Since the UK's government set its ambitious [Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution](/blog/uk-government-ten-point-plan/ "Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution"), Net Zero is more than ever at the forefront of everyone's agenda. Therefore, in this article, we will be exploring Net Zero by answering the following questions: **What is Net Zero? What is the Race to Zero?** and **What are the Race to Zero principles?** Keep reading to learn about the Race to Zero to help you to **#ONEUPYOURBUSINESS**!

## WHAT IS NET ZERO?

Net zero as explained by the [Institute For Government](https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/ "Institute For Government") is referred to as *"a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere"*. The [Climate Change Act 2008](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/section/24 "Climate Change Act 2008") announced the names of the six greenhouse gases which are: carbon dioxide, hydrofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, and perfluorocarbons.

In June 2019, the United Kingdom became the first major economy in the world to pass laws to end its contribution to global warming by 2050. This required the government to reduce the UK's greenhouses gases by 100% by 2050. Therefore, in order to help tackle climate change, CO2 emissions need to fall below zero and other emissions from greenhouses gases need to be reduced and constrained.

## WHAT IS THE RACE TO ZERO?

The UK hoped to demonstrate a path to Net Zero as former Minister for Energy and Clean Growth, [Chris Skidmore](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-becomes-first-major-economy-to-pass-net-zero-emissions-law" "Chris Skidmore"), stated how the UK would be: “pioneering the way for other countries to follow in our footsteps, driving prosperity by seizing the economic opportunities of becoming a greener economy”. As numerous countries have started to follow suit to tackle climate change, they have also set targets to achieve Net Zero. In the [Paris Agreement](https://unfccc.int/process/conferences/pastconferences/paris-climate-change-conference-november-2015/paris-agreement "Paris Agreement"), governments have agreed to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and to make an effort to keep it below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Race to Zero is a global campaign led by Nigel Topping and Gonzalo Muñoz who have been appointed as High-Level Climate Champions for Climate Action to drive leadership and rally support from cities, regions, investors, and businesses for a zero carbon emission recovery that will create jobs, push sustainability and prevent future threats; coordinating this work with governments and parties to the [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change](https://unfccc.int/ "United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change") (UNFCCC).

It leads Net Zero initiatives where it represents: 1,397 businesses, 454 cities, 74 of the biggest investors, 23 regions, and 569 universities; joining 120 countries in the biggest ever alliance committed to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. You can [click here](https://unfccc.int/climate-action/race-to-zero/who-s-in-race-to-zero#eq-10 "click here") to find out who is in the Race to Net Zero.

## WHAT ARE THE RACE TO ZERO PRINCIPLES?

As the Race to Zero campaign aims to promote convergence towards robust standards for Net Zero targets across the climate action community, it has been determined that a single approach would not be effective. For this reason, based on questionnaire responses by leading actors and organizations setting Net Zero targets, common principles were developed which are:

**1. Scope**
- Targets should aim to cover all gasses and all activities and activities (scopes) as data allows and explain the rationale for any exclusions

**2. Timing**
- Committed to reaching Net Zero by 2050
- Set interim targets
- Immediate action to meet Net Zero targets

**3. Offsetting**
- Any offsets require robust standards (e.g. permanence, additionality, verifiability, etc.)
- Specify offsetting approach, avoided emissions, reductions, or removals

**4. Equity**
- All should move to Net Zero and targets should be justifiable to equity, and may include scope, capacity, historical emissions, responsibility, current emissions' footprint, and other factors

**5. Future uncertainties**
- Actors should state how achieving their targets depend on future technologies or governance arrangements and their uncertainties around technology and governance questions

**6. Dependence on other actors**
- Net zero targets depends on other actors’ behaviour and consideration is needed in how to proactively engage with such actors

**7. Governance:**
- Formal, top-level commitment
- Interim targets
- Transparency through regular reporting and tracking
- To have a clear plan with specific operational implications

You can [click here](https://4bafc222-18ee-4db3-b866-67628513159f.filesusr.com/ugd/6d11e7_347e267a4a794cd586b1420404e11a57.pdf "click here") to read in much more detail the University of Oxford's Race to Zero principles.

In today's article we explain in a very simple way the concept of Net Zero and what the Race to Zero involves, including its principles.

Race to Zero

As the UK government makes plans for a [Green Industrial Revolution](/blog/uk-government-ten-point-plan/ "Green Industrial Revolution") to lower greenhouse gas emissions being emitted into the atmosphere to 100% by 2050, countries are joining in on the [Race to Zero](/blog/race-to-zero/ "Race to Zero") and a demand for [Real Zero](/blog/what-is-real-zero/ "Real Zero") is being stressed. In this article, we will be exploring Real Zero and the Hydrogen Movement by answering the following questions: **What is the hydrogen movement?** and **How can renewable energy help to achieve Real Zero?** Keep reading to learn about the UK government's renewable energy plans to **#ONEUPYOURBUSINESS**!

## WHAT IS THE HYDROGEN MOVEMENT?

Hydrogen is believed to reduce energy consumption and help us cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, supporting the target of achieving Net Zero by 2050.

The hydrogen movement started in 1974, to start the conversation of a hydrogen energy system in order to solve issues around the use of fossil fuels and the impact that fossil fuels have on the environment.

The United Kingdom has already discussed plans around hydrogen with the ambitions of generating 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by the year 2030 for powering homes and transport. As well as, setting plans to ban sales for diesel and gasoline powered passenger vehicles by the start of 2035 to help support the adoption of electric vehicles. We have discussed more in depth about what the government tends to do to build back better, support green jobs, and accelerate our path to Net Zero in our previous article the [Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution](/blog/uk-government-ten-point-plan/ "Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution") where you can gain more insight in other key areas of how they will tackle climate change including hydrogen.

## HOW CAN RENEWABLE ENERGY HELP TO ACHIEVE REAL ZERO?

With hydrogen being recognised as providing a positive change to the environment, we look into alternative energy sources of existing technologies that can enable a greener future. The use of renewables like solar and wind energy are alternatives to fossil fuels, and with the UK government's Net Zero targets, we'll be focussing on how implementing renewable energy can help the UK to achieve Real Zero:

- **Replaces fossil fuels**: renewable sources such as hydrogen or biomass can replace the use of fossil fuels helping to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions going into the atmosphere. And the emissions that can not be reduced could go through a process such as carbon capture, where the emissions will be permanently stored instead of released into the atmosphere
- **Improves regulation of energy consumption**: implementing smart devices and IoT-enabled sensors into buildings can help you to monitor, control, and regulate your environment helping you to reduce energy consumption such as: heating, air, electricity, and water. Being able to control your environment to fit your personal preferences can play an important role in decarbonisation because it also shows you if your efforts for Real Zero are working
- **Allows for zero-carbon home heating**: research conducted by the [Climate Change Committee](https://www.theccc.org.uk/ "Climate Change Committee") suggests that gas and oil boilers currently make up more than 90% of the UK’s home heating stock. The UK plans to take initiative by: banning new gas boiler installations by 2030, installing up to 600,000 heat pumps in homes and commercial building by the year 2028, and ensure that new homes being built are zero-carbon ready from 2025 onwards
- **Enhances green power**: the UK Government has announced plans to quadruple offshore wind power to 40GW by 2030, and ban the sales for diesel and gasoline powered passenger vehicles by the start of 2035. Therefore, with the use of wind farms, the UK aims to power every home with renewable energy and decrease the removal of natural materials by 95% by advocating for renewable energy powered vehicles

Learn all about the hydrogen movement as we discuss the UK government's hydrogen plans and how renewable energy can help the UK to achieve Real Zero.

Achieving Real Zero - Part 1

To follow on from our [Achieving Real Zero Part 1](blog/achieving-real-zero-part-1 "Achieving Real Zero Part 1") article, we will be continuing the discussion of how to achieve Real Zero in this part two article by answering the following questions: **How do we achieve Real Zero?** **How is the UK measuring the progress to Real Zero?** and **Achieving Real Zero with technology** Keep reading to find out how Real Zero can be achieved to help you to **#ONEUPYOURBUSINESS**!

## HOW DO WE ACHIEVE REAL ZERO?

In another article, [Race to Zero](/blog/race-to-zero/ "Race to Zero"), we already defined Net Zero as "*a balance between the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere*". And as many countries, including the UK, join in on the urgency to tackle climate change by the year 2050 following the [Paris Agreement](https://unfccc.int/process/conferences/pastconferences/paris-climate-change-conference-november-2015/paris-agreement "Paris Agreement") to make efforts to keep global warming below 1.5 degree Celsius. We are now in a Race to Zero with common principles. However,  the question that remains is how do we prove that what people are doing is truly contributing to Net Zero, hence the term [Real Zero](/blog/what-is-real-zero/ "Real Zero")?

Greenhouse gases are harmful to the atmosphere and are causing global warming, so in order to achieve Real Zero, there needs to be a reduction of these gases being released into the atmosphere. Below, we list the two ways this can be done:

**1. Reducing the emissions we are sending into the atmosphere**

Examples include lowering the emissions from activities such as transport and power generation etc.

**2. Actively removing greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere**

An example of this is capturing carbon that is produced during industrial processes

## HOW IS THE UK MEASURING THE PROGRESS TO NET ZERO?

The UK government has already started to implement its plans for a <a href="/blog/uk-government-ten-point-plan/" class="white--text">Green Industrial Revolution</a>, and parts of the plan include: implementing green technology, alternatives to fossil fuels, energy efficiency, low-carbon energy support, and carbon pricing.

The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy" class="white--text" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy</a> (BEIS) have published estimates of UK greenhouse gas emissions, and provisional figures to use as the baseline for monitoring the Net Zero target.

The estimates, include GHG emissions or removals that are from:

- UK-based businesses regardless of where in the world they are registered
- The activities of people that live in the UK as well as non-UK visitors
- Land such as crop, forest or grazing land

You can read the estimates [here](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/875485/2019_UK_greenhouse_gas_emissions_provisional_figures_statistical_release.pdf "here") to see the UK's progress in reaching its Real Zero targets.

## ACHIEVING TRUE NET ZERO WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Technology provides an unbiased way of determining if your efforts of contributing to a greener economy are working, no matter where you are in the Race to Zero. As technology is becoming more implemented into our day to day lives, it can play an important role by accelerating our path to Real Zero. For this reason, below we discuss the existing technology that can aid us in our Real Zero targets:

- **Wind and solar power**: wind and solar panels along with infrastructure of power generation and power grips support decarbonisation. They cost less than generating power from fossil fuels and offer greater benefits to the atmosphere as it reduces the amount of emissions that enter the atmosphere. Adopting renewable energies could also aid countries like China and India to deploy technology to meet Net Zero emissions, carbon capture and storage
- **3D printing and BIM**: 3D printing your own tools and parts requires less material and therefore, this reduces the amount of material waste ending up in landfills. In industries such as Construction and Property Development, the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) can also provide accurate measurements enabling employees to order the required amount of materials and equipment needed reducing waste filling up landfills
- **Smart devices and sensors**: adopting technology such as smart devices and IoT-enabled sensors into buildings can help lower energy usage as it enables people to control their environment and track their energy consumption e.g. air, electric, water, and heating. Not only can this help to reduce energy bills, but it supports the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. IoT-enabled sensors can capture endless various of data such as: energy consumption, building lifespan, air pollution and analyse the the data and display the information to prove that the measures you are implementing are having an impact on the environment
- **Digital twins**: obtaining virtual representations of your physical assets can help you to increase yield. For instance, wind farms have been able to increase the yield by up to 20%, including improving the life span whilst supporting the Race to Zero. You can find out more about the UK efforts helping the environment by increasing less traffic, reducing public transport cancellations and delays etc., with the UK plans of a National Digital Twin by [clicking here](/blog/national-digital-twin-programme-explained/ "clicking here")

In part 2, we discuss how technology plays an important role in accelerating the path to Real Zero, and how the UK measures its Real Zero progress.

Achieving Real Zero - Part 2

In the articles Building for the Future [Part One](blog/building-for-the-future-part-1/ "Part One") and [Part Two](/blog/building-for-the-future-part-2/ "Part Two"), we listed our predictions of the key trends for building back better in a post-pandemic world. One of the predicted key trends forecasts that homes will become greener and have already explained the [Passive House Concept](/blog/passive-house-explained/ "Passive House Concept"), a low energy design concept for buildings. In this article we will be exploring how you can decarbonise homes, as we answer the following questions: **How do we build energy efficiency homes?** and **What are the benefits of making homes energy-efficient?** Keep reading to find out how you can build greener for the future to help you **#ONEUPYOURBUSINESS**!

## HOW DO WE BUILD ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOMES?

Did you know that more than one third of homes in the United Kingdom were built before the Second World War? This makes most of the UK housing stock old and inefficient, and to upgrade poorly designed and built buildings usually costs more than if you were to build a new home to a high standard of efficiency.

Shockingly, only 1.4% of new homes built in 2019 achieved the highest [Energy Performance Certificate](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-energy-performance-of-buildings-certificates#epcs-for-all-new-domestic-properties-including-new-build-dwellings-conversions-and-change-of-use "Energy Performance Certificate") (EPC) rating, highlighting that poor quality homes are still being built. As the UK is trying to achieve a greener future and pave its way forward by reducing greenhouse gases to 100% by 2050; building energy-efficient homes plays an important role in helping the UK government to reach its goals.

This year (2021) the UK government have published new standards for new homes, [The Future Buildings Standard](https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-future-buildings-standard "The Future Buildings Standard"), that provides consultations for conservation of fuel and power, ventilation of the Building Regulations for non-domestic buildings and dwellings, and overheating in new residential buildings. The [Committee on Climate Change](https://www.theccc.org.uk/ "Committee on Climate Change") (CCC) has also already laid out plans to help us live carbon free and below we dive into how you take these plans into account and take the necessary measures to start building with energy efficiency in mind:

- **Implementing smart devices**: Installing smart controlled devices into buildings and properties can help people to manage their energy consumption which can also help them to better understand what tariff would best suit their needs. Smart devices can allow people to schedule their heating, turn the boiler on and off, control the temperature in each room, and so on, all through an app on their phone
- **Replacing gas boilers**: To reduce carbon emissions, gas boilers are set to be phased out and replaced with alternative greener energy sources to solve issues around the use of fossil fuels. The government has announced that by 2025, all new builds will be banned from installing gas boilers and will instead be heated by low-carbon alternatives such as heat pumps, hydrogen boilers, direct electric heating, and heat networks. You can read more about the Hydrogen Movement by [clicking here](/blog/achieving-real-zero-part-1/ "clicking here")
- **Installing electric heat pumps**: Electric heat pumps are a great way to produce heat for homes that are built in accordance with the Future Homes Standard because you do not need to dig up and disrupt people's gardens.  Air-to-heat pumps produce heat from the outside air, using a system of fans to generate warmth and air-to-water pumps tend to be outside to absorb heat from the air outside. The air outside gets turned into a liquid which is then used for radiators, underfloor heating, and hot water. With the ban of installing new gas boilers in new built homes, the UK plans to install up to 600,000 heat pumps in homes and in commercial building instead by the year 2028
- **Heat Networks for cities**: Heat Networks also referred to as district heating can be used to supply heat from a centralised source to several other buildings nearby. This heating system could serve well in built-up areas and cities to use renewable energy distribution systems on a larger scale
- **Direct electric heating**: Even though running direct electric heating can be pricey it can be a solution to homes that already have a high energy efficiency standard as it will not be used frequently to keep warm and is a low-carbon heating technology, producing zero emissions when in use
- **Putting insulation retrofits in existing homes**: We explained that building new energy-efficient homes can be a much cheaper option than converting old homes to meet new energy-efficient standards however, we understand that most old homes will still be here and existing in 2050. Applying loft insulation and cavity wall insulation on existing homes can be a cost-effective way to help reduce emissions to support England reaching the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C by 2035, and help the government achieve its Real Zero targets. Insulation can prevent heat loss through walls and can vary in price depending on the type of walls and house you are insulating for instance, a cavity wall insulation for a detached house usually costing around £725, giving an annual saving on energy bills of £255

## WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF MAKING HOMES ENERGY EFFICIENT?

When building greener for the future, energy efficiency should be a top priority to decarbonise homes and heating as it will reduce the heat demand. Reducing the demand for energy and adopting low-carbon alternatives to make energy-efficient home improvements has a list of benefits which we discuss below:

- **Reduces carbon emissions**: Implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency designs into buildings could dramatically help the world to be sustainable as it will reduce the amount of CO2 emissions entering the atmosphere. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) predict that there will be a 15% fall by 2030 if the energy efficiency of UK homes were improved
- **Betters energy performance**: By 2035, the government wants to bring all homes in England up to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band C. Currently, data shows that new and existing homes across England are at band D (the scale being A-G, and A being the best). The [rollout of smart meters](https://www.smartenergygb.org/en/about-us/about-the-rollout "rollout of smart meters") across the UK is trying to collect accurate data on energy use in homes across England. Therefore, implementing renewables and adopting smart devices into homes can help people to monitor their energy usage and control their environment as every home performs differently
- **Cost-effective**: Building homes to be more energy-efficient can help reduce the demand for energy and therefore with less energy consumed means a reduction in energy bills as well as decreased emissions entering the atmosphere. A study by [Element Energy](https://nic.org.uk/app/uploads//Element-Energy-and-E4techCost-analysis-of-future-heat-infrastructure-Final.pdf ">Element Energy") suggests that by 2050 the electrified energy system including the insulation measures can save nearly £100 billion

We explain the benefits of energy-efficient homes and how you can make energy-efficient home improvements to support building greener.

Building Energy-efficient Homes

We have already explaining [what a Circular Economy is](/blog/what-is-circular-economy/ "what a Circular Economy is") and in this article we will be explaining sustainability by answering the following questions: **What is sustainability?** and **What are the three pillars of sustainability?** Keep reading to find out the motivations surrounding sustainability to help you to **#ONEUPYOURBUSINESS**!

## WHAT IS SUSTAINABILITY?

Sustainability has a broad meaning due to the world being a big and diverse place. More often, it is defined as the focus of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

Earth has a global population of 7.8 billion people, which is only going to keep on growing, with it being estimated to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. This impacts the entire world including sectors like farming, who have to keep up the demand of producing food for the increasing number of mouths to feed. Already, across the world there is uneven distribution of consumption patterns and wealth plays an important role in sustainability, as over a third of the world still lives in poverty, having little or limited access to resources such as: energy, food, and water. Therefore, sustainability is broad, covering an array of concepts, tying into social justice, conservationism, internationalism, riches, and other past movements.

In 2010, the Academic Advisory Committee for the Office of Sustainability at the University of Alberta referred to sustainability as *"the process of living within the limits of available physical, natural and social resources in ways that allow the living systems in which humans are embedded to thrive in perpetuity"*.

## WHAT ARE THE THREE PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY?

The concept of sustainability is made up of three main pillars: environmental, economic, and social (which can also be known as planet, profits, and people). Exploring the three pillars of sustainability showcases the different motivations and perceptions other people may have on the topic of sustainability because everyone has their own worldview where emotion, survival, instinct or logic can be key drivers. In the list below we will explore the three different pillars of sustainability, so you can gain a more detailed understanding on sustainability:

### 1. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental sustainability is to ensure that we are consuming our natural resources like land, water and energy fuels at a sustainable rate and in line with the [Circular Economy Principals](/blog/what-is-circular-economy/ "Circular Economy principles"), to not damage the environment and use up all of its natural resources. This inspires using low-carbon resources, with many countries joining in on the [Race to Zero](/blog/race-to-zero/ ">Race to Zero") with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions entering the atmosphere.

The environment sustainability pillar is most likely the one you're most familiar with as the UK government makes it clear their ambitions to achieve [Real Zero](/blog/what-is-real-zero/ "Real Zero") by 2050 and businesses are focussing on reducing their carbon footprint. Packaging waste, energy usage, water usage are main topics you have probably come across with businesses. For instance, businesses are looking into the Circular Economy approach of reducing the number of materials they use by pushing back on product packaging and implementing recyclable and reusable packaging; *reduce, reuse, recycle*.

A challenge for the environment sustainability pillar is that the amount of carbon dioxide, water, waste, land reclamation as a few examples, are hard to calculate or are not being tracked. Therefore, to measure progress businesses will need to start tracking and reporting on the emissions and waste they produce and setting benchmarks to determine progress.

### 2. ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Economic sustainability is all about businesses using resources efficiently and responsibly as well as, operating in a sustainable manner whilst also being profitable. Activities such as compliance, governance and risk management also fall under this pillar. Businesses need to be transparent, accurate, and give stockholders the opportunity to vote on important issues, as well as making sure that everything aligns with shareholders' interests, the end-user, value chains, and the community.

The economic pillar helps businesses implement sustainable strategies, although some businesses can be forced to adopt sustainable approaches such as not using chemical fertilisers or using alternative energy sources rather than fossil fuels. It also focuses on activities being available to everyone, such as secure sources of livelihood. Overall, it allows human communities to maintain their own independence and have access to the resources that they require to meet needs such as finance.

### 3. SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

The social sustainability pillar is about universal human rights and making sure that the basic necessities are available to everyone, this includes having access to resources in order to keep families and communities healthy and secure. Leaders need to ensure social wellbeing is being met for example, making sure personal, labour, and cultural rights are respected and all people are protected from discrimination. Having social sustainability ensures a country, an organisation, or a community can be maintained in the long-term.

Businesses can focus on social sustainability by participating in things such as community engagement like fundraising and scholarships, giving better benefits to their employees such as maternity benefits or development opportunities. They can also evaluate their supply chain to make sure that everyone is being paid fairly and no exploitation is happening.

Discover the concept of sustainability as we explore the three main pillars (environmental, economic, and social) and the definition of sustainability.

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