{"id":277871,"date":"2020-12-06T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=277871"},"modified":"2020-12-06T08:00:32","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T13:00:32","slug":"uk-plans-to-slash-carbon-emissions-68-by-2030-how-banking-building-and-borrowing-can-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/12\/06\/uk-plans-to-slash-carbon-emissions-68-by-2030-how-banking-building-and-borrowing-can-help\/","title":{"rendered":"UK plans to slash carbon emissions 68% by 2030 \u2013 how banking, building and borrowing can help"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
But with the newly announced target to cut carbon emissions by at least 68%<\/a> of what they were in 1990 by the end of 2030, decarbonisation measures must be much more aggressive. (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For those conscious of the growing climate crisis and the perilous economic situation, the path out of the coronavirus recession looks like a tightrope. On one side, the urgent need to revive the economy and head off unemployment. On the other, the demand that post-COVID growth is green and sustainable. The UK\u2019s recently announced national infrastructure strategy<\/a> is part of the government\u2019s vision for managing that balancing act.<\/p>\n

The government has set out plans to renew the UK\u2019s \u201ccreaking national anatomy\u201d with \u201chundreds of billions of pounds\u201d of private and public investment in transport, the energy sector and telecommunications. But with the newly announced target to cut carbon emissions by at least 68%<\/a> of what they were in 1990 by the end of 2030, decarbonisation measures must be much more aggressive.<\/p>\n

If planned carefully, there are opportunities for targeting this promised infrastructure spending in a way that could slash emissions and make the British economy more sustainable.<\/p>\n

1. National infrastructure bank<\/h2>\n

The UK government is to set up a national infrastructure bank<\/a> in the North of England which will fund projects across the UK, while attempting to garner additional private investment. The bank\u2019s institutional weight will lend confidence and guarantees to private investors, and could assist local and mayoral authorities with regional infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

The European Investment Bank (EIB) provided \u20ac165 billion to UK projects<\/a> between 1973 and 2017. Since it lent around a third of the total project cost on average, it meant around \u20ac20 billion in project support annually<\/a> in the years before the 2016 Brexit referendum. A national infrastructure bank would need to match and surpass the level of support the EIB provided post-Brexit, particularly given the dire need for a post-pandemic economic revival.<\/p>\n

From its outset, the bank should mandate that projects which are carbon-neutral or contribute to lowering emissions elsewhere \u2013 such as energy efficient upgrades of existing infrastructure or new low-carbon public transport \u2013 get priority in funding. Continued support should require proof that promised benefits to the environment and communities are being delivered.<\/p>\n

2. Levelling-up fund<\/h2>\n

The government is also committing \u00a34 billion to a \u201clevelling-up fund\u201d. This is supposed to reduce regional inequality across the UK by offering local authorities the chance to bid for up to \u00a320 million in project funding.<\/p>\n

A green growth board<\/a>, or similar proposal, could recommend local projects for funding. But this should be an opportunity to find the best ideas \u2013 not an additional process for applicants to negotiate.<\/p>\n

The government recently revised its investment rules<\/a> to ensure that project appraisals go beyond benefit-cost ratios and consider how each project might serve strategic priorities, such as regional renewal or reaching net-zero carbon emissions. Allowing communities to define local priorities, lead projects and have a say in where funding goes could generate local support for new green infrastructure.<\/p>\n

3. Housing and energy efficiency<\/h2>\n

The government aims to build 300,000 new homes<\/a> each year. These should all meet the highest energy efficiency standards, with the highest quality insulation and heat pumps where possible. There should be a similarly ambitious programme of refurbishment for existing homes that includes replacing gas heating systems and retrofitting walls and windows.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s private rental sector tends to have lower housing standards<\/a>, so properties that fail to meet energy efficiency targets must be retrofitted before being placed on the market. Meanwhile, incentives like tax benefits or subsidies could encourage the wider adoption of energy-efficient measures.<\/p>\n

4. Road building<\/h2>\n

The announcement of \u00a327 billion for road building<\/a> doesn\u2019t inspire a lot of confidence in the government\u2019s ability to meet its net-zero target. But there is an opportunity here to make Britain\u2019s road network greener if the money is spent carefully.<\/p>\n

New road building projects could focus on reducing journey times and congestion by identifying where routes are likely to be most useful, analysing hourly traffic data and adopting smart interventions<\/a> to reduce queuing at roundabouts. Remote rural areas should get new road connections including new bus routes and public transport provision to reduce how dependent people in these communities are on cars.<\/p>\n

Rapid charging hubs for electric vehicles should feature in all new motorway and A-road service stations. New roads and extensions of existing ones should include bus and bike lanes, with money for bike-sharing schemes too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Highways England\u2019s promise to create native wildflower meadows<\/a> along the verges of all new major roads \u2013 and eventually extend them to existing roads \u2013 highlights the opportunities to make the network more wildlife-friendly as well.<\/p>\n

5. Carbon pricing system<\/h2>\n

Most energy-intensive industries such as electricity generation, steel manufacturing and aviation currently receive some free and tradeable allowances, each of which permits the emission of one tonne of CO\u2082 under the EU Emissions Trading System<\/a> (ETS). A \u201ccap\u201d, or limit, is set on the total greenhouse gas emissions by all participants, which is lowered over time to ensure total emissions fall.<\/p>\n

Participating companies either take measures to reduce their emissions or buy additional tradeable allowances from other companies or through state auctions. Post-Brexit, the UK will adopt a replacement carbon pricing system<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here lies an opportunity to go deeper and further than current EU plans, by reducing the cap aggressively and bringing more polluting activities under the cap. This will ensure the cap remains below what the UK\u2019s share would have been in the EU\u2019s ETS, but also help the UK become a global leader in the race to reach net-zero emissions.\"The<\/p>\n

Anupam Nanda<\/a>, Professor of Urban Economics & Real Estate, University of Manchester<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those conscious of the growing climate crisis and the perilous economic situation, the path out of the coronavirus recession …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":261818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-277871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-w","mauthors-anupam-nanda-university-of-manchester","mauthors-the-conversation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277871"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277872,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277871\/revisions\/277872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}