New Infrastructure Coalition report calls for urgent action on carbon measurement to achieve net-zero by 2050

Unreliable data is responsible for variances of up to 2000% in forecasting carbon usage, prompting an urgent call for common data standards, reporting structures and changes in asset design.

The new report by the Net Zero Infrastructure Industry Coalition (NZIIC), of which UKCRIC is a member, has uncovered huge variances in the way that carbon data is measured, managed, and assessed for planning needs across the infrastructure sector. The result is a lack of understanding, meaning the true impact of infrastructure projects on carbon emissions is not clear.

The coalition believes a common industry-wide approach is essential to the availability, quality and transparency of data, underpinning initiatives to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050. It is also calling for significant change in how new assets are designed at feasibility stage.

The report, entitled ‘is our carbon wallet empty’, states that the infrastructure sector will miss legally binding carbon budgets that place restrictions on the total amount of greenhouse gases the UK can emit. The report makes four key recommendations:

• An agreed carbon zero definition that can be clearly assessed
  The industry must create a single, universally recognised, managed and constantly improving source of carbon emission factors, for the full range of construction products and building materials that are used in infrastructure projects.
• Planning framework guidance for carbon assessment in line with the Paris Agreement
  We need agreed carbon data measuring if we are to break the cycle of short-term solutions resulting from short timescales, short political cycles, and reactive solutions.
• A shared understanding of the sector share of UK carbon budget
  The development of common, long-term sector targets and trajectories, from which individual companies and projects can be measured against.
• A carbon neutral design option for every asset
  If we are to achieve carbon neutral infrastructure, we must ensure that every asset solution has a carbon neutral outline design option, prior to planning and tender, by the asset owners.

“We need to create a common carbon currency that works for everyone, from government and planning authorities to customers, contractors and the supply chain,” said Chris Hayes, NZIIC board member and Skanska’s Sustainability Operations Director. 

“While there is plenty of political and industry commitment to driving down carbon consumption, we lack consistent methods to achieving it. Put simply, the will is there but the tools are not.”

Ruth Finlayson, Carbon Manager for Skanska and Project Manager for this coalition report added: “If we cannot quantify our carbon usage, we cannot know the impact on the UK carbon budget. How can individual projects and the wider infrastructure sector plan their journey to net-zero without knowing the proportion of the UK’s budget they should be working to?”

The NZIIC harnesses the collective expertise of those who commission, deliver and operate infrastructure at scale, to influence the industry and UK Government on how infrastructure can achieve net zero carbon by 2050.

Its latest report is the result of a thorough audit of the existing embodied carbon measurement in the infrastructure pipeline. This project-by-project approach was necessary in order to obtain a true picture, where supply chains are long and complex. The analysis and recommendations carry extra weight because they source data and represent views from across industry and academia. 

Tom Dolan, Senior Research Associate from UKCRIC, said: "The Infrastructure systems that support all aspects of our daily lives, are critical determinants of the level of GHG emissions produced by UK society. Therefore, Infrastructure systems are societally significant Leverage Point capable of catalysing UK progress toward a Net Zero society and economy.

"The pressing issues the NZIIC identify in this report are indicative of broader systemic, whole life cycle, data and evidence challenges that urgently need to be addressed if we are to begin to unlock the vast catalytic potential of infrastructure systems as enablers of a sustainable net zero UK economy."

Dominic Burbridge, Associate Director at the Carbon Trust, said: “Good data underpins good decision making, and good carbon data is essential in understanding how to plan, design, deliver, and operate infrastructure.

“With infrastructure accounting for over 13% of the UK Carbon footprint and directly influencing a further 41%, we must get to a point where we can consistently measure it! Decisions need to be based on common understanding of the carbon impact, and these recommendations point the way. The time for action is now.”

About the coalition

The Net-Zero Infrastructure Industry Coalition was formed in 2019 in response to the UK government’s 2050 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions commitment. This report was led by Skanksa, with coalition members comprising Mott MacDonald, Pinsent Masons, the Carbon Trust, UKCRIC, Leeds City Council, National Grid, and Transport for London.

For Carbon Wallet Report click here

Other coalition members include UK Green Building Council, Anglian Water, Engie, KPMG, and Energy Systems Catapult.

For Previous Coalition report click here

Image credit: Chris LeBoutillier via Unsplash