Tees Business LIVE
EVENTS
Panellists – Guests heard from ( left to right ) Sanderson Weatherall ’ s Stephen Richardson and David Fairley , Helen Lyne , a partner in the dispute resolution team at law firm Knights and Teesside University professor Dawid Hanak .
Tees Business LIVE
ACKLAM HALL , MIDDLESBROUGH
Tees Business LIVE panellists react to PM ’ s net zero row-back
A
call for clarity has been made by business bosses after the prime minister ’ s rethink on several net zero pledges .
Speaking at the latest Tees Business LIVE event – sponsored by Sanderson Weatherall – an expert panel gave their opinions on Rishi Sunak ’ s recent policy switches , which included delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars , phasing out fossil fuel boilers and dumping energy-efficiency rules for landlords .
And while some elements of the rethink were welcomed , others were seen as adding to uncertainty on the inevitable road to a greener future .
Professor Dawid Hanak , Teesside University ’ s professor of decarbonisation of industrial clusters , told the meeting he was “ surprised ” at elements of the policy “ because heat and transportation are the major emitters within the UK .
“ Tackling domestic heating , especially , and petrol and diesel cars is something we have to do . Pushing those targets back is a step backwards .
“ The positive thing is that the policies for the largest emitters , industrial carbonisation plants , didn ’ t change . We still we have those net zero targets for the power and industrial sector .
“ Another positive aspect was the support for replacing gas boilers with heat pumps remains in place and the grants have increased , so getting heat pumps will become more viable for more people .”
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Helen Lyne , of law firm Knights , said there was a need for “ clarity ” from the government after the National Infrastructure Commission set out advice for a plan to reach net zero , including renewal of public transport , heating and water networks .
She said : “ The destination is inevitable – how we get there is where we have uncertainty .
“ Look at what ’ s going on in Teesside and the exciting opportunities we have to lead globally .
“ Teesside is being mentioned in government papers and being put in the spotlight for the green agenda . The next six to 12 months are crucial to see what the government does .”
David Fairley , a partner in the building consultancy department of event sponsor Sanderson Weatherall , said there was “ no easy fix ” to reaching net zero .
He said : “ We are at the start of the journey – and while we ’ ll all be on different routes in that journey , we ’ ll reach a stage where society becomes more sophisticated in how it views sustainability .
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“ It will become an accepted norm – that will drive the change and there ’ ll be a demand for change to happen . We ’ ve seen that with some of our commercial clients who are heavily invested in trying to improve the quality of their portfolios .
“ There ’ s no easy fix for this at the moment but something will happen and something has to happen sooner rather than later .”
His Sanderson Weatherall colleague , head of architecture Stephen Richardson , said that while it ’ s “ not great for the UK ’ s green credentials that we ’ re shown to be pushing some of these things down the road ,” he felt it was “ positive ” the government was “ taking the time to have a rethink ”.
He told the meeting : “ There ’ s no point putting a strategy together that isn ’ t flexible and can ’ t be adapted to what people need .
“ The world is very different to when that strategy was set out – we ’ ve got a cost-ofliving crisis , the war in Ukraine , the issues going on in Israel … all of that is putting a burden on people ’ s personal finances , so that ’ s the bit that ’ s been pulled back to a point , whereas businesses are still being pushed to achieve their net zero strategies along the same timescales .”
Nearly 100 people attended Acklam Hall for the Tees Business LIVE event , which was organised by Tees Business in association with Sanderson Weatherall .