Heat decarbonisation is the biggest challenge on the path to net zero. But it also has the potential to bring the most immediate benefits – from warmer homes and healthier communities to independence from global fossil fuels and protection from rising gas prices.
This paper provides a framework for how national and local government can best work together to take the most cost-effective, place-based approach to addressing this challenge.
July 2022
This paper feeds into Regen’s second strategic goal – ‘A coherent action plan delivered through national and local partnerships to decarbonise how we heat our homes’.
Local government and local leaders, with their unique reach into communities, will be critical to successfully delivering the heat transition. This is because the solutions for heat are necessarily local and complex, varying by each region, building and household.
Many local authorities have set clear ambitions for decarbonising heat in their areas, but the roles and responsibilities for local delivery have not been well-articulated by national government. This means each area is spending significant resource to carve out an independent path to net zero heat, leading to replication of effort and increased net zero costs.
There are also disparities between local authorities that mean only the best resourced areas are able to access funding, leaving poorer areas missing out on the benefits of decarbonised heat.
Empowering local leadership to deliver clean heat is vital to ensure every region in the UK reaps the rewards of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels for heat – helping to bring down bills, cut carbon and create new green jobs.
This report provides a framework for how national and local government can best work together to take the most cost-effective, place-based approach to heat decarbonisation, with clear roles and responsibilities split between local and national actors.
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