Green vs growth – it doesn’t have to be a battle of the ages

Satisfying decarbonisation aims and environmental protections while increasing construction output to support economic growth is a demanding ask. But is it an impossible balance to strike? Our executive director, James Fiske, doesn’t think so.

Green vs growth – it doesn’t have to be a battle of the ages

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s latest pledge to replace the UK’s climate change legislation in favour of cheaper energy and economic growth is alarming.

The devastating impact of industrial and domestic emissions on our environment is widely known and there appears to be little logic behind scrapping an act that has kept the UK accountable for its carbon and helped form a multi-billion-pound industry.

Insight⁽¹⁾ from the Confederation of British Industry shows there were almost 23,000 net zero businesses in 2024, supporting 273,000 full-time jobs and pumping £28.8 billion into our economy.

The arguments of Conservatives and Reform UK seem rooted in a concern that we cannot have our cake and eat it – that green ambition and economic growth are not compatible, one must come before the other.

However, I firmly believe it’s possible. The balance is ultimately about laying the right groundwork.

Net zero is a non-negotiable

The desire to scrap climate change legislation and net zero by 2050 for an energy strategy has been touted by Conservatives as the best way to lower energy costs, improve job security and support the economy by boosting industrial activity.

Badenoch claims the Climate Change Act 2008 has created unnecessary red tape and higher costs for businesses which are being passed on to customers.

Representatives of Reform UK also feel there is great economic value in domestic fossil fuels like shale gas – an untapped resource in the UK but one that’s extraction would be environmentally devastating, to put it lightly.

The need to address high energy costs and their undermining effect on the economy is urgent, but fracking and increasing our dependency on fossil fuels are nonsensical and not the way forward.

The UK’s high electricity costs are a direct result of our reliance on gas and the fact that they, as our most expensive energy source and through marginal pricing, set the price for all other energy sources.

There’s little evidence to suggest that upping fossil fuel usage or taxing renewables would improve costs – largely because using them over renewables doesn’t erase our vulnerability to the international gas market.

On the flip side, the scaling up of renewables promises long-term security of supply, cheaper generation costs, and economic growth through increased industrial activity, innovation and new job opportunities.

Several of the world’s major economies are putting significant weight behind their renewables sectors which is also helping to drive down costs locally and could open up new market opportunities for UK businesses to tap into.

Removing the very target that birthed the net zero market would undo years of progress and potentially undermine an industry that is delivering growth in a green way.

Of course, rolling out renewables infrastructure isn’t easy but it’s certainly a doable feat.

Finance models like the regulated asset base model offer a proven way to ensure cost security throughout construction and Ofgem has launched a new cap and floor investment support scheme to unlock billions in funding for long duration energy storage projects – a sustainable back-up for renewable energy.

At this crucial point in our decarbonisation, we simply cannot afford to backtrack on net zero for the false hope of something better.

The way forward is about finding the right ‘groundwork’ solutions to supercharge the green economy.

Debunking green vs growth in the built environment

This groundwork approach to addressing green/growth tension is very much applicable in our sector.

For instance, Labour’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill faces continued scrutiny over its potential to undermine environmental protections.

Critics are understandably concerned that the cost of conservation measures won’t be covered by the Nature Restoration Fund and that the bill still complicates rather than corrects the balance between development and conservation.

While it could be and is argued that the current iteration of the bill does not go far enough, there’s a great need for reducing the regulatory onus on developers to stimulate growth in the wider economy.

One very literal groundwork solution is to make brownfield land the default for new development.

Analysis⁽²⁾ from The Countryside Charity suggests that almost 1.5 million new homes could be built on brownfield land, 800,000 of which could be built rapidly.

The study argues there is more brownfield land available than in previous years – that planning policy should take a brownfield-first approach with local authorities and developers incentivised to prioritise these sites.

Given the challenges of building on brownfield sites, including the potential cost of remediation and levies and obligations faced by residential developers, it’s unrealistic to expect developers to shift gear at scale.

However, it’s a plausible option the government cannot afford to discount.

Other measures include making it easier for construction businesses to measure whole life carbon in new builds.

It doesn’t have to require more hoop-jumping, just a few groundwork investments – i.e. a central carbon database, tools that integrate carbon and cost assessing capabilities and subsidised Environmental Product Declarations – to make it an efficient, cost-effective process.

There are more examples like this where ‘groundwork’ solutions offer opportunities to fulfil green and growth goals.

For example, investing in more reuse and recycling infrastructure to sustainably process increased construction waste when output picks up and landfill tax reforms are rolled out.

Alternatively, incentivising the use of sustainable materials through subsidies or tax breaks to improve their affordability and wider adoption, instead of through regulation alone.

I could go on.

My point is that it’s still possible to have the best of both worlds.

It just requires collaboration and the patience to find the right solutions.

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^{(1) CBI60 – Growth and innovation in the UK’s net zero economy – here}

^{(2) Countryside Charity Gloucestershire – Over half of brownfield sites could be built on rapidly, CPRE report shows – here}