Decarbonising the Built Environment: Advancing Green Skills for Net Zero Cities | IPT
Chair: Mike Reader MP, Member, Select Committee on Energy Security and Net Zero & Chair, Infrastructure APPG
Speaker: Lauren Pennycook, Senior Policy and Government Relations Adviser, CITB
Dinner Discussion

Date:

Monday 03 March 2025

Venue:

House of Commons

Start Time:

19:00

End Time:

21:15

With the government’s aim to reduce greenhouse emissions by 68% come 2030 compared to 1990 levels, and to make net zero a reality by 2050 it is extremely important to consider the role the built environment will play in making these goals a reality. The built environment is directly responsible for 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions. Research by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has suggested that the built environment must decarbonise nearly twice as fast in 2025 to get back on track with the government’s goals. UKGBC research has shown that between 2018 and 2022 carbon emissions from the UK built environment fell by 13%, significantly less than the 19% required to meet the UK’s net zero pathway.

Many have suggested that a key issue in this sector is the need to upskill and reskill those currently working in the sector, as well as recruitment of those with the necessary skills. The new Skyline Skills Hub seeks to drive the green skills agenda in London initially, before expanding nationwide. With the main aim of ensuring the industry has a skilled and diverse workforce equipped and empowered to deliver globally competitive, sustainable office buildings. The Green Careers Hub (GCH) has suggested that to retrofit every UK building in need of improved fabric efficiency requires 12,000 workers trained each year for the next four years. Further, the trained workforce will need to be increased by 230,000 by 2030 according to GCH.

This event will:

  • Discuss the importance of creating low-carbon spaces in the UK’s built environment.
  • Examine how cooperation across industry, academia and government can work towards developing green skills.
  • Consider how we can ensure that the buildings we spend so much time in are safe, sustainable and built by a skilled workforce.