Companies should look for “easy wins” as they seek to make progress towards the government target of net zero emissions by 2035.
And net zero should go hand-in-hand with digitalisation strategy, said Ben Fletcher, chief operating officer of Make UK.
Speaking at a roundtable discussion to mark six months until the start of the COP 26 summit in Glasgow this year, he said: “People fear they’ve got to knock their factory down and start again”: this was unnerving, especially if they had spent the last year keeping their business afloat. Instead, they should look at what could be done with the existing plant.
He said Make UK knew of small and medium firms “which have achieved incredible results – often by quite simple things like turning down the power of their motors. They are often running all day and all night at full power when they may only need 10%.” He added: “When you start to do those things, [a reduction in energy use of] 50% is not so scary, and it forms a platform for future reductions.”
At present, he added, companies faced two challenges running side by side, net zero and digitalisation. For a small business without a strategy team and with limited resources, “the key is to think of those two things together. Driving down power can go hand-in-hand with modernising your business. If you can get that right you will be on the right road.”
The main barrier to net zero was not climate scepticism. Make UK had seen little evidence of that in the last 18 months or so. “The challenge at the moment is about how urgent it is to act now. If you don’t do these things in the nest five years we won’t get anywhere near the targets for 15 years’ time.”
Meanwhile the CBI has launched a five-year campaign behind a comprehensive economic plan to transform the UK economy. CBI director-general Tony Danker urged businesses and the government to work together to “seize the moment” following the shocks of Brexit and Covid-19, and in the run-up to COP26. The goal of creating a more productive economy built on decarbonisation, innovation and inclusivity would provide benefits for companies of all sizes and in all sectors.
“This country will never have a greater opportunity to transform our economy and society for the better than we have right now,” he said. Under the plan, the CBI envisages that the transition to net zero would create green jobs and “sustainable solutions” that could be exported to the rest of the world. Investment in innovation would be increased, and prosperity would be shared more equally. “We simply must deliver better growth and greater shared prosperity in the regions and nations of the UK,” Danker said. The plan needs the government and business to work together, and it makes recommendations to the government for reforms to regulation, skills policy, and taxation.
The CBI has set up a new advisory group to keep up momentum behind the strategy.