivering this infrastructure. 

It is unlikely that market forces alone will deliver the infrastructure needed within the appropriate timescales, particularly as the Energy White Paper does not sufficiently propose changes to the current system which is centralised, predictable, and based on a small number of large power plants. That approach is not applicable to a renewables-based system which will need to be decentralised, less predictable, and based on many smaller sources.

Although these structural issues have prevented the level of action required to achieve transformative change, the White Paper and the Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan 2021 acknowledge that a change to the current model may be needed for flexibility. There is also some financial investment being made through the Contracts for Difference Scheme.

National governments should support mutual knowledge transfer and resource-sharing between non-industrialised and industrialised nations to support effective climate action, ecosystem restoration, and implementation of sustainable technologies, such as renewable energy. The global community must provide finance to support resilience in vulnerable nations.

COP26 launched the 'Glasgow Breakthroughs', a series of agreements between countries to “rapidly scale up” clean technology in five areas: renewable power, road transport, steel, hydrogen, and agriculture. The UK Presidency will be taking forward the Breakthrough Agenda, including its commitment to make collaborative working a new part of the international climate fabric.

The UK is also leading UK-PACT, which supports countries with high emissions-reduction potential to overcome barriers to clean growth and to accelerate their climate change mitigation efforts. In September 2021, the Prime Minister announced £200m of new funding for UK PACT to expand over the next four years to March 2026. However, the UK and other industrialised nations have not yet succeeded in providing the amount of promised climate finance previously pledged, particularly the global commitment by developing countries to provide $100bn of climate finance a year by 2020.

Governments should improve access to education and training on low-carbon technologies and sustainability principles to support decision making and to ensure that the environmental principles are embedded throughout the workforce.

In the UK's Net Zero Strategy, the Government acknowledged that an estimated 1 in 5 jobs are going to be affected by the green transition, with plans to create 2 million new jobs in the green economy by 2030. The Government has committed to incentivise training providers, employers and learners to deliver the transition to net zero, including a Liftetime Skills Guarantee to support access to appropriate training and education for those entering the workforce and opportunities to upskill for those already in the workforce.

While the Department for Education's Draft Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy takes significant steps towards improving access to sustainability principles in education and training, it is not yet sufficient to deliver change across the workforce. Although ambition to deliver low-carbon skills has increased, the Environmental Audit Committee warns that the Net Zero Strategy must be supported by a detailed, actionable delivery plan which sets out a definition for 'green jobs' and provides specific evidence of the skills gaps that need to be filled.

Action on climate change must account for environmental justice and climate justice, and we should seek to create a ‘just transition’ which fairly distributes the costs and benefits of the transition.

During COP26, the UK Government signed a Declaration "supporting the conditions for a just transition internationally". In practice, however, there is not yet sufficient evidence that the Government has embedded the necessary conditions for a just transition in its approach to climate change, such as co-production, resourcing, and proactive development of a positive vision. Environmental justice, climate justice, and just transition are not specifically accounted for in the UK's Net Zero Strategy.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government has committed to seeking a just transition, giving key roles to its Just Transition Commission to support that goal. Therefore, this recommendation is fully met in Scotland.

Governments should facilitate greater integration of science and society, where all science disciplines can play a role in explaining the risks and opportunities of different pathways and help communities to visualise different options for the future.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, public trust in science in has generally increased, with 60% of the public considering scientists to be trustworthy. However, this has not translated into full integration of science with society. In 2014, UCL's Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science called for "an operational means for the general public and climate scientists to engage in dialogue", and while the reach of climate communication has considerably increased over the past decade, mutual dialogue has not yet become embedded in society's approach to tackling the climate crisis.

Governments should seek to make climate literacy, carbon literacy, environmental science, and systems thinking part of all curricula and education, encouraging lifelong learning to upskill, reskill, and embed ‘net zero’ skills across the workforce.

In England, the Department for Education's Draft Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy takes significant steps towards embedding climate literacy and sustainability in the education system. CHES and the IES published a response outlining the specific actions required for the recommendation to be fully met. In Scotland, the Learning for Sustainability Action Plan takes some steps towards embedding climate literacy in the curriculum, however further action is still required to fully achieve climate literacy across the education system and the wider workforce.

Governments, international organisations, and all scales of climate action must increase capacity-building, empowerment, and participation of all groups which are under-represented in climate action, with an emphasis on monitoring progress. 

The UK's Net Zero Strategy commits to working with local communities to ensure capacity-building for net zero delivery, including through knowledge-sharing, support for local participation, and providing resources. However, there are not yet specific plans in place to address many of the barriers to participation in climate action for under-represented groups, including those identified in the IES's recent research into the experiences of ethnic minority environmental professionals.

Governments should integrate gender equality and empowerment into their approaches to climate change, as well as broader Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion (ED&I) principles.

While there has been some recognition of the need to empower diverse engagement in climate issues, including through 'Tomorrow’s Engineers Code' and the POWERful Women campaign, this has been primarily focused on access to employment in the green economy, and the UK Government has not put in place plans for how to achieve increased gender equality, empowerment, and ED&I across its climate action.

More information about ED&I in the environmental sector is available in the Institution's recent report on ethnic diversity and ED&I Plan.

Citizens should make use of existing tools of empowerment, including elected representatives, to share their perspectives on the likely effects of climate change and climate action. This should not be a substitute for increased democratisation and co-production of responses to climate change.

The UK House of Commons Library reports that 7% of people have campaigned about an environmental issue, and the same amount have written a letter or tweet to a political representative. While it is important that engagement by communities continues to increase, evidence indicates that UK citizens are currently making use of the democratic tools which are available.

When employing nature-based solutions, multi-functionality should be prioritised to support multiple co-benefits for climate action, biodiversity and society. Nature-based solutions should not be used as a one-issue ‘tick-box’ exercise, and the benefits of increased resilience should be recognised even where they are hard to financially quantify.

The Environment Act outlines Local Nature Recovery Strategies, which are designed to drive the use of nature-based solutions to address environmental challenges like climate change. 

In practice, nature-based solutions are not always multifunctional, such as the planting of monoculture forests, which benefits climate change mitigation but does not have the same biodiversity benefits as restoring natural ecosystems or hybrid grey-green approaches. 

For the recommendation to be fully met, more focus must be placed on ensuring nature-based solutions are designed from a holistic perspective.

One size does not fit all when it comes to nature-based solutions. Tailored approaches should be used to ensure that the most effective solution is used in the right locality. 

The Environment Act outlines Local Nature Recovery Strategies, which are designed to drive the use of nature-based solutions to address environmental challenges like climate change. The intention is for local partners to identify where efforts to create or restore habitat would have the greatest benefit for climate mitigation, whilst also having positive benefits for nature and the wider environment.

Though the success of Local Nature Recovery Strategies will depend on their implementation, the UK has made a sufficient commitment to ensuring tailored approaches to nature.

The mitigation hierarchy of avoid, minimise, restore and offset should be followed to minimise the overuse of offsetting. 

The Environment Act's requirement for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) states that all developments must result in a net 10% increase in biodiversity. It is intended that BNG is complementary to the mitigation heirarchy, and that it will not override the protection for designated sites, protected or priority species, or irreplaceable or priority habitats. 

The UK Government's response to its Net Gain Consultation stated that "Biodiversity net gain tools and guidance will reinforce and support adherence to the mitigation hierarchy which is already well established in planning policy [and] ... improve environmental mapping so that biodiversity impacts can be better avoided in the first instance ... introducing a “spatial hierarchy” to incentivise on site and local compensation where appropriate.” 

However, the planning system's existing use of the mitigation hierarchy has failed to avoid environmental impacts, and whether or not the mitigation hierarchy will be appropriately reflected in the future will depend on how BNG operates in practice. 

There is currently insufficient data to determine whether or not the mitigation hierarchy is being appropriately applied to produce positive effects for nature and to minimise overuse of offsetting. For example, it is currently unclear how the market for biodiversity units will be effectively used to support plans for the spatial hierarchy with preference for local enhancements.

Governments should give nature a home in Local Authorities and each Local Authority should employ ecologists. Planners should be trained in key ecological principles.

The UK Government has announced £4 million of new funding to support Local Planning Authorities and other Local Authorities to expand ecologist resources and upskill ecologist teams, increasing their capacity to work with developers and communities to provide Biodiversity Net Gain. Planners are not currently systematically trained in key ecological principles. 

A combination of land sharing and sparing approaches should be used, with a focus on protecting multi-functional ecosystems, increasing connectivity between ecosystems, and regenerating degraded ecosystems.

The UK Government has begun to put in place programmes to increase connectivity and regenerate degraded ecosystems. Local Nature Recovery Strategies will use a spatial strategy to map proposals for creating or improving habitat, with the aim of maximising biodiversity co-benefits and other environmental objectives alongside decarbonisation.

Environmental Land Management Schemes propose to utilise a combination of land sparing and sharing approaches through sustainable management of farming land and local nature and landscape recovery. The Government aims to establish a national Nature Recovery Network of wildlife-rich places to support the expansion and improvement of these sites, and to increase connectivity across towns, cities and the countryside.

If these programmes are able to achieve their stated aims, this recommendation is likely to be met in the future.

Governments should increasingly emphasise the design stage in their approaches to resource use, encouraging the use of mono-materials and modular construction where appropriate. Governments should take additional steps to prevent planned obsolescence, and to encourage the recycling or upcycling of defunct devices currently stockpiled by consumers. 

The National Model Design Code provides tools and guidance to support Local Authorities to embed circular economy principles, while the draft Waste Prevention Programme for England has a chapter dedicated to “Designing out waste”, including a commitment to "set product requirements where this is a necessary step in tackling premature obsolescence".

The Circular Economy Package, produced in collaboration with the four UK administrations, outlines "a revised legislative framework, identifying steps for the reduction of waste and establishing [a] ... long-term path for waste management and recycling".

The Welsh Government’s strategy, Beyond Recycling, sets out its aim of making a circular, low carbon economy in Wales a reality with a set of key actions to deliver the objective of zero waste by 2050. The Scottish Government’s circular economy strategy, Making Things Last, sets out priorities for action to move towards a more circular economy; and Scotland's Zero Waste Plan sets targets to drive circularity. In Northern Ireland, the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs is currently developing an Environment Strategy for Northern Ireland, which will consider Northern Ireland's long-term environmental priorities.

The UKRI’s National Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Research Programme is assessing how to transition towards a more circular economy, highlighting the need for producers to move towards sustainable product design. Limited ‘right to repair’ rules were introduced in the UK from summer 2021, requiring producers to ensure that some durable goods can be repaired using widely available tools for up to 10 years, in addition to providing manuals.

If these plans are able to achieve their stated aims, this recommendation is likely to be met across the UK in the future. Currently, the design stage is not being fully utilised on key issues such as embedded circularity, mono-materials, and modular construction.

Single-use packaging and products should be actively discouraged through taxes and regulations. Governments must adopt Extended Producer Responsibility approaches to incentivise resource efficiency and circularity at the design stage.

The Environment Act includes provisions on consistency in recycling and reform of the Extended Producer Responsibility systems, though further regulations will be required before they can be introduced.

The consultation version of the Waste Prevention Plan for England seeks to improve current measures, including the charge for single-use plastic bags and restrictions on the supply of plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers, with the potential for bans on other single-use plastic items. From April 2022, there will be a UK-wide tax on businesses producing or importing plastic packaging which does not meet a minimum threshold of at least 30% recycled content.

The Government has committed to introduce Extended Producer Responisiblity for packaging across the UK in 2023. The UK Government and the devolved Governments have also consulted on banning certain single-use plastic products. 

While there are positive ambitions to reduce the amount of single-use plastics, there is not yet sufficient clarity on how this will be acheived.

Regulation should seek to enforce greater product transparency, giving consumers more information about carbon footprints, product lifecycles, places of origin, and other key determinants of product sustainability. Where appropriate, this data should be accompanied by ratings or other systems to easily translate the environmental impact of a product.

The consultation document for Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging proposes that mandatory recyclability labelling is introduced on packaging by 2026/27, with the aim to provide consumers with information on what they can recycle. However, current proposals will not provide information about wider sustainability issues, and the implementation of a rating system has not yet been proposed.

Governments should utilise Deposit Return Schemes and integrate them with existing recycling programmes.

The Government has consulted on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Scottish Government has consulted separately on its own proposals and has made regulations to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme from August 2023.

Producers, manufacturers, and consumers should embrace innovative business models which build-in circularity at the design stage, embracing ‘servitisation’, less resource-intensive approaches, and rental or repair schemes as alternatives to replacing high-impact products like furniture or technology.

Although there are examples of community-led rental and repair schemes, these are rare and the majority of consumers do not use or have access to them. There has been a rise in eco-consumerism and businesses are responding to this with an increase in the number of "sustainable" and "eco-friendly" products on the market. 

However, it is currently unclear how eco-consumerism is affecting supply chains and product design, without sufficient regulations on the labelling of products as "sustainable" or "eco-friendly".

Governments, international organisations, and all scales of climate action must recognise and promote the importance of adaptation and resilience, which is necessary regardless of action to mitigate climate change and which requires simultaneous attention.

Holding the COP26 Presidency, the UK made adaptation and resilience one of the key themes of the summit. During COP26 the UK also committed £290 million in new funding for adaptation, including an additional $20million to the Adaptation Fund. The Government has committed to developing a third National Adaptation Programme for England and equivalent programmes for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 

While specific measures are still needed to deliver on adaptation, the UK has currently made a sufficient commitment to recognising and promoting the importance of adaptation and resilience.

Governments must take a systems approach to land use, utilising scientific insights to maximise the ‘ecosystem services’ which land can provide and environmental land management approaches where appropriate to safeguard natural resources.

There is not a systems approach to land use in the UK. Individual planning authorities have responsibility for setting Local Plans in line with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

The NPPF states that planning policies and decisions should "recognise ... the wider benefits from natural capital and ecosystem services", that "development should, wherever possible, help to improve local environmental conditions", and that Plans should "plan for the enhancement of natural capital at a catchment or landscape scale across local authority boundaries", however there is not evidence to support that decisions are appropriately maximising the potential to secure 'ecosystem services' with sufficient regularity.

There is no requirement that decisions are made with reference to appropriate scientific insights or when the above considerations should take precedence over other priorities in Local Plans. The review into 'the future of the urban environment and ecosystem services in the UK', commissioned as part of the foresight future of cities project, acknowledged that while UK policy reflected an ecosystem approach "in principle", "in practice, it is arguably very difficult to achieve this within current policy ‘silos’." 

The potential for upcoming reforms to the planning system in different parts of the UK, including through 'Levelling Up' legislation, offer the chance to properly reflect a systems approach to land use.

Adaptation, resilience, and co-benefits must be systematically considered during the design and planning stage of new infrastructure wherever possible. These considerations must extend across threats to long-term resilience including flood risk, extreme weather events, energy security, and supply chain security.

See the commentary under recommendation 34. The National Planning Policy Framework states that "when new development is brought forward in areas which are vulnerable, care should be taken to ensure that risks can be managed through suitable adaptation measures, including through the planning of green infrastructure", with specific consideration of flood risk. In 2020, the Government's Planning White Paper noted the potential for strengthening of flood risk measures in an upcoming Planning Bill. 

This recommendation would be met if those measures sufficiently ensured a systematic consideration of flood risk, as well as a wider view of threats to long-term resilience. As the Government has indicated its intention to move away from proposing a Planning Bill, it is unclear whether those proposals will be put forward as legislation.

Governments and developers should seek to better utilise the existing built environment before extending urbanisation. Where urbanisation takes place, sustainability, resilience, and connectivity should be embedded at the design stage, and national planning guidance should promote sustainable design standards, providing a baseline which Local Authorities can innovate beyond.

The National Planning Policy Framework states that "the planning system should ... encourage the reuse of existing resources, including the conversion of existing buildings". However, there is not sufficient evidence that this approach is effectively embedded at the design stage of new projects.

MHCLG's data indicates that urbanisation has continued, with a 1.1% loss of Green Belt land in England between 2013-14 and 2018-19.

Governments, international organisations, and businesses must support transformative change of global food systems and supply chains, refocusing agriculture away from productivity and quantity of output towards a system which prioritises co-benefits for sustainability, resilience, healthy diets, soil health, and long-term food security, balancing between those priorities as appropriate.

While there has been a move towards agricultural payments based on multiple benefits across the UK, such as 'public money for public goods' in England and Pillar I and Pillar II funding in Scotland, this is not sufficient to address the food system on a transformative level.

The WWF's Land of Plenty Report concludes that "The UK Net Zero Strategy set out unambitious emissions reductions plans for the English agriculture, land use and food sectors, with little clarity on the policies to meet these weak targets."

Governments should adopt measures to buffer against the risk of cascading failures and compound risk vulnerabilities caused by climate change or climate action, embedding resilience in approaches to carbon mitigation. In particular, governments should ensure that increased electrification takes place alongside increased resilience to the risk of the failure of electrified systems.

The UK's Climate Change Risk Assessment acknowledges the prospect of cascading failures and multiple forms of systemic risk vulnerability, including risks to infrastructure systems. The Government has committed to developing a third National Adaptation Programme for England and equivalent programmes for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Whether or not this recommendation is met will depend on the scope and implementation of those programmes.

Consumers should transition towards diets which are healthy and sustainable, though behavioural change cannot be a substitute for direct action to transform systems of production or an excuse for inaction.

While data on the sustainability of individual consumer diets is understandably not centrally collected, the British Dietetic Association concluded that "The current UK diet does not have the right balance of food recommended for a healthy, sustainable diet". 

The UK's Net Zero Strategy sets out an ambition that innovation will produce more sustainable food production which "align[s] with consumer dietary trends", though a more specific plan to transform the food system will be necessary in order to achieve this goal.

Decisions by governments, international organisations, and communities should be made with reference to the best-available science, based on systematic reviews where possible. Science should be provided with appropriate timescales to produce rigorous and comprehensive expertise.

See the commentary under recommendation 4. Decisions set out under the UK's Net Zero Strategy reference the IPCC and Climate Change Committee, both of which utilise comprehensive expertise and review processes.

Governments should fund research to fill gaps in evidence where there is not sufficient information or where greater certainty would support effective decision making.

Although the UK has committed significant funds to R&D linked to Net Zero, including "at least £1.5bn ... of cross government net zero innovation to fund BEIS-led programmes on power, buildings and industry", the UK's Net Zero Strategy and 2021 UK Spending Review failed to provide sufficient R&D funding to meet its commitment to becoming a "science superpower".

The Science Council noted that the existing ambition for R&D to represent 2.4% of GDP by 2027 was already falling behind the rising commitments of other OECD countries including the United States, China, Japan, and Germany, and commented that the Spending Review subsequently "pushed back [the UK's] targets for public R&D spending". The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy announced further increases to the R&D Budget in March 2022, however these are not linked specifically to filling relevant gaps in the Net Zero agenda.

As with recommendation 7, if public funding for R&D continues to increase, this recommendation is likely to be met by the UK in the future, particularly if the UK's Net Zero Research and Innovation Framework and relevant initiatives in the Net Zero Strategy are able to achieve their stated aims.

Governments and communities must recognise the levels of certainty underpinning scientific conclusions, taking appropriate measures to account for degrees of risk and using smaller-scale pilots to reduce binary decision making.

See the commentary under recommendation 40. The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2022 (CCRA) identifies 61 areas of risk and measures to address 8 priority risk areas.

The Climate Change Committee's advice to the Government ahead of the CCRA's publication remarked that "the gap between the level of risk we face and the level of adaptation underway has widened. Adaptation action has failed to keep pace with the worsening reality of climate risk." The report of IPCC Working Group 2 indicates that global efforts are not currently reflecting the extent of vulnerability and risk posed by climate change.

To be fully met, measures must be put in place to fully account for expected levels of risk, including and extending beyond the priority areas set out in the CCRA.

Governments must provide appropriate regulations and policies to support private innovation by providing ‘level-playing-fields’ to drive uptake of existing technologies and assure the private sector of the ‘return on investment’ associated with competitive research and innovation.

See the commentary under recommendation 8. The UK's Net Zero Strategy recognises the importance of international collaboration to "create stronger incentives for investment, ... innovate faster, ... achieve economies of scale more quickly, and ... create level playing fields", while also recognising the "need to support and complement market-led decarbonisation with standards and regulation to ensure that, where appropriate, green options are pursued".

However, there are not yet sufficient regulations to ensure a 'level-playing-field' in several key sectors, and there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that a level-playing-field has been achieved, globally or in the UK.

If the Government continues to progress its commitment in the Net Zero Strategy to providing appropriate regulation, it is likely that this recommendation will be met in the future.

Governments should commit to phasing-out petrol and diesel cars at the earliest opportunity.

The UK Government has committed to ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

Governments should support and finance greater research and innovation for alternative fuels and fuel efficiency in the context of both aviation and land vehicles.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy commits to supporting the commercialisation of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs), with £180m of funding for SAF plants and the aim to enable the delivery of 10% SAFs by 2030. The Government's current goal is for UK aviation and shipping to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The Government also plans to implement a £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund, with a focus in the Hydrogen Strategy on research and development for hydrogen as a fuel for heavier applications, such as rail, aviation and HGVs. The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation target has also been increased from 9.6% in 2021 to 14.6% in 2032.

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan contains plans to work with the sector to develop and publish a low carbon fuel strategy in 2022, which is currently open for proposals.

Governments should facilitate the infrastructure needed for sustainable transport in both urban and rural contexts, particularly for electric vehicles where appropriate. At the same time, the embodied carbon cost of new infrastructure must be properly accounted for and addressed.

The Government has committed £1.3 billion of investment to accelerate the rollout of charging infrastructure, and an addition £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles, with further details expected in an EV Infrastructure Strategy.

Amendments are also expected to Building Regulations, which will require new buildings and homes to have EV charging points installed from 2022.

The UK's Net Zero Strategy notes that the Government is "identifying opportunities to reduce the substantial embodied carbon footprint of the automotive sector" and will be "improving reporting on embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure".

The Department for Transport has also initiated a Carbon Management Programme to "embed an integrated system for managing whole life carbon of infrastructure projects at a portfolio level".

Governments should work with hard-to-abate sectors, including shipping and aviation, to produce detailed strategies for decarbonisation, with plans for how to address residual emissions which cannot be abated. 

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan contains plans for accelarating both maritime and aviation decarbonisation, including producing strategies for each sector. The Government's intention is for both to reach net zero by 2050, with indicative targets for the maritime sector in 2030.

The Government's 'Jet Zero' Consultation considered utilising market-based mechanisms such as the UK Emmissions Trading Scheme and CORSIA to address residual emissions, with a Government response to the consultation expected in 2022.

Although further action will be required to reach net zero in these sectors, the Government's current action has sufficiently begun the process of producing strategies for decarbonisation for the recommendation to be met.

Governments and businesses should cooperate to provide consumers with accessible and affordable sustainable transport options through subsidies, dis-incentives for high-emission transport, and sustainable business models.

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan sets out the Government's commitment to support communication campaigns by transport providers to "encourage mode-switch and sustainable transport behaviours".

The Government has committed to investments to make sustainable transport more accessible, including through £120m in the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme and the Department for Transport’s Rail Innovation Programme to achieve "low emissions and a greener railway". The Transport Decarbonisation Plan also commits to "encourage a shift to rail" through changes to fares and ticketing.

Governments should promote, and ensure the accessibility of, ‘active travel’ and low-carbon public transport options through financial support, the sharing economy, and by embedding connectivity and sustainable neighbourhoods at the design and planning stage of new developments and during the re-purposing of existing developments.

One of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan's six strategic priorities is "accelerating modal shift to public and active transport" with the ‘Gear Change’ Policy Paper providing further details, supported by £2 billion of funding for active travel. There are further financial support packages for bus and rail decarbonisation.

The Levelling Up White Paper outlined the aim to provide £5.7bn for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements and £5bn for buses, cycling and walking networks, as part of its goal for local public transport connectivity across the country to be closer to the levels of connectivity in London.

Though active travel is a key part of the National Design Code, there is not sufficient evidence that connectivity and sustainable neighbourhoods are being systematically provided by the planning system. The sharing economy is not mentioned in the UK's Net Zero Strategy or Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

Transport projects and planning systems must consider more than economic impacts during the design stage; social and environmental impacts must be considered alongside long-term risks associated with a project.

The Transport Decarbonisation Plan outlines the co-benefits from decarbonsation of the transport system. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has developed a new model for monitoring net zero delivery and reporting on programme and project-level risks.

Local Authorities will be provided with guidance on producing Local Transport Plans which focus on designing sustainable transport solutions.

However, there is not sufficient evidence that social and environmental impacts are having a meanginful effect on transport projects during the design stage. If the Government continues to embed sustainability in transport project design processes, it is likely that this recommendation will be met in the future.

Cities and regions should participate in knowledge-sharing networks to exchange innovative ideas on climate change.

In England, the Local Government Association hosts a Climate Emergency Knowledge Hub and lists over 100 case studies on climate, environment and waste. The UK's Net Zero Strategy also commits to "establishing a Local Net Zero Forum to ensure that there is direct input from local leaders".

For this recommendation to be fully met across the UK, greater uptake of available knowledge sharing resources will be necessary.

The Sustainable Scotland Network provides a knowledge hub for hundreds of members including Local Government and other public bodies. Therefore, this recommendation is fully met in Scotland.

Cities and regions must increase monitoring, including through interim progress monitoring against medium and long-term plans. Local climate plans must be consistently monitored against, even if strategies adapt and develop in response to monitoring or new governance.

While some cities and regions are taking sufficient action, 1 in 5 UK Councils do not currently have Climate Action Plans. In Scotland, 180 public bodies, including Local Government, are required to submit annual reports on their climate change activity.

Where plans exist, there is insufficient data to confirm the extent to which they are consistently utilised in ongoing monitoring.

Cities, regions, and governments should embrace pilot schemes, ‘living labs’, and other forms of innovation which allow for action without raising concerns about limited resources.

The Government-funded ADEPT SMART Places Live Labs programme supported eight 'living labs' across England over a 2-year period, producing clear innovation on decarbonisation.

Individual Local Authorities are also working to establish innovation projects. For example, Peterborough City Council submitted a bid to the Government's Levelling Up Fund to create a living lab.

Currently these programmes are atomistic rather than systematic. To meet the threshold of transformative change, either greater uptake of learning from these programmes, or similar programmes on a much wider scale will be needed.

Cities and regions should be provided with the necessary resources to achieve transformative changes at local scales.

Different regions of the UK have different levels of resources, though there is a universal need for more funding to address climate change. The National Audit Office determined that in England "Local authorities have varying levels of capacity to engage with net zero".

In November 2021, COSLA reported that Scottish Local Government still needs "the financial backing to turn [legislation, plans and strategies] into reality". 

The UK Government's Levelling Up Strategy recognises the need to address different amounts of resourcing, however the Strategy does not sufficiently provide plans to distribute the resources required for transformative change.