Net Zero Exchanges: Connecting policy and research for climate action

With the UK hosting COP26 in November, the Government urgently needs to align domestic policy with our global climate commitments. The Net Zero Strategy, due before COP26, offers a vital opportunity to do this.

Net Zero Exchanges is a series of short essays, each co-written by a climate academic and UK Parliamentarians, setting out where work is needed on climate policy and demonstrating how readily to hand many solutions are. It showcases the strength of UK science and research – an important asset in our fight against the climate crisis – and the level of cross-party support for climate action.

Dr Jo Hale, CBC Senior Research Associate in sustainability,  was seconded to cross-party think tank Policy Connect as a Research Fellow in 2020 with the support of UCL Public Policy. During her secondment she coordinated development of the Net Zero Exchanges essay collection, commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group.

Following the foreword by Caroline Lucas MP, Dr Hale introduces the collection, asking: What have we committed to? Where are we on the journey to achieving net zero? What are the challenges? How can we rise to the challenge? 

A wide range of stakeholders came together to contribute to the essays in this collection. Their recommendations have been shaped through a series of roundtable discussions held under the auspices of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group, and developed in partnership with leading academic experts. The essay collection addresses key climate topics spanning the UK’s carbon footprint, decarbonising industry, heat and the built environment, greening transport, land use change and public engagement. Together, they point to key evidence on the decisions and actions needed to achieve net zero by 2050.

Read and download Net Zero Exchanges from Policy Connect