The Green Recovery
In 2020 we have all seen the way we live our lives on a day to day basis fundamentally altered. These events have given us the opportunity to reflect on what “normal life” does and should mean. This has resulted in increased focus on our impact on the environment and climate change with calls on the UK Government to build back better and to focus on a green economic recovery.
The last few weeks of 2020 saw a flurry of papers and statements by the UK Government, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) and the Conservative party in relation to the green recovery and the road to Net Zero. The Conservative Party issued its 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, the UK Government issued the Energy White Paper and the National Infrastructure Strategy and the CCC issued its sixth Carbon Budget.
Looking ahead to 2021, the UK is hosting the 26th UN Climate Change Committee (COP26) in November. We expect the UK Government will want to be seen as taking a proactive approach in tackling climate change ahead of COP26 and to get back on track to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In particular, there will be a continued commitment to electricity generated by offshore wind, increasing focus on improving electric vehicle charging infrastructure so as to facilitate the ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in 2030 and the UK beginning to tackle the huge challenge involved in tackling the energy inefficiency and reliance on gas heating in the UK’s building stock.
There is also likely to be increasing focus on the UK’s ability to manufacture batteries for use in electric vehicles and for use in helping to stabilise the electricity grid as our reliance on electricity generated from wind and solar increases. Lastly, there will be a focus on technological innovation that enables us to reduce our reliance on carbon intensive processes.
Fladgate’s Green Energy Group is a cross-departmental team that brings together lawyers with expertise and experience across the renewable and low carbon energy, greentech and electric vehicle infrastructure sectors. We have specialists across the firm who are able to advise and assist you with the full range of legal issues that are relevant to a business operating in the green sector.