We need financial support for green innovation

It is abundantly clear now that we are going to have to do things very differently. On a macro-level, innovation will be the key to combatting the climate challenge, but this will need to be actively supported by the right policies.

If I had control of the purse strings I’d roll out appropriate funds, incentives or tax breaks as required to support green innovations. Investment greases the wheels of innovation.

On a more micro – but no less important – level, mandating wholelife carbon assessments on new build developments would be my top priority. While you would be hard pressed to find anyone not willing to acknowledge the need to address embodied carbon in the sector, we require a policy framework to spark mass engagement.

Mandating wholelife carbon assessments on new build developments would be my top priority

Amending the building regulations to ensure that embodied carbon is assessed on all projects as part of a comprehensive wholelife carbon assessment would get everyone looking at the issue, and the explosion of interest and data generated would then enable us to benchmark better; agree the most efficient improvements, and be held to account.

There is another specific measure I would enact, too. If the UK economy as a whole has a skills gap, when it comes to sustainability it has a skills canyon. We simply need to invest more in green skills – be it STEM courses at university or tax breaks for on-the-job training – to ensure that actions speak as loud as words.

Paul Hamer is chief executive, Sir Robert McAlpine