For those of us that have worked in the built environment sustainability sector for some time, it could feel as if we’ve been here before – a significant disruption to the economic status quo, followed by much shouting from the rooftops by select sectors of Business and Industry about the opportunity to harness fiscal stimuli to tackle recovery in a way that makes a positive impact to jobs, resilience and, crucially, the environment.

We have also heard platitudes from Governments in response before, with broad statements of intent in this area – and some progress has been made, but it has seemed to many to be piecemeal, frustratingly incremental and to lack sufficient teeth to really kick-on with the agenda in a way that provides the much-needed step change demanded by the science around climate change.

This has generally been followed by action from a few enlightened leaders, with the remainder of industry being dragged along by regulatory changes as and when they occur – which is understandable, given the legally-binding fiduciary duty of Board of Directors to ‘promote the success’ of their companies, typically interpreted as financial performance over the short term!

Recessions are an inherent feature of our capitalist economy – we have been though them before and we will go through them again. The real question is whether the climate debate has now gathered sufficient momentum and critical mass to be an unavoidable and urgent issue that prompts real, material and game-changing action by Government.

It’s tempting to say not – that we will again see good intention and high-profile speeches, but scant impactful change.

And yet, there are glimmers of hope – the recently announced £3bn investment by the UK Government into ‘green projects’, the Green Jobs Challenge Fund, and the weight being put behind the ‘Build Back Better’ policy responses to COVID-19 across the OECD member states. On the face of it, these seem to be more than the mere ‘drop in the ocean’ interventions we’ve seen previously.

This, coupled with a thoroughly engaged generation that is now becoming the primary economic demographic demanding change, and the absolute cacophony of businesses committing to Net Zero targets, either aligned to or ahead of the UK’s own 2050 target, seems to indicate a real change of attitude and unavoidable agency pushing forward the agenda.

Could we be on the cusp of something many of us have been working for decades for? At ETS, our fingers are so firmly crossed that we’re nearing the point of loss of circulation!