Mott MacDonald response to UK Government's Powering Up Britain policy paper

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges faced by humankind, and the need both to drastically cut emissions and to adapt to the reality of higher temperatures is an urgent issue for countries everywhere, including the UK. We therefore welcome the fact that the Government has today restated its determination to remain on track to achieve Net Zero.

The breadth and level of detail in the Government’s announcement illustrates the fact that there are a multiplicity of ways in which engineers and advisory consultancies like Mott MacDonald will need to contribute in order to promote decarbonisation, adaptation and resilience. We welcome the positive comments made about technologies such as new nuclear, CCUS and hydrogen, amongst others; in these and many other areas we are already taking a leading role. We are firmly committed to helping our clients play their part in the green transition both here in the UK and around the world.

There are clearly areas where more detail is needed to make clear how the announcements today match the scale of the challenge. In particular, such a complex and demanding issue can only be tackled in a holistic way that improves the whole system, rather than through a series of laudable but isolated initiatives.

As the announcements acknowledge, the projects and policies listed are only deliverable with a sizeable workforce that have the appropriate skills and expertise; we therefore welcome the Government’s promise to set out a Net Zero and Nature Workforce Action Plan and would urge it to develop and publish this as rapidly as possible. A swifter response to the challenge of the US Inflation Reduction Act and similar developments in the EU and elsewhere would have been welcome as there are indications that in some areas investors, developers and the supply chain are already adjusting their plans and potentially shifting their focus away from the UK.

In short, it is positive that policy-making is moving ahead in a number of important areas, but more ambition, urgency and action is needed, and Government, industry and academia must work even more closely together, if we are going to respond meet the scale of the climate challenge.

Denise Bower
Executive director