The UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) has announced support for the UK government’s launch of Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy: Government and Business Working Together, an outline of what the transition to a green economy means to business.
The document explains the policies being put in place by the UK authority to support the move to a green economy and makes suggestions for business to capitalise on this opportunity.
Dan Labbad, chairman of UK-GBC, said, ‘Industry needs certainty on government policy in order to invest and gear up for a low carbon future. The publication of Enabling the Transition to a Green Economy: Government and Business Working Together has the potential to provide that certainty and I welcome its publication. However, this is just the start of a long journey. Government and business need to work in partnership to ensure that each sector has absolute clarity on what is expected of it and that we have the right set of policies that enable industry to deliver. This is particularly true of the construction and property sector, where there is significant potential for cost-effective carbon reductions.’
Paul King, CEO of UK-GBC, added, ‘Industry must step up to the plate, but government has a critical role in signposting the future direction of policy and providing as much clarity and certainty as possible, to allow businesses to invest and innovate. There has to be a real commitment for government and industry to work effectively together, and the recently announced Green Construction Board will help to provide a platform for joint decision-making and direction-setting for the built environment sector, in the broader context of the overall transition plan outlined today.’
In July, the UK coalition government released its Energy Market Reform (EMR) which outlined changes required in the country’s energy system over the coming years and was accompanied by a Renewables Roadmap, which set a target of all energy in the UK coming from renewable sources by 2020. Some experts have argued that the EMR announcement will provide comfort to investors where as others have suggested that without planning reform the targets are unattainable. An offshore wind expert told NewNet that the plan anticipates too steep a decline in the cost of offshore production for generation targets in this sector to be met.
