Today’s R&D funding announced by the Prime Minister rightly targeted at hard to treat sectors

Reacting to the Prime Minister’s funding announcement of £350 million to cut emissions in heavy industry, construction and transport and fuel green economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis, Ana Musat, Policy Manager at the Aldersgate Group, said: “Today’s R&D funding announcements are rightly targeted at sectors where making progress to cut emissions is both difficult but also essential if the UK is to have an economic recovery with an ambitious climate programme at its core. Investment in decarbonising transport, heavy industry and construction is not only essential for reaching the UK’s net zero target, but it will also be key in creating jobs and increasing the competitiveness of industries that tend to be regionally spread out and are important to the UK’s long-term levelling up agenda.”

We particularly welcome the announcement related to cutting emissions in the aviation sector, where the pathway for getting to net zero is less clear. Urgently starting trials for key technologies like hydrogen, electrification or sustainable fuels is essential to provide government and businesses more clarity on potential pathways to cut emissions and the technologies and business models that future policies will need to support.”

Ana Musat added: “Beyond R&D funding, decarbonising hard to treat sectors like heavy industry or aviation will need to be achieved by and large through private investment, which itself will require clear policy signals before it is committed. An increasing carbon price trajectory from 2020 onwards is essential to incentivise low carbon innovation and measures like product standards could play a key role in driving down embedded carbon emissions in industrial goods such as steel and cement and growing the market for ultra-low carbon industrial goods.”