The expected role of individuals in the transition to net zero: policies and pathways facilitating an active role

Responding to the climate emergency is widely recognised as a priority at all levels of government – from cities up to the EU. However, what this means for individuals is under debate: are individuals expected to be active citizens co-creating the transition, disengaged recipients of net zero policies, or something in between? This exploratory paper first summarises the debate about whether individual change is a distraction from demanding system change. It concludes that individual change is inextricably linked with system change. Individuals can have roles in the energy system and transition beyond that of the economically-rational consumer. Indeed, characterisation of current energy efficiency policy shows that a variety of conceptualisations of individuals are already present in European and national policy. Moving beyond efficiency, new ways of engaging individuals - personal carbon allowances, carbon footprints and energy sufficiency - are considered. The most radical is energy sufficiency which encompasses a very broad understanding of individuals, their needs and wants, and their relationship to the natural environment. Looking at various net zero scenarios shows increased individual engagement will be required to reduce / remove reliance on highly uncertain carbon dioxide removal technologies. This paper builds a picture of how the individual is seen in energy transition research and practice. There are differing expectations according to context, and who is doing the expecting. The paper argues that there are reasons in principle and practice to prefer engaged citizens, and points to policies and pathways which facilitate this active role. Policies which combine multiple levers of change - economic, social and psychological - and/or which move beyond efficiency to sufficiency, will be important in the energy transition

Growing green?: co-creating an evidence-based model of SME engagement

Topic: This paper reports on our experiences in running a pilot ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) project that addresses the issue of ‘sustainable growth’ by engaging SME owners and managers in facilitated workshop discussions on this important, yet highly contested topic. If the UK and other countries are to meet their carbon reduction obligations, it is clear that SMEs will need to make significant, and in some cases radical changes, not only in terms of their day-to-day operational practices but also in their longer-term trajectories. However, policymakers face substantial obstacles in communicating with this audience, including: the scale and diversity of the SME population, competing priorities, competitive pressures and resource constraints. This project combines published research on SMEs, their growth processes and environmental behaviours, with specialist expertise in SME engagement and climate change communication. Aim: The multi-partner collaboration is designed to co-create new knowledge on environmentally sustainable growth in SMEs. Its primary aim is to help SMEs and intermediaries gain a better understanding of sustainable growth and its implications for their businesses. The team designed and trialled an innovative approach engagement, based on facilitated workshop discussions, creating an initial evidence base that will be coupled with a set of practical recommendations. The project builds on the academic and external partners’ complementary research insights into SMEs, organisational growth, climate change communication, energy use and associated policy-making. By incorporating the expertise of the practical insights of practitioners and intermediary organisations, the project seeks to initiate a vigorous knowledge exchange about the conceptualisation and practical application of sustainable growth. Methodology: Prior to engaging with SMEs, the team conducted a review of the literature on sustainable growth, which informed the engagement phase of the project. We also conducted a small survey of SME owners and managers and engaged in an informal consultation with stakeholders that informed the design and contents of the pilot workshops. Two half-day workshops were organised with SME owner and manager participants, facilitated by the communications specialists, Climate Outreach, and drawing on previous engagement projects with hard to reach groups. The workshops provided a forum for participants to engage in grounded, ‘peer to peer’ discussion about sustainable growth, expressed in their own terms and drawing on their own values and narratives. Audio recording of the workshops provided the basis for a thematic analysis, which has been combined with the other sources to construct this working paper. Contribution: The project is generating new insights into SME perspectives on sustainable growth that are grounded in relevant theory and evidence, coupled with practical tools that will be of value to practitioners and policymakers. The project team has also developed audio-visual resources, which will be used to raise awareness and help to provide the foundations for future engagement activity. The aim of the next phase of the project is to further refine this approach to engagement in the form of a more fully developed ‘toolkit’ and associated resources

Emerging models of environmentally sustainable enterprise: a comparative study of low-energy housing retrofit organisations in the UK and France.

Objectives: This paper examines emerging models that are being adopted by organisations engaged in the low carbon transition, with a particular focus on the role played by social enterprises. It presents a case-based comparison of recent efforts by industry actors in the housing retrofit supply chain to deliver low-energy retrofits (or refurbishments) of existing housing stocks in the UK and France. Prior Work: The study adopts a multi-disciplinary approach which makes connections between three broad strands of research: (1); energy policy, with a focus on energy efficiency in buildings (e.g. Fawcett and Mayne 2012); (2) social and sustainable enterprise (e.g. Blundel et al. 2013, Gibbs and O’Neill 2012); (3) socio-technical transitions (e.g. Geels and Kemp 2006; Smith 2007, Killip 2013). Approach: The issues are examined through a comparative study of the low-energy housing retrofit policy environment and of current organisational structures and practices in the building industries of the UK and France. Industry responses to recent policy signals are explored in case materials that are based around reviews of published evidence and a series of semi-structured interviews with designers and contractors who have direct experience of innovative, low-energy refurbishment projects in each country. Results: The case study evidence suggest that while the two countries have comparable long-term policy goals for CO2 emissions reduction, there are important organisational differences displayed in the more immediate initiatives being undertaken by industry actors involved in delivering retrofitting of the housing stock. The discussion section indicates possible explanations for these differences and highlights issues requiring further investigation. Implications: The transition towards a more environmental sustainable residential housing depends largely on social, as opposed to technological, innovation. Policy-makers need to address specific organisational constraints, including the longstanding fragmentation evident in this part of the UK building industry. The cases suggest that there is considerable scope for reconfiguring traditional networks and for giving greater emphasis to collaborative arrangements involving private sector firms, social and community based enterprise. Value: The study provides new empirical insights into the organisational dimensions of an important sustainability transition. It also makes a contribution to theoretical development by combining insights from several distinct disciplines, and by applying concepts from energy research, organisational studies, social entrepreneurship and socio-technical transitions to recent development in the UK and French building industries. It also identifies several implications for future research policy and practice

Catalysing net-zero retrofit: feasibility of an innovative salary sacrifice scheme

The shift towards hybrid working-from-home practices is seen by the authors as a great opportunity to introduce a novel financial mechanism, the Retrofit Salary Sacrifice (RSS) scheme that will help increase homeowners’ awareness and uptake of retrofit works to improve their home-office environments. This novel approach is to encourage household-level retrofitting in order to reduce carbon emissions and lower energy costs (Figure 1). It is a tax-efficient incentive for home-owning employees to improve their properties, using the model of successful existing salary sacrifice schemes for the purchase of bicycles and EVs. This approach has a catalytic role for able-to- pay salaried homeowners to directly benefit from more attractive and affordable finance for retrofit projects, the prospect of lower energy bills in the long term, and a more comfortable working environment. Additionally, employers gain an extra benefit to offer their workforce, as well as a route to addressing Scope 1–3 of their direct and indirect carbon emissions. This report presents results from work exploring the value of an RSS scheme to different stakeholder groups, assessing its feasibility for piloting and/or implementation, and understanding what needs to be in place for a successful RSS trial. Project activities leading to these specific outcomes involved ongoing conversations, online surveys, and a half-day workshop with key individuals from various groups in central and local government, the construction sector/supply chain, banks/lenders, and employers/companies, along with employees/homeowners

Geographies of hope: reflections on the creation of the Museum of Climate Hope

Amid growing concerns about climate anxiety in young people, researchers and practitioners in climate change education (CCE) have called for pedagogies of hope. The Museum of Climate Hope emerged from interdisciplinary conversations at the University of Oxford about creative approaches to CCE in both formal and informal educational settings. This article explores the geographical aspects of this initiative, from the physical experience of walking a museum trail across Oxford to the digital experience of ArcGIS StoryMaps linking stories of climate resilience, innovation and transformation across time and space

Building fabric improvement and heat pump deployment: a set of policy conundrums

Minimum building energy efficiency standards and retrofit targets for fabric improvement have long been a cornerstone of effective policy for energy demand. However, there is increasing policy focus on residential heating (and cooling) being provided from renewable electricity via heat pumps. Do fabric standards matter anymore and, if so, why? This paper looks at the trade-offs and policy complexity facing countries which are currently largely dependent on fossil fuel boilers for heating. What should the balance be between mandating building fabric improvement and heat pump deployment, what are the choice criteria, and who gets a say? The paper examines building interventions through the concept of ‘trigger points.’ It evaluates a segmented market approach and proposes a policy framework that emphasises ‘understanding first’ as a strategy to facilitate informed decision-making, rather than imposing specific measures. For example, the mandate to replace all fossil-fired heating systems presents a new opportunity for policy intervention: transitioning to a new heating system can act as a trigger for at least minimal fabric improvements. The paper explores various tests associated with the ‘understanding first’ approach, discussing how to strike a balance between simplicity and complexity in policy. It also delves into practical considerations for implementing the ‘understanding first’ approach, including affordability, energy security, and fostering a just energy transition. Understanding is identified as a necessary, but not sufficient, aspect of policy for the decarbonisation of heating. The paper concludes that while a deeper understanding is crucial, it must also translate into new narratives for different actors to enable tangible, measurable changes in the built environment. There is no one right answer – and policy needs the flexibility to recognise this. Setting minimum quality standards for deployment, and a policy framework which allows for local decision-making within nationally (and internationally) determined targets is likely to be part of the answer. This paper sets out the challenge for policy in devolution and coordination, providing a set of unresolved conundrums that future policy needs to meet. The discussion presented aims to enrich and provoke further debate, rather than offering conclusive solutions to complex problems

Climate justice and energy : applying international principles to UK residential energy policy

There are ethical, legal and strategic/pragmatic reasons why it is important to ensure a just approach to climate change mitigation, both internationally and within nations. Ethically, low income countries or groups can be considered to suffer an injustice if they contribute least to climate change while still suffering from its effects, and yet also have little influence in international decision making around mitigation and adaptation responses (Preston et al, 2014). Legally, equity is embedded in the ‘common and differentiated responsibility’ principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and in the provisions of the Kyoto Protocol (e.g. see Soltau, 2008). In the European context, the Aarhus Convention lays out rights to access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.2 Pragmatically, people are more likely to accept climate change mitigation and adaptation policies if they reflect a fair balance of responsibility, capability, and need (Gross, 2007; Aylett, 2010), and wider participation and fair process can help with management of conflict and help to build consensus (Aylett 2010). Buell and Mayne (2011) also argue that just approaches to climate change actions have strategic and practical advantages because they can help ensure political support, mobilising hidden assets and generating wider socio-economic benefits than approaches based solely on narrow economic or financial criteria at lower financial cost. As recent public debate over fuel bills in the UK shows, there are strong public concerns about the fairness of energy policy, particularly where it affects energy prices, which in turn influence policy desig

Using smart energy meter data to design better policy: Prepayment meter customers, fuel poverty and policy targeting in Great Britain

During winter 2022–23, residential energy prices were exceptionally high in Europe. Governments provided unprecedented energy support payments, but millions of households still suffered from inadequate access to energy. This paper uses gas and electricity smart meter data from 2019 to 20 to 2022–23 for 11,500 prepayment meter (PPM) customers in Great Britain to characterise energy use over time, by dwelling and household characteristics, examine the effects of high prices and cold weather, evaluate current policy and propose improvements. Households with PPMs are a group where fuel poverty is highly concentrated. This sample use less energy than the general population and 63 % self-disconnected at least once a year, with an annual average 28 h of disconnection. Using smart meter data has enabled identification of groups in extreme need: 7 % of households use scarcely any energy, and no gas, for heating; 4 % self-disconnect for at least 240 h per year. More homes self-disconnected from gas during cold periods than at other times, despite the greater need for heating. The paper proposes replacing the current ‘Cold Weather Payment’ policy that has proven ineffective with advance, daily payments directly to energy accounts that are triggered by forecasts of minimum temperatures of −4 °C. High prices in 2022–23 had a very significant effect: annual gas use per household fell by 20 %, while electricity use fell by 3 %, compared with 2019–20. A new Energy Cost Support Scheme is proposed to provide financial support for households in fuel poverty, worth about £1000 per household. For the longer term, smart meter data could enable better targeting of support for vulnerable households and the fuel poor

Finding the fuel poor and framing better policy

The UK Government needs to make urgent decisions about whether and how to support more vulnerable energy users in the winter of 2023-24. The additional support provided in 2022-23 has been withdrawn, but prices continue to be very high, and in the absence of help, millions of households will struggle without adequate energy for heating, hot water, cooking and other vital services. This report uses data from smart-enabled prepayment meter customers to explore how the Government can best target support to those in greatest need, i.e. those in fuel poverty, and to describe the minimum level of support needed to prevent serious suffering this coming winter. This report is based on household energy consumption and other data for 11,519 households with dual-fuel gas and electricity supplies, provided by the energy company Utilita. Using data from four years, 2019-20 to 2022-23, analysis has looked at how energy use, rates and duration of self-disconnection have varied with external temperature, price, dwelling and household characteristics, and how policies and targeted payments affected energy use and self-disconnection