It will be a huge undertaking to make the UK carbon neutral by 2050.
The country doesn’t just need more renewable power sources. Along with wind and solar farms, it needs battery sites to store energy until it is required by the grid, and a huge investment in transport infrastructure, particularly installing fast charging points for electric vehicles to make electricity a realistic alternative to petrol or diesel.
The cost of this will be huge. In the past, governments have sometimes balked at the expense of green plans.
However, private capital is not just available, but eager to help. Environmental, social and governance issues are one of the hottest themes in global investing and there is a sea of capital seeking to invest in green assets.
Assets under management in the UK totalled over £8.5tr this year, according to the Investment Association, while global AUM are set to rise to over $145tr by 2025, says PwC.
Many of these investors are ready and waiting to support both government and private projects that will help the UK achieve its goal to become carbon neutral by 2050 in capital markets transactions.
The UK government and private industry should work together to take advantage of this demand and be as ambitious as possible as the country embarks on its green industrial revolution.
