Councils pilot net zero projects with £19 million government backing

The UK government has unveiled a new £19 million pilot programme designed to help selected combined authorities unlock private investment, speed up their efforts to tackle climate change and help the UK reach its net zero target.

Two Local Net Zero Accelerator pilots in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the West Midlands Combined Authority will help drive investment in multiple green projects across key sectors such as energy, housing and transport.

The combined authorities will decide how to allocate funding, selecting projects that will benefit their communities. These could include housing retrofit and renewable energy and transport projects, such as installing solar panels, battery storage and deploying green buses.

Councils have previously faced barriers to attracting private sector investment in smaller net zero programmes and one-off projects, but the new funding is designed to tackle this so they can secure investment at scale to deliver a range of green initiatives and expand decarbonisation work in the years to come.

By combining multiple green projects across different sectors, rather than requesting funding for one-off, short-term projects, the new Local Net Zero Accelerator Programme will make it easier to secure private investment in a long-term, sustainable way.

A third, separate pilot will be launched in the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, with the aim of replicating a similar, successful model in Bristol, which supported around 1,000 jobs. Bristol City Leap established an innovative public-private partnership between Bristol City Council, Ameresco Ltd and Vattenfall Heat UK, which helped secure millions of pounds worth of investment into Bristol’s energy system, including solar, wind, heat networks, heat pumps and energy efficiency measures across the council’s estate.

Minister for energy efficiency and green finance, Lord Callanan, said:

“The UK is a world leader when it comes to tackling climate change. But the work we do locally is just as important for cutting emissions and delivering net zero. These pilots will help combined authorities to unlock private sector investment that they can spend on green projects they see fit locally, whether that be retrofitting housing or investing in green public transport networks – all while supporting skilled jobs, building out supply chains and growing our economy.”