Raising the floor as well as the ceiling? How minimum climate standards could help England’s Devolved Authorities align new projects with net zero
31 January 2025
England’s Devolved Authorities need to try new approaches to align their investments in projects with their net zero targets, says a new report by Tyndall researchers Tim Braunholtz-Speight and Carly McLachlan.
Many of England’s Devolved Authorities – the regional Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority (GLA) - have ambitious net zero targets and flagship ‘green’ projects that ‘raise the ceiling’ of sustainable development in their area. Yet they generally do not have rigorous minimum decarbonisation standards to ‘raise the floor’ and robustly embed net zero into all investment decisions.
In the report, we outline current approaches to decarbonisation in Devolved Authorities, explain the barriers to decarbonisation that we found, and suggest potential ways forward over these barriers. We suggest that Devolved Authorities could diversify their funding streams, to lessen their reliance on central government; take a ‘lowest feasible carbon’ approach to all projects, even where some emissions will be involved; build internal skills and knowledge related to low-carbon investment; and look to leverage those powers that they already have. Additionally, central government could give more power to Devolved Authorities, and strengthen national regulations.
The report is based on interviews with staff at six Combined Authorities and the GLA, in addition to policy and document analysis. It can be downloaded at the link below: