Innovative finance instruments and local public procurement for net zero

Start date: 1 May 2021
End date: 31 December 2023
Funder: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Funding: UKRI via UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC)
Value: £338,433.05
Partners and collaborators: Energy Leeds, Priestley Centre for Climate Futures, University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, University of Oxford
Primary investigator: Professor Mark Davis
External co-investigators: Primary investigator: Dr Colin Nolden (Bristol) Co investigator: Dr Tedd Moya Mose (Oxford) Co investigator: Dr Katherine Sugar (Edinburgh)

Primary investigator (Leeds): Professor Mark Davis

In 2019, the UK became the first country to implement a net-zero emissions target by 2050. This will require significant economic and societal shifts, transforming how we live and work. Led by a team of early career researchers (with mentoring from senior academics), this project will explore the role of public procurement and place-based finance in shaping net-zero delivery at a local scale.

Whether local authority, community or business led, procurement and finance can play a key role in facilitating, upscaling and replicating energy demand reductions and sustainable energy service delivery for net-zero.

We work on the basis that:

public procurement represents the public demand for net zero energy services and demand reductions;
place-based finance instruments facilitate their supply; and
energy is both a cornerstone for meeting net zero targets and an opportunity to create local resources and capabilities to govern their implementation.
Our guiding research question is: How can public procurement and place-based investments support the implementation of net zero targets at a local level?

We will research the role of public procurement and place-based investments through case studies on local authority, business and community leadership of such collaborations. These will help identify factors which determine the scope and scale of energy demand reductions and sustainable energy service delivery. Findings will also provide insights into the opportunities and limitations of local net-zero implementation with regards to local authority resources and capabilities.

Publications and outputs

https://ukerc.ac.uk/publications/local-decarbonisation-opportunities-and-barriers-uk/

https://ukerc.ac.uk/publications/bristol-city-leap-a-novel-finance-and-procurement-model-for-delivering-net-zero/

Project website

https://ukerc.ac.uk/project/finance-and-procurement-for-net-zero/