As part of Innovate UK’s ambitious £60 million Net Zero Living programme, City Science, alongside Bankers Without Boundaries, has been privileged to serve as advisors on Net Zero Finance as part of the Technical Assistance Pool.
Our mission? To help local authorities, their partners, and communities overcome non-technical systemic barriers to scaling and adopting net zero solutions, in particular – finance.
There are several challenges in financing net zero and one of the significant challenge areas in the journey towards net zero is financing retrofit projects. To help stakeholders learn more about the options available, we conducted workshops tailored for both local authorities and innovators.
In June, we had the pleasure of hosting an in-person training in Cardiff. The session was designed to provide local authorities with a comprehensive grounding in the financial basics necessary to start exploring Net Zero Finance, including how to create a business case tailored to audience needs. The feedback received was overwhelmingly positive, with participants finding the content both engaging and relevant. One attendee remarked, “Excellent session. This related more to our project than expected. Finance is so critical, and we receive little guidance on it with existing channels.” This comment underscores the vital need for such workshops in equipping local authorities with the financial knowledge necessary to drive their net zero initiatives forward.
Building on the success of the Cardiff workshop, we conducted another session in July at the Retrofit Challenges Forum specially looking at financing retrofit. This was a dual-focused approach that allowed us to address the unique challenges and opportunities, this time catering to both local authorities and innovators.
For the local authorities attending, we delved into various retrofit funding methods, from government grants to innovative models like on-bill schemes and retrofit credits. We also explored the different roles local authorities can play in facilitating and enabling finance, from community education to engaging in pilots of innovative funding models.
For innovators and businesses, we focused on how their tools and services could integrate with different funding models. We also addressed the challenges of engaging with the public sector, providing insights into procurement processes and the importance of creating clear, long-term demand signals.
One innovator participant noted, “This workshop has opened my eyes to the complexities of working with local authorities. The insights on public sector procurement are invaluable for our business strategy.”
These two sessions are just the start of the Net Zero Living Programme and the financial support that we will be providing throughout the programme, with support on-going over the lifetime of the project. We also welcome any other Local Authorities to contact us for support on their net zero finance and we would happily discuss the tools and guidance that are available to help finance your net zero journey. The journey to net zero is complex, but with the right financial knowledge and tools, it’s achievable. Through these workshops, we’re proud to play our part in empowering local authorities and innovators to overcome financial barriers and accelerate the adoption of sustainable, energy-efficient solutions.