What Net Zero Roll-Back Say UK Businesses

Its been around a month since the UK PM, Rishi Sunak decided to roll back the country’s Net Zero commitments. It was an unpopular decision with both citizens of the country and its industry. Even one of Sunak’s predecessors, Boris Johnson, slammed him for the decision. Sunak gave two reasons for the decision. Firstly, it brought the UK in line with other developed countries, and that if he hadn’t, the UK’s industry would have been disadvantaged, affecting the economy. Secondly, it would keep prices down for consumers. Whatever the reasons, the roll-back probably won’t last long, as the UK must have an election in the next 14 months, and the Labour Party’s Kier Starmer has an almost unassailable lead in the polls currently, and is very likely to reinstate the Net Zero targets to their original timeframe.

Even the industry that Sunak was claiming to protect was angry at the delay in Net Zero implementation, especially the automotive industry, that had previously faced one of the most stringent targets globally. The UK had originally planned to phase-out the sale of internal combustion engined vehicles by 2030 before Sunak pushed it back to 2035. Ford’s UK chair was particularly scathing of the delay. Lisa Brankin said that the automotive industry is investing to meet the 2030 target and that Ford had made a £40bn commitment to electrifying its cars, with £430m of that investment in its UK facilities, with further funding planned based on the 2030 target. She added that relaxation of the target would undermine the government’s ambition, commitment and consistency, which are key to the company’s manufacturing plans.

Although other companies were less vocal about the changes, it looks like they have decided on action rather than words. A new survey by energy company Vattenfall has shown that UK businesses are continuing with their plans to decarbonize without delaying.

The survey polled a thousand mid-sized industrial firms with a workforce exceeding 50. It found that 95.5%will continue with their commitment to reducing carbon footprints or achieving Net Zero. 77.4% of those companies will aim for significant cutbacks by 2030, with 58.1% of them targetting substantial reductions within the next 5 years. Finally, almost 70% (68.6%) of companies with carbon reduction or net zero targets included electrification, solar PV or changes in energy use as part of their plans.

It is funny that the companies that the government says it is trying to protect seem to have no interest in receiving that protection. The worst part is that the survey also found that 80% of respondents said that they wished for guidance to help meet their targets – something that the UK government has traditionally been good with. Companies can still receive assistance and funding from the private sector, through companies such as Vattenfall, but independent guidance would have given companies at least some protection from predatory companies who may wish to take advantage of this need.