RICS urges government to close gaps in decarbonisation policy



A number of ‘critical gaps’ need to be filled if the UK government is to achieve its net-zero targets by 2050, according to a new report published by The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).


The government needs introduce a ‘significant shake up’ to its current carbon reduction policies in the built environment, the report said.

In terms of specific failings in current policy and monitoring, the RICS underscored a lack of targets at the level of industry sub-sectors and single buildings, sparse data on embodied carbon, and difficulties in tracking the success of carbon-reducing retrofits as gaps the government is recommended to close.

The report calls on the government to allocate funding for the establishment of national retrofit projects as well as several policy changes, including the improvement of the EPC scheme, an acceleration of the development of a national performance-based rating scheme based on the NABERS UK system, and the introduction of embodied carbon requirements in a new section of the Building Regulations.

Fabrizio Varriale, place and space analyst at RICS, said: "Crucial changes need to be made in the way that carbon output is tracked in the UK's built environment.

“By implementing the policy recommendations set out in this report, the UK Government will maximise the impact that sustainability policies in the built environment sector will bring to achieving its net zero goals by 2050.

"This is an opportunity to radically shake up the sector and place it at the forefront of the UK's carbon reduction initiatives by advancing a scientifically-focussed and data-driven sector that swiftly reacts and implements the changes needed to meet carbon output goals."

 



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