The Government has revealed its landmark Green Finance Strategy, outlining plans to increase investment in sustainable projects and infrastructure. how the finance sector and better climate disclosure from corporates can drive progress towards wider action on climate change and the push towards net-zero emissions. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, John Glen, made the announcement at the third Green Finance Summit in London, stating that financial services will have a bigger role to play than any...

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The UK has formally announced its intention to host next year's international COP climate conference as part of a partnership with Italy that will see the latter host a pre-COP event. As part of the proposal, the countries would assume the Presidency of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in a unique partnership. The UK will host the COP conference and Italy will host the pre-COP event, which includes a...

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New requirements launched by RICS last year set a marker for the standard of management required in commercial property and provide mandatory obligations that its members and any RICS regulated firms engaged in this area must comply with. The new rules came into effect for service charge years starting on or after 1st April 2019 and have been put in place to ensure service charges to commercial tenants are transparent, upfront and fair, and that any costs incurred are...

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The Government has drafted a statutory instrument to amend the Climate Change Act of 2008 to account for a net-zero target by 2050 – a first among the G7 nations. The Prime Minister’s decision to implement the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), creating a legally binding net-zero carbon target for 2050, has been welcomed across the UK. The Government has confirmed that it will follow the CCC’s framework using between 1-2% of GDP in 2050 which...

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The UK smart meter statistics for the first quarter of 2019 have shown a drop in the rate of installations causing questions to be asked on whether the 2020 deadline will be extended according to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The period from January to March 2019 saw just over a million meters installed by large energy suppliers, made up of 573,700 electricity meters, and 457,900 gas meters. Disappointingly the figures represent a 6.7% decrease from...

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The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced a consultation on the emissions of commercial buildings to be launched as soon as possible as it considers the sector to be a huge untapped area for improvements. Speaking at a BEIS Committee hearing, the Energy and Climate Change Minister announced that the Government would consult on what actions would drive improved energy efficiency and reduced emissions in the commercial built environment sector. Around 60% of the sector...

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The Scottish Government has announced plans to amend its Climate Change Bill and commit to a legally binding target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 at the latest demonstrating its commitment to better pledges from the rest of the UK. Amendments to the Climate Change Bill have already been tabled which call for a reduction in emissions by 70% by 2030 and 90% by 2040. The Scottish Government claims that these are the most ambitious statutory targets in...

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In a largely symbolic move, Parliament declared a climate emergency, admitting the need for a cross-party approach that would enable the UK to set a world-leading standard on climate action. During a debate at the House of Commons, the Labour Party Leader tabled a motion for the UK parliament to become the first in the world to declare a climate emergency in recognition that legislative action to date has not been enough to address the issue. Corbyn stated that current...

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The Government has published a partial draft for the 2019 Environment Bill outlining the of the UK’s new post-Brexit watchdog for green standards. The regulator will replace the power currently held by the European Commission to hold governments account for not fulfilling their commitments. The document confirms that the watchdog will be called the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and will work alongside the Environment Agency and Natural England to uphold existing standards once Brexit is complete. The OEP will...

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The Government announced the demise of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme in 2016 to reduce the administration burden on participant organisations. As it is widely recognised that carbon emissions reporting has a valuable role to play in decarbonisation, the government introduced the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) as a new reporting framework from April 2019. The SECR aligns with best practice, building on the existing mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by UK quoted companies The UK government and...

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