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edie’s latest report: How businesses can reduce carbon and create a sustainable built environment
edie, in partnership with Mitsubishi Electric, has published a new report exploring how businesses can reduce the carbon impact of their built environment and stay ahead of the 2050 curve.
As the UK’s 2050 net-zero deadline draws closer, businesses are facing increasing pressure to decarbonise their built environment. Buildings remain one of the largest and most significant sources of national emissions, yet progress in reducing these emissions continues to fall short of the scale necessary.
To help address this challenge, edie and Mitsubishi Electric’s report provides an in-depth analysis of the current sustainability landscape within the built environment, and delivers practical guidance on how organisations can meet their long-term net-zero goals.
EA asked to define environmental permit exemptions as Defra proceeds with planning reforms
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has granted the Environment Agency (EA) new powers to determine which construction activities could be exempted from requiring an environmental permit, as it streamlines planning regulations for housing and infrastructure.
The UK Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes and several key energy infrastructure projects this Parliament. It claims that streamlining and reforming permitting regulations through its Planning & Infrastructure bill is essential to meet this target.
As part of the reforms, the EA will have the power to define the types of infrastructure projects and construction activities that are exempt from the need to hold certain environmental permits, and the conditions that apply to them.
This could include ‘low-risk’ activities such site investigation works, the storage of waste materials and drainage operations. The Government argues that exempting such activities could save builders up to 16 weeks of waiting time.
Contracts for Difference: UK Government confirms boost in payments to offshore wind developers
The UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has confirmed that more than £1bn will be spent on offshore wind in the nation’s next renewable energy auction round.
DESNZ’s latest budget updates for Allocation Round 7 (AR7) of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction confirm that a maximum of £900m has been available to fixed-bottom offshore wind farms which should be delivered between 2028 and 2031.
A further £180m is available to floating offshore wind farms, which must be delivered between 2028 and 2030.
Renewable energy developers entered their bids for funding through the CfD earlier this year. They are set to find out whether they have been successful in mid-January 2026.
UK Government hopes to avoid another legal challenge with refreshed net-zero strategy
BREAKING: The Labour-led UK Government has published its first comprehensive plan for decarbonising key industries in line with its legally binding carbon budgets, after being court-mandated to strengthen measures set out by the Tories.
Published today (29 October), the new Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan summarises the past, present and forthcoming policies which will drive the decarbonisation of Britain’s economy. It also sets out how these policy signals should catalyse private investment in industries including renewable energy, electric transport and low-carbon manufacturing.
The new covers the period between the start of the 4th Carbon Budget (2023) and the end of the 6th Carbon Budget (2037).
It claims to detail measures that will achieve 96% of the emissions reductions needed by 2030.
The measures should more than halve the carbon intensity of the UK economy, in terms of tonnes of emissions by GDP, while creating new jobs and export opportunities.
The new plan has been produced after the High Court ordered Ministers to improve on the two previous versions of the plan, which were deemed unlawful due to a lack of sector-specific details and an over-reliance on technologies which would not be mature in time.
NZAM scraps requirement for investors to target net-zero by 2050
The Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative, which convenes some of the world’s largest investors, will allow its members to set net-zero targets later than 2050 if they deem it necessary in the “evolving global landscape”.
NZAM was launched in late 2020, with a mission to get the global asset management industry on a shared pathway to reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.
It provides a platform for target-setting and disclosures. Member companies are also provided with resources to ease their climate strategy development and impact reporting, including climate risk disclosures and financed emissions measurements.
The initiative has been undertaking a six-month review of its basic Commitment Statement, and has published the results 29 October
An updated Commitment Statement retains the requirement for signatories to hold the global temperature increase on pre-industrial levels to well below 2C, or, ideally, 1.5C.
However, they only need to “recognise the importance” of decarbonising to achieve these temperature pathways. There is no immediate pressure on them to draw up aligned decarbonisation strategies.
The new Commitment Statement also removes any commitments to net-zero by 2050 or sooner.