The implementation of this mandate was delayed amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Some developers set their own biodiversity net-gain targets out for some or all developments, but others have been waiting for the mandate.

This week, the Department for Food, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra) has confirmed that the mandate will come into effect for all large domestic, industrial, commercial and mixed-use sites from November 2023. It applies in England only.

The mandate will not come into effect for smaller sites until 2024, with Defra having heard evidence that local authorities and very small developers, in particular, are not yet prepared for the mandate due to the fallout of the pandemic. This is a move that has disappointed some environmental groups.

Regardless of site size, developers will need to deliver – and prove they have delivered – a minimum uplift of 10% in the amount of biodiversity at the site, relative to its biodiversity prior to their intervention.

To secure planning permission for any development, developers will need to create a biodiversity gain plan to be submitted with their planning application. They have to guarantee management of the biodiversity at the site for a minimum of 30 years. Where habitat is impacted within the project boundary, developers will need to replace it with habitat of equal or better biodiversity, and of equal or greater size.

The Government will permit, in some cases, the delivery of net-gain through improvements off of the site. Developers will need to purchase credits before commencing work at the site and, in this case, the Environment Bank assumes liability for biodiversity management for the 30-year period. The credit scheme is still in development and Defra has stated that this approach should be used “as a last resort”. Funding raised through credits will be invested in habitat creation schemes spearheaded by the Government.

In addition to confirming the timelines for implementation and rules on onsite and offsite work, Defra announced £16m of funding to help expand and upskill planning teams at local authorities. Councils will be invited to apply for a share of the funding in the coming weeks.

Last month, the UK’s post-Brexit environment watchdog, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP), warned that the nation is on course to miss every key nature and environmental policy target. It cited particular concerns about species abundance.

Defra subsequently published an updated Environmental Improvement Plan, setting out key short-term and mid-term targets on issues including biodiversity, water quality and soil quality. There is debate about how much of the Plan is new (both in terms of funding and targets), but Defra maintains that it is “pioneering”.

Green economy response

Responding to Defra’s decisions, the UK Green Building Council’s director of communications, policy and places Simon McWhirtier said they are “broadly encouraging” and in line with the sector’s advice.

“Decisions to include brownfield sites, to legislate to further protect irreplaceable natural habitats, and to prevent duplicating the recording of biodiversity net-gain and carbon offsets will be welcomed by our members,” he elaborated.

“However, by extending the transition period for small sites until April 2024, the Government risks removing up to 100,000 developments a year from the scope of biodiversity regulations – impeding nature’s recovery instead of supporting the industry with the clear, stable demand called for by Chris Skidmore MP to secure green growth.

“The Government has also missed the opportunity to outline how biodiversity net gain could develop into the broader concept of ‘environmental net gain’ that would integrate and deliver the wider social benefits of nature-positive built environments.”

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has stated that the biodiversity net-gain requirement will complement the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill. The Bill is currently in the Committee Stage in the House of Lords.

Related article: Can Defra end its ‘culture of delay’ in 2023?

SCROLL DOWN TO TAKE THE SURVEY

The 10-minute online survey is primarily targeted at in-house sustainability/CSR/energy leaders and managers who hold some level of responsibility for their organisation’s strategy in these areas. This year’s survey has a particular focus on leadership and skills, and on sustainable finance – two critical areas for the future of green business.

The results of the survey will be curated into a full report which will be published as part of edie’s Business Leadership Month – a bumper month of thought-leadership discussions, exclusive interviews and authoritative reports, all dedicated to dedicated to empowering, connecting and celebrating the individuals and teams who are changing business, for good. You can read last year’s Business Leadership report here.

As an added incentive, all survey respondents have the opportunity to be entered into a prize draw to receive a free pass to edie 23 – the premier annual event for sustainability and net-zero leaders taking place on 1-2 March – along with the edie Awards ceremony which takes place on 30 March.

All individual responses will be kept anonymous.

This survey will close on the evening of Wednesday 22 February.

The 2023 Sustainable Business Leadership Survey

With this in mind, edie recently hosted a webinar and masterclass on the theme of ‘supply chain sustainability: Moving from risk to resilience”.

–CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WEBINAR AND MASTERCLASS ON-DEMAND–

These online events, hosted in association with BSI and Carbon Quota, initially look place on Wednesday 15 February 2023 and are now available on demand. Also participating were expert speakers from Ibstock Brick and Golden Agri Resources (GAR).

During the events, speakers explored why engaging suppliers is crucial to delivering on net-zero carbon and biodiversity commitments. They also explored the evolution on best-practice methods for identifying and rectifying human rights abuses in supply chains and enhancing social sustainability in key supplier regions more broadly.

Here, edie rounds up nine of the top tips provided by expert speakers during this recent webinar and masterclass.

1. Start with an appropriate common goal

The supply chain is often the part of a business’s value chain where the greatest deal of negative impacts occur. CDP estimates, for example, that the average large multinational corporation will generate 11.4 times more emissions in its supply chains than its operations. Supply chains can also be hotspots for waste, water use, deforestation, modern slavery and child labour, depending on the sector.

Whether it’s on emissions, forests, nature, human rights or another topic, speakers emphasised the importance of having a common goal for your business and its suppliers to work towards.

Ibstock Brick, for example, has a 2040 net-zero target for operations and is aiming for a net-zero value chain before 2050. The firm’s group sustainability manager Michael McGowan said this target was not only designed with binding climate targets in the UK in mind, but with the scale of ambition and pace of action across the building materials value chain.

2. Assess your data baseline and plan to improve your data

As one would expect in a discussion on emissions in the supply chain, the importance of collecting high-quality data and interpreting it effectively was emphasised during the webinar.

Carbon Quota’s co-founder Nathan Tiller discussed how, at the beginning of a data collection journey, the process may seem overwhelming and you may be asked questions you don’t have answers to.

“What it comes down to is focusing on what you can do… everybody has to find a place to start,” he said.

Tiller walked attendees through Carbon Quota’s levels of data quality. Most firms, he said, start with using at least some spend-based proxy figures. He urged listeners “not to spend too much time here” and prioritise collecting more specific data, to reach a higher level of integrity. For example, more specific data could be calculated using factors such as where manufacturing occurs and how much energy is expended using the process, as data on the emissions associated with the energy grid is publicly available through organisations like the International Energy Agency.

The aim from here is to use digital platforms to collect actual supplier-specific data to achieve more granularity, starting with Tier 1 suppliers. Tiller explained that many larger businesses are reaching this stage on their data journey at the moment, and it will likely be some time before they have specific data from a range of suppliers below Tier 1.

3. Beware of ‘data fatigue’

As more end-user businesses request data from suppliers, the question arises as to how these suppliers – often small businesses with tight margins – should allocate the time and resources to respond. Dilemmas also arise at end-user businesses when suppliers report data in different ways and at different speeds.

To this latter challenge, Tiller noted: “Your job is to keep up with the fastest, and pull along the slowest…. You have to work with the differences that exist. Even with them, you can make something of it.”

To the former, Tiller recommended the creation of a “very simple” questionnaire for end-user businesses just starting out, with four or five questions relating to your most material topics.

GAR’s chief sustainability communications officer Anita Neville similarly urged companies in the same sector, for example consumer goods, to collaborate to create a single template for sustainability disclosures questionnaires.

Acknowledging that such a streamlining of this process is likely a way off, Neville said end-users and larger suppliers can “seek to minimize workloads” by “creating a common language” across the supply chain. In this way, different stakeholders understand what is being asked of them. In GAR’s space, palm oil, a shared language between manufacturers, traders and growers is important. None of these groups are homogenous, Neville emphasised, with some growing happening at scale but much of the industry accounted for by smallholders working on two hectares or less.

4. Start in your ‘hotspots’

Once you have data beyond the basic level of spend-based proxy numbers, you can start to identify which suppliers contribute most to things like your emissions, water or waste footprint.

Starting with these suppliers, Ibstock Brick’s McGowan explained, can be beneficial. It prevents efforts from being spread too thinly and it enables deeper, more focused collaborations. From these collaborations, learnings can then be rolled out elsewhere.

Within the last 18 months, Ibstock has completed a materiality assessment covering its Scope 3 emissions from suppliers. It revealed that around 60% of these emissions come from just 40 suppliers, so it has opted to prioritise work on climate mitigation here. These are mainly suppliers of goods and services.

GAR’s Neville also spoke of “the value of doing, then sharing”. In this, she meant that larger players can either implement innovative solutions in their own operations or at their largest suppliers, before “customizing” them and providing them to smaller suppliers.

5. Meet suppliers face-to-face

All webinar speakers agreed that creating sustainable, resilient supply chains depends as much on communication and collaboration as it does on good data. GAR’s Neville described transparency as “the start of the journey, not the end”.

“Trust trumps everything,” she said. £You can have the best tech, the best systems, but if you don’t have relationships with suppliers – trust which you generate by being able to talk in their language – then you really can’t get very far.”

“Through the pandemic, we pivoted as much as we could, but we couldn’t do any field work. We were worried that this might stall our progress.”

Ibstock Brick’s McGowan also spoke of the importance of in-person meetings and not “hiding behind” digital communications. His business held its second supply chain engagement day with a climate focus late last year and 26 suppliers were represented.

He elaborated@ “Our [digital] system is at the very early stages – we’re just building it and it’s not mature yet. But net-zero won’t happen unless we collaborate and engage and speak 1:1 with our suppliers. Supplier engagement days are vital. We can have the best [digital] system in the world, but the most important thing is direct communication and collaboration.”

6. Avoid a top-down approach

Building on discussions regarding face-to-face meetings, GAR’s Neville emphasised that suppliers should be collaborated with – not talked at. Trust, she said, will not be built by larger end-users simply telling suppliers what to do. Suppliers want to know the benefits of the work, for their buyers and themselves. They also want to know how they will be supported through the process, with any training, tools or finance.

She said: “If you can start from the intention of being helpful in return for data, emphasise that this is about strengthening the relationship, offering assistance, then that goes a long way.”

GAR regularly hosts supplier conferences on specific topics but also provides deeper 1:1 coaching sessions for suppliers struggling with issues they feel they cannot overcome themselves.

7. Measure and communicate risk and opportunity

Much of the webinar focused on reducing emissions in the supply chain and other environmental impacts. Failure to take these actions doubtless brings moral and reputational risks for businesses, but could also cause financial risk, which is not always well-understood.

In order to build the business case for risk mitigation – and for investment in resilience-building initiatives such as climate adaptation – McGowan explained that Ibstock Brick assesses the potential disruptions, likelihood of risk, potential financial impact and recovery time of key climate risks. It covers physical, input-related, and regulatory risks, plus risks related to external stakeholders.

It also looks at the opportunities of taking action to prevent these risks, such as longer-term agreements with suppliers, or chances for innovation or skills development.

8. Challenge your assumptions on social inequality and human rights abuses

After the webinar, we hosted a 30-minute masterclass on tackling modern slavery in supply chains with BSI. Representing them on this session was BSI Knowledge Solutions’ director of sectors and standards Anne Hayes.

Hayes started by defining modern slavery and emphasising that, at present, more people are living as slaves than ever have at any other point in history. At least 24.9 million people globally are thought to be in forced labour, the majority of which are women and children.

Hayes called this “an issue that is part of our lives and we cannot ignore”. She highlighted that, while some sectors and parts of their supply chains are well-known as human rights risk hotspots, professionals should dig deeper and look into precisely where risk is and who is impacted. For example, the UK Government has stated that British nationals account for more than one-third of modern slaves in the UK, whereas the assumption is that the most-represented groups are migrants.

Hayes also noted that companies can no longer use the excuse of not being in direct control of supplier practices, arguing that “nobody in the UK escapes the shadow of modern slavery overseas”. Businesses have responsibilities in their organisations, across their supply chains and in the wider operating environment under international frameworks and, increasingly, under national laws.

9. Acknowledge that human rights issues have environmental impacts

There is often said to be an increasing knowledge of the links between environmental issues and social issues, but the link between human rights abuses and environmental harm is not always acknowledged.

“This is not just about the social justice factor – modern slavery does impact the environment,” Hays explained. “Combatting slavery can help to protect the environment, as some environmentally damaging practices will cease to be profitable without slave labour”.

One practice that she highlighted as an example was the clearance of mangrove forests in the Bay of Bengal. Slaves are forced to cut down forests to make way for fish farms. This releases carbon and also reduces coastal resilience to extreme weather. Then, in time, the industrial fish farming harms the nutrient balance of the waters.

The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are a valuable tool for many businesses to link impacts and targets in social and environmental issues. Any business claiming alignment with the Goals should be advocating, as per Goal 8, for an end to modern slavery by 2025.

–CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE WEBINAR AND MASTERCLASS ON-DEMAND–

Skidmore, Polman and Wathuti will be joined by the likes of Pukka Herbs’ chief executive Anuradha Chugh and Committee on Climate Change Chair Lord Deben for edie 23, which takes place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch events venue in London on 1-2 March 2023.

Force of Nature Founder and leading youth climate activist Clover Hogan, Leon Restaurants Co-Founder Henry Dimbleby, Earth on Board Founder Philippe Joubert and We Mean Business Co-Founder Steve Howard are also confirmed among the high-level speaker line-up.

Sustainability and energy representatives from the likes of Google, Patagonia, innocent Drinks and Sky will also take to the stage alongside NGOs, climate activists and other inspirational speakers to provide delegates with rousing and insightful discussions to empower long-lasting change.

An evolution of the multi-award-winning Sustainability Leaders Forum, edie 23 is the premier annual event dedicated to achieving environmental and social transformations through courageous business leadership. edie 23 will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action.

These sessions will be delivered alongside an array of interactive and immersive event features, including an informal “mess up night” to discuss some of the times that sustainability initiatives didn’t go to plan, a series of “#SustyTalk Live” sofa discussions, and a “25th Birthday Party” to celebrate edie’s 25th anniversary as the UK’s industry-leading sustainable business media brand.

We are also partnering with leading mental health and wellbeing platform MyMynd to help you manage your mental health and prioritise the wellbeing and energy of yourself and your colleagues. MyMynd will offer group workshops and private, one-to-one consultations during the event.

The event is underpinned by a pioneering Mission Statement. The Statement includes an industry-leading commitment to speaker diversity and inclusivity, a strict no-greenwashing policy and a laser-like focus on sparking new ideas and trackable actions through the event content.

edie 23 is expected to be at full capacity, with more than 600 business leaders, board-level executives, sustainability, ESG and net-zero decision-makers, finance, communications and procurement experts, NGOs, academics, consultants, tech providers, and entrepreneurs expected to attend the event in March.

Find out more about the event here and secure your place here.  

The Council has today (21 February) named Hirigoyen’s successor, selecting Smith Mordak, the current director of sustainability and physics at Buro Happold.

In a statement, the Council said that Mordak “brings a wealth of industry knowledge, deep technical expertise, first-hand insights as a longstanding member of UKGBC, and plenty of fresh ideas to the role, at this critical moment in time”. It added that they are passionate about delivering a “regenerative economy”.

Mordak holds Bachelor’s degrees in architecture and engineering with maths, plus other qualifications in fields including retrofit. They have been working in the UK’s built environment sector for more than a decade, holding roles in the private sector and in the public sector at the Greater London Authority.

Mordak has been the director of sustainability and physics at Buro Happold since spring 2020 and also holds additional roles at the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity; as a nationally elected councillor at RIBA, and on the editorial board of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy. They have previously written columns advocating for built environment sustainability in The Guardian, Dezeen, the Architect’s Journal and RIBA Journal.

The chair of the board of trustees at UKGBC, Sunand Prasad, said Mordak “combines a deep, science-based and systemic understanding of the climate emergency with a clear-sighted, principled and pragmatic approach for what needs to be done in response.”

Prasad added: “From founding an innovative, award-winning design practice to helping a major international consultancy, [Mordak] has consistently shown imagination and determination in achieving change. Along the way, they have been active in significant industry initiatives to achieve an equitable and lasting transformation of the built environment to a sustainable and regenerative model.”

Hirigoyen will step down on 1 June. She has stated that she is handing over the post “with great confidence and the utmost respect”.

Also on 1 June, the current director of communications, policy and places at the UKGBC – Simon McWhirtier – will move into a deputy chief executive role.

“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to work with the amazing team, trustees, and membership at UKGBC,” Mordak said.

“I’m looking forward to building on the charity’s extraordinary body of work and Julie’s inimitable legacy. We live in existentially challenging times. Our actions over the next few years will have an outsized impact on the Earth’s ecosystems and on many generations to come. I’m honoured that I’ll be playing my part in this crucial period as part of this powerful, change-making coalition.”

Almost half of those polled (45%) said they would consider resigning from a role if their employer’s values were at odds with their own. And three-quarters said they look for publicly available environmental and social commitments when considering a new job, as a “key factor”.

The findings chime with recent research into so-called ‘climate quitting’ in the UK workforce by KPMG. KPMG found that almost half (46%) of people look at the environmental impacts of a business before choosing to file a job application, with 20% of office workers likely to turn down a job if action here was lacking.

In short, it would seem that the so-called ‘great resignation’ is not attributable to people not wanting to work at all. Instead, people only want to work for employers that treat workers, communities, society and the environment well.

Commenting on this trend ahead of her appearance at edie 23 in London next week (scroll down for more details), Force of Nature founder and youth climate activist Clover Hogan says: “People are definitely aware of – and skeptical of – token actions. People feel really disillusioned sometimes when they’re given a list of 10 things to do in their personal life, starting with recycling. Those actions are super important from a values perspective, but they matter little if we’re not advocating for more systemic change.

“Companies, with the best intentions, will hold an employee sustainability day focused on recycling in the office, for example. I think people are tired of that. They want their values to be reflected in the way a company runs, the way it creates products, offers services, creates value. So, the best thing a company can do is turn that lens back on itself and ask what it needs to change strategically.”

As well as providing teacher training, student training and public climate cafes, Force of Nature describes part of its work as ‘challenging business-as-usual’ mindsets. Hogan is one of many of its members trained in advising business leaders on sustainability. These people provide services such as youth advisory boards and consulting (and are often described as ‘consulting activists’).  They are a global team, including young people from some of the places in the global south most impacted by climate change, and places in the global north grappling with challenges such as more frequent and intense wildfires, or water scarcity.

Force of Nature’s services are provided to businesses that have been working on sustainability for years, right down to those still struggling to gain boardroom buy-in to set out initial work to catch up with their industry peers. In any case, hearing new voices – voices that often invoke similarities with professionals’ own children or grandchildren – can serve as a push for heightened ambition.

“When the business case for sustainability does not work, when the terrifying headlines do not work, sometimes, it takes a dinner table conversation… the intergenerational piece is so important,” explains Hogan.

“We can all afford to disrupt our perspectives and challenge the ways we the world. I think anyone in a climate bubble is entertaining some level of denial, myself included. It’s important to expose ourselves to new perspectives and ideas, to recognise that we are not going to solve the problem with the same thinking that created it.”

Empowering change-makers

Hogan reflects on how she and her team have, through work in the private sector, often seen leaders who are used to “talking down” to staff, telling them what to do. Recommended actions are often to be taken within their personal life rather than within their day job. This can be interpreted as condescending and staff frequently question the true impact.

When senior staff do try and lead by example, Hogan says, they often take tokenistic steps. She recounts hearing a chief executive of a large business in a high-carbon sector bragging about turning lights off and taking the stairs, not the lift, to save energy. All the while, this business had no public plans to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Force of Nature advocates the development of bold pledges, aligned with climate science and environmental science as a minimum. It also provides guidance on backing these commitments with robust delivery plans, covering investment, technology changes, process changes and, crucially, changes to company culture.

The idea is that businesses will need to identify the passions, skillsets and influence points that their staff have, and leverage these, to meet goals they have never met before. This identifying process is similar to that offered up through a publicly available quiz from Force of Nature, aimed at helping individuals determine what kind of change-maker they are.

“Involving employees at this level is incredibly important and also incredibly exciting,” Hogan argues.

From identifying how staff members can best be change-makers and presenting this as an opportunity for staff – not an extra item on the to-do list –  businesses can then begin rethinking job titles, role descriptions and even team structures. For example, edie recently explored Grosvenor Property UK’s decision to create a sustainability and innovation team and will shortly be delving in to why Futerra has appointed staff as ‘solutionists’.

Opportunities for training and upskilling may also be identified through this process. New teams may warrant upskilled staff, or the process may encourage staff to request information on a career change or taking on additional responsibilities. The key factor, Hogan notes, is creating an environment in which staff are able to co-create solutions and feel comfortable discussing their concerns, strengths and personal passions.

Human touch

It bears noting that, despite extensive research into climate quitting, it remains to be seen whether talk will match action – especially amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The UK Government’s latest quarterly public attitudes tracker on climate and energy was published in December 2022, revealing consistent levels of climate-related concern despite increasing concern relating to personal finances. Just 3% of the 20,000+ adults polled said they were “not at all concerned” about climate issues.

Almost half (45%) said they are “very concerned”, but time will tell whether levels drop as the cost-of-living crisis rolls on, and with a Prime Minister in place who has not made any notable noise about climate in his post yet.

For Hogan, now is a crucial moment to ensure that workers – and the general public more broadly – appreciate that “climate isn’t something abstract, happening far away”.

Hogan says: “I think eco-anxiety is omnipresent and is increasing, especially in young people. I also think it is, to a degree, quite a narrow term that can have its limitations.

“From my perspective, anxiety about being able to pay your energy bill, because we’re all caught in a fossil fuel economy, also relates.

“I know a lot of people are anxious about whether they’ll be able to put food on the table and, again, we must relate this back to the decisions that policymakers are taking that keep us ensnared in this old-school system.

“Trying to get that kind of big picture thinking at scale is very different… when people are in a mindset of survival.

“I think one of the biggest flaws of the ‘sustainability’ movement for decades is that, for decades, it has talked about nature, biodiversity, climate. And the people talking about those things were generally white, middle class and otherwise privileged. We still see a lot of this.

“And it completely ignored the very human elements, the intersections between gender and climate, for example, or racial and social justice and climate. With the energy and cost-of-living crisis in the UK and abroad, this is a really important moment to help people make the connection.”

Understanding the scale of the problem, Hogan acknowledges, can cause eco-anxiety in and of itself. The important thing, she says, is to ensure that, if feelings such as anger, frustration, anxiety and grief arise, they are not left to sit and turn into feelings of powerlessness, overwhelm, doom or even denial.

Instead, Hogan says, it is important to use these feelings as “catalysts for action”. She points to “connection and community” – at work and outside of work – as factors that can help to turn short-lived “sparks” of emotion into action that ensures.

Additionally, she emphasises the importance of every person involved in sustainability work clarifying their values, their passions, their skills and the difference they want to make in the world. This can ensure they focus accordingly, maximising their impact while minimising the risk that they spread themselves too thinly.

Hear from Clover Hogan at edie 23

Taking place in London on 1-2 March 2023, edie’s biggest annual event has undergone a major revamp to become edie 23, with a new name, new venue, multiple new content streams and myriad innovative event features and networking opportunities.

edie 23 will take place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch conference venue in central London. Held over two floors, the event will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action.

Click here for full information and to book your ticket.

Clover Hogan will be speaking on Day Two of edie 23 (2 March), providing a keynote speech on courageous business leadership for sustainability on the Strategy Stage from 3pm.

Other speakers on the Strategy Stage for edie 23 include former COP26 High Level Climate Action Champion Nigel Topping; youth climate activist Mikaela Loach; food strategy review author Henry Dimbleby and Temasek’s chief sustainability officer Steve Howard. Don’t miss your chance to attend. 

Action on methane is increasingly being recognised as crucial to limiting the global temperature increase. Methane is an extremely potent greenhouse gas in terms of its global warming potential, with the IEA attributing almost one-third of the increase in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution to the gas.

The good news is that methane has a short lifespan – its atmospheric life is only around 12 years, compared with decades or even centuries for many other greenhouse gases. As such, reducing methane emissions could bring about climate mitigation results fairly swiftly; this is the premise of the Global Methane Pledge signed by more than 150 nations. The Pledge commits nations to a 30% reduction in methane emissions between 2020 and 2030. 

The IEA’s new tracker confirms a slight increase in methane emissions from energy year-on-year, with the total in 2022 standing at 135 million tonnes. Coal, oil and natural gas operations are each responsible for around 40 million tonnes of these emissions, with the remainder accounted for by incomplete combustion of biomass and from leaks from end-use oil and gas equipment.

Record high methane emissions from the energy sector were tracked by the IEA in 2019, when the total stood at just over 135 million tonnes.

The Agency has chided the sector for not cutting methane emissions more steeply in recent years, given that the technologies needed to take action are available and are cheaper than ever to implement. It questions why energy majors are not setting aside “only a fraction of their bumper income from the energy crisis” to tackle methane emissions, estimating that 3% of the income generated by oil and gas companies worldwide during 2022 would be needed to deliver a 75% reduction in methane emissions from oil and gas.

According to the IEA, around 70% of methane emissions from fossil fuel operations could be reduced with existing technologies. Its tracker report sets out interventions such as leak detection and repair programmes, equipment upgrade and methane utilisation at coal mines. The most impactful intervention, the tracker states, would be halting all non-emergency flaring and venting of methane. It states that three-quarters of the methane that was not emitting due to lower venting and flaring levels could be retained.

The interventions suggested would cost $100bn to implement.

“Based on average natural gas prices from 2017 to 2021, we estimate that around 40% of methane emissions from oil and gas operations could be avoided at no net cost because the outlays for the abatement measures are less than the market value of the additional gas that is captured,” the tracker emphasises.

Commenting on the tracker’s findings, IEA executive director Fatih Birol said: “Our new Global Methane Tracker shows that some progress is being made but that emissions are still far too high and not falling fast enough – especially as methane cuts are among the cheapest options to limit near-term global warming. There is just no excuse… normal oil and gas operations around the world release the same amount of methane as the Nord Stream explosion every single day.”

The report also emphasises that, ultimately, fossil fuel extraction and use will need to decrease in the coming decades to reach global climate goals. It highlights the importance of rolling out clean cooking and modern heating in developing and emerging economies, and of electrifying cooking at heating in wealthy economies, as a priority action.

Industry response

Responding to the tracker is the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), comprising 12 of the worl’s largest oil and gas firms, collectively representing 30% of global production.

OGCI executive committee chair Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, formerly of Equinor, said: “The IEA is right to point out that there’s a huge opportunity to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector and much of the technology to do that already exists.”

He added that the Initiative’s members “have already collectively reduced upstream methane emissions by 40% since 2017” and are urging peers to follow suit. The Initiative, he said, wants to “shift the industry’s mindset to treat emissions of the gas as seriously as the industry treats safety.”

The tracker revealed that, far from cutting methane emissions on an absolute basis, most oil and gas organisations are not even cutting methane intensity significantly. It confirms a 5% fall in the global average methane intensity of oil and gas production.

Stop Rosebank campaign 

The publication of the report comes as we await the UK Government’s final decision on the Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland.

Equinor acquired ownership of Rosebank, considered to be the largest undeveloped field in the North Sea, in 2019. It holds a majority stake in the project and the other stakeholders are Suncor Energy and Ithica Energy. Equinor has touted the job development potential of the field and stated that the project could be delivered in line with the UK Government’s 2050 net-zero target.

This is despite the fact that the IEA’s global 2050 net-zero scenario entails the development of no new oil and gas extraction capacity, beyond what was agreed pre-2021. Moreover, the UK Government’s Climate Change Committee (CCC) has recommended a “presumption against exploration” for new oil and gas extraction capacity.

With this in mind, the project has faced fierce opposition from climate campaigners and public figures. The Stop Rosebank campaign is this week sending an open letter to the Prime Minister, signed by 200 organisations including charities such as RSPB, WWF Norway and Oxfam. Also signing the letter are comedians Frankie Boyle and Aisling Bea.

The letter highlights the climate impact of fields like Rosebank, but also calls into question the touted socio-economic benefits. It emphasises that the project is being overseen by Norwegian, Canadian and Israeli firms, with 80-90% of oil likely to be exported. It highlights how the developers will benefit from taxpayer subsidies, despite recording bumper pre-tax profits due to high wholesale energy prices.

“Why we’re subsidising Rosebank’s development to the tune of half a billion pounds, when [its developers] clearly don’t need the cash and there are plenty more worthy causes, is a mystery,” said Frankie Boyle.

The majority of respondents, nine in ten, believe that the sector will not reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 – the Government’s legally binding deadline for delivering a net-zero economy.

This is perhaps to be expected. The Climate Change Committee’s most recent annual progress report to Parliament confirmed that policymaking in virtually all sectors is not sufficient to deliver net-zero within legally binding target parameters. The Committee highlighted buildings as a particular point of green policy weakness, largely due to poor action to improve energy efficiency and scale-up low-carbon heating options.

The report from the BPF sets out a string of interventions the sector would like to see from the Government in order for companies to reach their own net-zero targets – many of which are more ambitious than the nationwide target.

It bears noting that the BPF found a widespread willingness to tackle embodied carbon – the carbon generated upstream through construction and materials – as well as operational emissions. The report recommends the introduction of mandatory life-cycle assessments for businesses across the built environment lifecycle, improving data on embodied carbon. It also states that the sector would support embodied carbon reduction targets from the Government, building on voluntary frameworks and tools like those offered by the World Green Building Council and UK Green Building Council.

Several other recommendations concern investment in renewable energy to reduce the operational emissions of buildings. The report advocates for the removal of barriers currently preventing Real Estate Investment Trusts from investing in off-site renewables, by broadening the asset classes they are entitled to invest in. It also comes out in favour of rules to mandate the instillation of solar panels on large residential, commercial and public buildings.

Solar mandates seem to be picking up speed across Europe. Last October, Ireland confirmed plans for a new grant scheme to support all schools to fit rooftop solar. Then, in November, the French government outlined a new mandate for solar panels on all large car parks.

PowerMarket estimates that if just 5% of the UK’s suitable roof space on commercial buildings were covered with solar installation, businesses would collectively save £12.6bn on annual energy costs.

Data sharing and planning reform

 Another recommendation made in the report are new mandates to facilitate the sharing of energy consumption data between the owners and occupiers of large commercial buildings. This lack of information and engagement provided between the two parties often means that occupiers and owners are not on the same page when it comes to decarbonisation, thus blocking progress.

There is, on a broader basis, the recommendation of a thorough assessment of how the current planning system is hampering the net-zero transition. The report highlights not only outdated rules – and some newer rules which seem to prioritise short-term economic growth above all else – are the problem, but also misalignment and under-resourcing across the planning system.

Much of this echoes the conclusion of Chris Skidmore MP’s Net-Zero Review. The Review calls for a planning system assessment to get underway this year. It also recommends that the Government backs at least one ‘Trailblazer Net-Zero City’, to achieve net-zero operational carbon emissions by 2030.

Reflecting on the BPF research findings, the Federation’s president Guy Grainger said: “There is no denying that the real estate industry is committed to net zero, with pledges being made at a global, national and local level, but these pledges need to be turned into credible action.”

Grainger, also global head of sustainability services and ESG at JLL, added: “Without clear incentives and regulation from Government we will continue to fall short of targets. The report highlights the insight we can garner when we collaborate and this collaboration, along with Government support is critical.”

Energy Security and Net-Zero Secretary Grant Shapps has stated that focus areas of the Taskforce will include investment, skills and product supply and innovation.

Lord Callanan will be the co-chair of the Taskforce from within the Government, it has been confirmed this evening (20 February). Callanan has been a member of the House of Lords since 2014 and, in early 2020, he was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He has this month been transferred into the same post at the newly-created Department for Energy Security and Net-Zero.

Last year, Callanan said he “entirely accepted” criticisms of the Conservative Government’s track record on improving energy efficiency in homes. The UK plays host to one of the least energy-efficient building stocks in Europe but various national schemes, including the Green Deal and Green Homes Grant, failed to deliver their full impact due to flaws in design and execution.

Co-chairing the Taskforce alongside Callanan will be Alison Rose, the chief executive at Natwest. Rose has worked at the banking group for the best part of three decades, working her way up from graduate level. She has been chief executive since 2019.

Under Rose, Natwest committed to at least halve the climate impact of financial activities and decisions by 2030 and to achieve net-zero by 2050 at the latest. It subsequently pledged £100bn for sustainable funding and financing for the five-year period between 2020 and 2025, including green mortgages and new finance products for retrofitting.

Commenting on her Taskforce appointment, Rose said: “Addressing the climate crisis is a team sport, and building vital partnerships between the public and private sector is the key to tackling this challenge at pace.

“Improving energy efficiency will not only drive a lower carbon environment, but also deliver greater economic security through lower bills for people, families, and businesses right across the UK.”

There is currently no further information on Taskforce membership beyond that of the two co-chairs. We can expect more information in the coming weeks.

Green growth focus

Rose and Callanan’s appointments will be amplified at a Treasury Connect event in East London on Tuesday (21 February). The event will convene almost 100 representatives from firms in low-carbon sectors such as the manufacturing of energy-efficiency products. The Government has stated that the purpose of the meeting is “to gather up the best ideas for driving growth” in these sectors.

Official government statistics released this month confirmed that the number of UK-based jobs in low-carbon and renewable energy sectors in 2021 was almost 40,000 higher than in 2020. The Office For National Statistics confirmed the UK hosted some 247,400 full-time equivalent roles in 2021, up from 207,800 in 2020.

This is a new record, but the UK still is not on track to host two million green jobs by 2030, as pledged by the Conservative Party under Theresa May.

The ONS also confirmed a 30.8% year-on-year increase in turnover between 2020 and 2021, to £54.4bn. Energy-efficient products accounted for more than one-third (36%) of turnover in 2021.

Our panel of 25 expert judges convened in late 2022 for a full day of judging where they whittled down almost 500 entries to a shortlist of around 200 finalists across 24 categories. This includes new categories such as the Net-Zero Innovation of the Year alongside returning favourites such as Partnership & Collaboration of the Year, and the coveted Lloyds Bank Sustainable Business of the Year.

The shortlist of finalists was revealed back in December, via a video and news piece on the edie website. Now, ahead of the Awards Ceremony on 30 March, we have published this free-to-download report providing more information about every shortlisted entry. Click here to download your copy. 

The Sustainability Leaders Awards ceremony, which will reveal our winners, takes place as an in-person event at the Park Plaza London Westminster hotel on Thursday 30 March 2023. Table bookings are now open and can be made here (premium tables are limited).

Commenting on the announcement of this year’s finalists, edie’s content director Luke Nicholls said: “COP27 and COP15 have underlined just how important business leadership is when it comes to accelerating climate action and reversing biodiversity loss.

“Nowhere is this leadership more evident than on our edie Awards shortlist. Despite battling through the perfect storm of Covid-19, conflict and the cost of living crisis, all of this year’s finalists have shifted from talking about a net-zero carbon, just transition to actually delivering it – at scale and at pace. On behalf of the entire edie team, I would like to congratulate all of our finalists – we can’t wait to celebrate with you on 30 March at the Park Plaza London Westminster.”

— CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY OF THE EDIE AWARDS 2023 FINALISTS REPORT — 

BOOK YOUR TABLE at the edie Awards 2023

From single places for the drinks reception and dinner through to a full Platinum Table front-row experience – there are a variety of options to choose from to ensure you are able to celebrate with the very best of sustainable business at the edie Awards 2023.

Our glittering Awards ceremony takes place at Park Plaza London Westminster on Thursday 30 March 2023, and will include drinks receptions, guest speakers, dinner and a wide selection of entertainment. Avoid disappointment by booking now to guarantee the tickets you want.

BOOK YOUR TABLE HERE.

IFRS S1 is designed to apply globally, to corporates in all sectors. It has been described as the “core baseline” of sustainability reporting, attempting to better unify disclosures on factors such as waste and emissions. It also sets out how companies can integrate reporting, linking sustainability-related and financial information.

IFRS S1 also sets out plans for companies to disclose all material sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

IFRS S2, meanwhile, is more detaied in regard to specific topics – particularly climate mitigation and climate adaptation. It is designed to build on existing disclosure frameworks in this field, chiefly the Taskforce on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).  

While the EU is proposing mandatory “double materiality” impact reporting for big businesses – imploring them to report on their impacts on people and the environment, plus the risks and opportunities that external changes could bring – the ISSB is taking a different approach. Its chief focus at present is enterprise value, which entails getting a deeper understanding of the link between sustainability and company valuation.

“We responded to capital market and G20 demand for a common language of investor-focussed, sustainability-related disclosure, working diligently to deliver standards that fulfil the global baseline,” said ISSB chair Emmanuel Faber.

The ISSB is expected to issue IFRS S1 and S1 by the end of the second quarter, making June the likely issuance date. It is intending to make the standards effective from January 2024, meaning that we will likely see the first corporate reports aligned with the standards in 2025.

Voluntary adoption will be likely in the first case, and some nations and regions may opt for mandatory disclosures in time.

“Given [that] sustainability disclosure is new for many companies globally, the ISSB will introduce programmes that support those applying its Standards as market infrastructure and capacity is built,” the Board said in a statement. But it acknowledged that, in some markets like the EU, disclosure is less new – so there is a need to align with and streamline existing standards.

Commenting on the news, KPMG’s global head of audit Larry Bradley said: “The proposed effective date of 1 January 2024 is ambitious, but – importantly – it’s aligned with the EU timetable, so some companies may adopt on this date regardless of local requirements. It still remains for jurisdictions to decide whether to enforce this date. But the transition provisions, such as not requiring Scope 3 GHG emissions reporting in the first year of adoption, should smooth the path for companies.

“The good news is that companies are going to be explicitly allowed (but not required) to use metrics from GRI and ESRSs where they are useful to investors and there is no equivalent IFRS sustainability standard. This demonstrates a level of pragmatism and a keen awareness of the need to balance cost and benefit for as many companies as possible. However, companies already reporting under GRI won’t be able to simply cut and paste swathes of disclosures, because they will need to apply the ISSB’s investor-focused materiality lens. For companies reporting under multiple frameworks, this will make reporting less challenging.”

The ISSB was first proposed by the not-for-profit International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS Foundation) in early 2021, and launched later that year. Its aim is to unify disclosures from corporates, helping investors and other stakeholders to properly compare their sustainability performance and related risks. One year on from its formal launch, in November 2022, CDP confirmed that it will incorporate IFRS S2 into its platform.

Related feature: Why harmonising climate disclosure standards will be crucial in 2023 

Learn how to take your sustainability reporting to the next level at edie 23

Taking place in London on 1-2 March 2023, edie’s biggest annual event has undergone a major revamp to become edie 23, with a new name, new venue, multiple new content streams and myriad innovative event features and networking opportunities.

edie 23 will take place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch conference venue in central London. Held over two floors, the event will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action. We have several sessions dedicated to sustainability-related disclosures.

Click here for full information and to book your ticket.

For example, Sylvester Bamkole from CDP will be appearing at 4.20pm on 1 March as part of a seminar on ‘how to create a winning sustainability report’, chaired by former International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) chief execurive Richard Howitt.

Also on 1 March, we’re hosting a briefing on ‘unscrambling the alphabet soup of ESG reporting’; a case study on Seventh Generation’s sustainability disclosures and a panel on ‘navigating the wild west of ESG standards’.

EV100 has today (20 January) published its latest annual progress and insights report, confirming that it has 127 members that now collectively operate 400,000 EVs – 93% more EVs than were covered by the initiative 12 months ago.

This growth was not driven purely by an increase in members, with just seven new companies coming onboard since the last annual report. Rather, the Climate Group is pointing to more favourable policy landscapes in several key markets, enabling corporates to accelerate deployment.

Member companies leading the way in EV deployment include AstraZeneca, Siemens and Leaseplan. Also in the top ten are Ikea’s parent company Ingka Group, FMCG giant Unilever and consulting behemoth Deloitte.

At present, most of the EVs deployed are concentrated in Europe, which represents eight of the top 10 markets for deployment. The UK hosts more than 15,000 EVs deployed under EV100, while France hosts more than 8,800. For context, around 2,400 EV100 EVs are operating in Japan and 1,400 in the USA.

India is also a major EV100 market, with the second-highest level of corporate EVs deployed to date (more than 10,600) and the highest level of corporate fleet commitments. Should all EV100 members reach their EV deployment targets in time, more than 5.7 million EVs will be operational in their fleets by 2030. More than 169,000 of these will be based in India, and more than 104,500 in the UK.

Charging ahead

As has been the case with previous EV100 reports, this year’s edition tracks several key challenges remaining on the road to corporate fleet electrification, including charging infrastructure deployment.

It confirms that charging point installation by member firms has once again been outpaced by EV adoption, with charging stock up 44% year-on-year but vehicle numbers up 93%. Nonetheless, there has been an acceleration in charging point deployment. EV100 members now collectively host more than 30,000 individual charging points. The leading charging point deployer has been Tesco, with 520 locations now covered. In second place in Ingka Group, which boasts chargers in 405 locations.

The report also documents ongoing challenges in EV100 member procurement of a diverse range of vehicles. While there are many pure electric cars and vans available, selections are smaller for medium-duty, heavy-duty and specialist vehicles. To that end, the Climate Group recently launched a spin-off EV100+ initiative focused on vehicles larger than 7.5 tonnes. Founding EV100+ members are Ingka Group, Unilever, JSW Steel, DPD and Maersk.

The Climate Group’s director of transport Sandra Roling said: To limit global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, far more vehicles need to switch to electric.

“To support this, charging infrastructure must be built out rapidly and manufacturers must expand the volume and variety of vehicles on the market. Governments need to provide clear direction in the form of phase-out dates, supported by measures such as zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandates and CO2 standards.”

Lloyds Banking Group’s managing director for transport, Nick Williams, elaborated on EV100 policy asks in the UK. He said: “If we want the UK to truly lead the way in EV ownership, removing the barriers to convert to new EVs must be a priority focus for both government and industry moving forward.  Increased accessibility and availability of charge points in towns and cities right across the UK will be essential, alongside affordable charging units and tariffs at home.”

Williams added: “Support beyond 2023 is required for a fairer road taxation system that incentivises on removing the older, more polluting vehicles from the UK’s roads, while also supporting demand in the growing second-hand EV market.”

Through his Autumn Statement late last year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt laid the foundation for changes to road, fuel and vehicle taxation that account for the EV transition. He stopped short of confirming a road pricing scheme at this stage but this may well be the longer-term plan. His plans to bring taxation on EVs in line with ICE vehicles from 2025, however, proved unpopular, with many saying it would hike upfront costs just as motorists need them to come down. Chris Skidmore’s Net-Zero Review recommends a thorough review of all taxes this year.

The publication of the EV100’s report comes as the EU is progressing with plans to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars across the bloc by 2035. It is also setting out requirements for a 55% reduction in CO2 emissions for new cars sold from 2030, with a 2021 baseline.

Final approval is expected in March, but we can expect fierce pushback from some member states, including Italy.

Join the EV debate at edie 23 

Taking place in London on 1-2 March 2023, edie’s biggest annual event has undergone a major revamp to become edie 23, with a new name, new venue, multiple new content streams and myriad innovative event features and networking opportunities.

edie 23 will take place at the state-of-the-art 133 Houndsditch conference venue in central London. Held over two floors, the event will offer up two full days of keynotes, panels, best-practice case studies and audience-led discussions across three themed stages – Strategy, Net-Zero and Action.

We are also hosting a range of workshops, including a workshop on net-zero transport and sustainable mobility on the afternoon of Day One (1 March). The workshop will be chaired by Claire Haigh, founder and CEO of Greener Vision, who will be joined by Tim Anderson, group head of transport at EST.

Click here for full information and to book your ticket.