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Countdown to COP

Our new campaign plots the course to the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow this November and looks at the key topics for utilities.

Editor's picks

Anglian’s route to net zero: Green finance, process emissions and strength in numbers
Anglian Water has several industry firsts under its belt including in green finance. As part of our Countdown to COP coverage Utility Week talks to Anglian's head of carbon neutrality about the company putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to carbon commitments. He also discusses trials around process emissions and how better data can help crack the problem
Analysis
Methane Matters
The need to adopt methane strategies is an under-explored area of net-zero policy but there are still important steps that can be taken by the government and Ofgem. Maxine Frerk delves into the issue in her latest column for Utility Week.
Opinion
Mottram: ‘Environmental responsibility is in our DNA’
Decarbonisation is under the spotlight more than ever before with the water sector's net zero 2030 deadline fast approaching. The industry target was ambitious enough but one company has broken ranks and says it wants to be there by 2027. As part of Utility Week’s Countdown to COP coverage, Ruth Williams speaks to Northumbrian Water’s chief executive Heidi Mottram about why the company set itself the earlier goal.
Interviews

Featured

The road to COP is paved with possibilities to embrace net zero
Businesses across all sectors are waking up to the fact that they have a role in climate change. However, not all of them have the plans to match their good intentions. Gemserv’s Trevor Hutchings explores the sticking points to climate action.
Opinion
Could a net zero boom lead to supply chain busts?
Industry leaders and supply chain experts discuss the responsible procurement risks which could arise from a net zero investment boom as evidence emerges of poor and unethical labour practices in low carbon supply chains. How can these risks be combated with robust audit and due diligence processes?
Webinars
Ovo: Retailers have to be allowed fair returns
Ovo Energy wants to be in the vanguard of delivering new technologies and services to enable net zero. However, the company’s chief financial officer Bill Castell insists that first the energy retail market must be stabilised, to give both investors and consumers confidence. As part of Utility Week’s Countdown to COP campaign, he speaks to James Wallin.
Interviews

Latest in Countdown to COP

Making the planets align to cut carbon by 2030
When last year's ambitious Routemap to net zero was published by Water UK in collaboration with Mott MacDonald and Ricardo, the sector was frank that it did not have the answers to all the challenges to be faced by 2030. As part of our Countdown to COP coverage, Maria Manidaki, net zero technical lead at Mott MacDonald, talks to Utility Week about the technical hurdles that remain on the water sector’s journey to net zero.
Interviews
COP26: Technology investment and digital strategy key to 2030 net zero ambitions
With COP26 only a few months away, excitement is building across the utilities industry. However, it is clear that the sector sees the UN climate conference as the beginning of a journey, not the end. Michelle Scarsbrook of Sopra Steria looks at where companies may turn next to further their net zero ambitions.
Opinion
CfD budget set at £265m
The government has revealed details of the fourth round of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme, including its £265 million budget. While the bulk of subsidies will go towards offshore wind, £24 million has been ringfenced for floating offshore projects. Established technologies will share £10 million, with a cap of 5GW of capacity.
News
Kwarteng: GHG was one of my top 3 headaches
Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted that the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme was “too ambitious” and has pledged that the government will consult more fully on any replacement scheme.
News
All new-builds to include EV chargepoints
The government has confirmed it will legislate to require all new-build homes and offices with parking spaces to have electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.
News
‘Impossible’ for in-person COP26 to be safe and inclusive
The COP26 president has insisted the event will go ahead in Glasgow in November despite accusations it will exclude many of the countries set to be most affected by climate change. The Climate Action Network (CAN), which represents more than 1,500 civil society organisations in over 130 countries, has called for the UN climate conference to be postponed.
News
BEIS hedges its bets on heat
The publication of the Hydrogen Strategy provided some glimpses of the government’s approach towards decarbonisation of heat but, as David Blackman discovers, its key proposals seem to have provided more questions than answers.
Analysis
PR24 will be ‘key moment for process emissions’
The 2024 price controls can play a critical role in enabling wastewater companies to monitor and manage process emissions from wastewater treatment works, which Wessex Water's head of sustainability said cannot be delayed if the country is to meet its carbon targets.
News
SW Water embarks on peatland restoration for sequestration
As part of its peatland restoration plans to sequester carbon in the west country, South West Water has secured £9 million funding from Natural England to rewet areas across its region to store 652,625 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
News
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