Cross-governmental collaboration vital to delivering net zero

Reacting to the Government reshuffle and the division of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Nick Molho, Executive Director of the Aldersgate Group, said: “As the Skidmore Review recently pointed out, the transition to net zero emissions is the biggest economic opportunity facing the UK economy in the 21st century. Building a competitive net zero economy and putting the UK on track for its climate targets requires mainstreaming the net zero target across all areas of government policy and a clear strategy to help industry get there. It is therefore essential that the transformation of the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy into several separate departments does not come at the expense of cross-governmental collaboration.”

Nick Molho added: “Whilst the decarbonisation of our energy supplies is essential to get to net zero emissions, reaching net zero is an economy-wide transition. It is important that the creation of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not obscure the fact that achieving net zero will require business model and infrastructure changes across the whole economy – this must be reflected in how responsibilities are split across government departments and how they interact with one another. The creation of an arms’ length Net Zero Delivery Body to support cross-government co-ordination, as recommended by the Skidmore Review, will become essential in an environment where responsibilities to hit the net zero target are split across a growing number of departments.”