Green Innovation Policy Commission

Projects

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  Clean steel Supporting the British steel industry and cutting carbon emissions
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  Clean steel Supporting the British steel industry and cutting carbon emissions

  As Britain works towards meeting its climate change targets, one of the most pressing issues is how to meet those commitments while also supporting the strategically vital steel industry. That is why Green Alliance is building a coalition calling for clean steel to be trialled in the UK.
   
  Steel is traditionally made by using coal powered blast furnaces. Even today, over 70 per cent of the world's steel is made this way, meaning the industry has an enormous carbon footprint. Every tonne of steel produced globally sends almost two tonnes of CO₂ on average into the atmosphere. In the UK, the two remaining primary steelworks are the two largest single point sources of UK carbon emissions, contributing 15 per cent of UK industrial emissions.
   
  This is not an insoluble problem. Emissions from steel production can be dramatically reduced while also giving the sector the best chance to thrive long term. This partly means using and reusing steel more efficiently, as well as maximising the use of scrap steel within the UK, rather than exporting it as waste only to import the high value products other countries turn it into.
   
  Hydrogen-based steelmaking could also help: replacing coal in a dedicated plant, it has the potential to produce new primary steel with near zero emissions. Other countries, like Germany, Sweden and China, are already putting this technology into practice. We believe it is vital the government commits to trialling this technology, alongside establishing an ambitious decarbonisation plan for the steel sector, so that the industry and its jobs have long term certainty.
  
  We are working on this project with Hanbury Strategy and the European Climate Foundation.

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  Getting the building blocks right Infrastructure priorities for a green recovery
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  Getting the building blocks right Infrastructure priorities for a green recovery

  Infrastructure governs the way we live our lives, including how green we can be. This report looks at the UK’s infrastructure needs to get the country on track for net zero and restore nature.
  
  We argue that accelerating progress towards a green economy will support economic recovery from Covid-19 and help to create over a million jobs across the UK.
  
  We highlight that the government’s current approach to infrastructure is insufficient and set out what is needed for a truly green industrial revolution for the UK.
  
  Amongst our recommendations we advocate a ‘net zero test’ for all infrastructure decisions and scaling up investment in key sectors, particularly the neglected areas of circular economy and natural infrastructure.

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  Green Renewal An economic recovery with climate and nature at its heart
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  Green Renewal An economic recovery with climate and nature at its heart

  The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the economy. As the government plans for recovery, action to tackle climate change and restore nature must be at the heart of the UK’s response to protect against future economic shocks.
  
  The prime minister has promised to ‘build back better’ but this encouraging rhetoric needs to be transformed into concrete policy proposals. The UN climate conference in Glasgow in November 2021 is a major opportunity for the UK to showcase its strategy for green economic renewal.
  
  Our Green Renewal project is bringing together diverse voices in business and civil society throughout 2021 to ensure the UK takes the opportunity now to rebuild a more resilient and fairer economy.
  
  Read our post-budget briefing (March 2021)

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  TransformTax project Transforming the UK tax system for environmental good
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  TransformTax project Transforming the UK tax system for environmental good

  The current economic system is founded on ever increasing consumption of goods and services, with little consideration of the impact this has on the planet or well-being.
  
  In the UK, the average citizen is responsible for around 12 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year. This is a long way from the net zero lifestyle we need to adopt to meet the Paris climate goals.
  
  Around 45 per cent of these emissions are associated with imported goods and services, and another 35 per cent are from UK-produced goods and services.
  
  The Global Footprint Network estimates the average UK resident has an ecological footprint – including the use of resources – that is three and a half times their share of the natural world’s productive capacity.
  
  Our consumption patterns have to change if we are to address the climate and ecological emergency. At the moment, many feel that they pay a ‘green premium’ to make environmentally beneficial purchasing decisions, with organic food, energy efficient domestic appliances and eco-friendly cleaning materials, for example, consistently more expensive than traditional alternatives. This makes them inaccessible to people on lower incomes and is preventing wider uptake. 
  
  In this project we are examining the opportunities for the tax system, and VAT in particular, to help people make more sustainable choices. By building on our experience with citizen’s juries, we want our proposals to benefit the environment while also taking the concerns of ordinary people into account, which are too often ignored by Westminster.
  
  The first report of our TransformTax project is Added Value, which outlines three changes to VAT that should be made to embed environmental and social benefits in the tax system.

  Confirmed members of the TransformTax advisory board are:

  • Arun Advani, assistant professor in economics and impact director of the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) at Warwick University.
  • Sam Fankhauser, director at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
  • Dominic Hogg, chairman of Eunomia Research & Consulting.
  • Hector Pollitt, director and head of modelling at Cambridge Econometrics, the global economics consultancy.
  • Lorraine Whitmarsh, professor of environmental psychology at University of Bath, and director of the Centre for Climate Change & Social Transformation (CAST).

  
  This project has been made possible with the generous support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
   

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  Tech Task Force Policy solutions for clean growth across the UK
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  Tech Task Force Policy solutions for clean growth across the UK

  Green Alliance’s Tech Task Force brings businesses and innovation organisations together to identify how ambitious policy and the right rules and regulations can accelerate the adoption of technologies to help businesses across the UK grow their profits at the same time as reducing their environmental impact.
  
  Businesses are confronted with global trends towards digitalisation and the drive towards low carbon and resource efficiency. Smart technology is a powerful way to achieve clean growth and bring business resource costs down, but limited uptake is preventing UK companies from realising the opportunities.
  
  Although the UK has set out the ambition for digital innovation and clean growth in its industrial strategy, little attention has been given to how they will be delivered. The Task Force exists to address the policy vacuum.

  Green Alliance launched the new Tech Task Force in September 2018 at an evening reception addressed by Claire Perry MP. See here for a set of supportive statements.

  The Tech Task Force is putting the spotlight on technological solutions that help to strengthen businesses through greater resource efficiency, rebalancing the UK economy and revitalising manufacturing in the regions. The Tech Task Force will, therefore, be focusing on four major sectors that underpin regional economies outside south east England.
  
  ​The first report, Smarter transport: a digital revolution for electric vehicles and mobility services, highlights how digital technologies could help put UK businesses at the forefront of new low carbon transport industries and how policy can drive their adoption across the sector. We will also be looking at energy, buildings and food.
  
  A smarter way to save energy is the second report from the Tech Task Force. The policy insight explores how the adoption of digital technology can transform the delivery of energy efficiency across UK businesses and highlights three areas of policy action to ensure that buildings and industry across the UK can cut energy bills and carbon emissions. 
  
  In our third report, Smart building, we explore the role of digital technology is futureproofing UK buildings. From better building design to offsite retrofit, from predictive maintenance to material tracking and reuse, digital technologies can help accelerate the transition to low carbon construction and the upgrade of existing buildings for a net zero future. Their adoption will also support greater industry productivity and new jobs across the country.
  
  In our fourth and final report for the task force, Smart and green, we explore how digital technology can support a green economic recovery from Covid-19. We highlight the opportunities for digitalisation to improve performance in the transport, energy, buildings and food sectors. We propose that the digital and low carbon agendas should be linked in government's strategies for economic recovery and decarbonisation, to help UK businesses improve efficiency, become more competitive in global markets and reduce their environmental impact at the same time.
  
  Tech Task Force members are HVM Catapult, Innovate UK, Gambica, Schneider Electric and Ramboll.

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  • Smarter transport: a digital revolution for electric vehicles and mobility services13 November, 2019

  Events

  • Tech Task Force launch12 September, 2018
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  Green Innovation Policy Commission Businesses and academics accelerating green innovation
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  Green Innovation Policy Commission Businesses and academics accelerating green innovation

  The Green Innovation Policy Commission (GIPC) brought together progressive businesses, leading academics and civil society organisations to identify how policy can best support green innovation across the UK economy and reward the innovators, entrepreneurs and investors who can generate value from environmental solutions.
  
  The Commission was chaired by John Cridland and the research was led by Prof Paul Ekins and UCL academics, supported by Green Alliance.
  
  Find out more about the commission
  
  Perspectives from the GIPC commissioners on why policy change to foster green innovation is vital:
  
  'Push and pull is needed to green our economy' by Angela Francis
  'Six insights on accelerating innovation to reach net zero' by Nick Molho
  'From ambition to action: why new policy will be vital for green innovation' by John Cridland  
  
  The GIPC’s final recommendations:
  The final report of the GIPC Innovation for a green recovery: business and government in partnership, was published in January 2021. It sets out in detail the results of its investigation, including sectoral analyses and advice to government and business.
  
  We simultaneously published a summary of the GIPC’s recommendations to policymakers in How to fast track innovation for a green industrial revolution (January 2021)
  
  The GIPC’s conclusions were discussed at our online event ‘New solutions for a green recovery: unlocking the UK’s innovation potential’ on 12 January 2019.

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  • Green innovation through infrastructure delivery26 November, 2019
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  Clean local growth Putting local areas at the heart of the clean growth agenda
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  Clean local growth Putting local areas at the heart of the clean growth agenda

  There is a clear opportunity for local areas in England to take the initiative in developing innovative and clean ways to grow the economy. Green Alliance and Localis’s consortium on clean local growth sought to investigate what places can do straight away, and what they need to be able to do, to unlock routes to clean growth in their area.
  
  Our final report laid out an England-wide analysis of clean growth challenges, opportunities and policy options, ascertained through a series of engagement events and expert interviews. We provided pathways and direction for local stakeholders to work together to respond positively to the issues they face in moving to a low carbon economy and recommendations to central government as to how it could assist this process. Read the full report here: 'The route to clean growth: Using local industrial strategies to drive change'. 
  This project was produced in partnership with Localis, West Midlands Combined Authority, ENGIE and Cornwall council. 
  
  The clean local growth report was successfully launched on the 23rd October where the reports' findings were showcased and opportunities debated through organised workshops. We hope to revisit this subject in 2020 and would be keen to hear from other organisations with an interest in clean local growth.

  For more written pieces on the project, read our blogs published as part of our work Clean local growth.
  "Putting local areas at the heart of the clean growth agenda" by Caterina Brandmayr
  "Why are local councils’ green building ambitions being held back?" by Roz Bulleid

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  Industrial strategy Driving low carbon and resource efficient growth
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  Industrial strategy Driving low carbon and resource efficient growth

  The UK’s industrial strategy aims to improve the performance of UK businesses, increase productivity and create good quality jobs across the country. Global demand for low carbon energy infrastructure is rising and businesses are increasingly recognising their exposure to carbon and resource risk.  The industrial strategy will only succeed if it fosters low carbon and resource efficient growth.
  
  Our January 2017 report, infographic and animated infographic set out the three elements needed for an industrial strategy to be successful: 

  • Raise the baseline: to build UK manufacturing competitiveness by using product and process innovation to radically improve energy and resource efficiency.
  • Futureproof: to ensure that leading UK business sectors remain competitive by developing goods, services and processes that will be in high demand in a low carbon, resource efficient world.
  • Double down: to focus on sectors that have the potential to deliver both high productivity and decarbonisation, to foster world class new industries in the UK.​

  In April 2017, our collection of essays, Industrial strategy fit for the future: perspectives on building a competitive UK economy, brought together the views of seven respected thinkers from politics, business, trade unions and academia on the kind of economy the industrial strategy should be building and the role low carbon and resource efficiency can play. Essay authors included Sir Vince Cable, Carolyn Fairbairn of the CBI and Paul Nowak of the TUC.
  
  Our final report, Lean and clean building manufacturing excellence in the UK, demonstrated how a government supported manufacturing upgrade programme, which helps businesses to identify and capitalise on resource efficiency opportunities, is needed to spread best practice and stimulate investment and innovation. A joint statement alongside five leading business organisations states that the government could add £10 billion to manufacturing sector profits and ensure good jobs remain in the UK. 

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  Publications

  • Industrial strategy fit for the future: perspectives on building a competitive UK economy5 April, 2017
  • Why a successful industrial strategy will be low carbon and resource efficient30 January, 2017

  Events

  • Prosperity after Brexit: a UK strategy for resources12 September, 2016