A group of UK space tech companies are developing a new beam-hopping satellite that will allow satellites to switch which part of the world they cover, managing real-time surges in commercial demand or responding to emergencies such as natural disasters, thanks to government funding.

Led by global satellite communications network OneWeb, the industrial partners have received over £32 million from the UK Space Agency, via the European Space Agency’s Sunrise Programme, for a demonstration satellite due for launch in 2022.

The satellite, nicknamed ‘Joey-Sat’ for its beam-hopping abilities, will be able to remotely direct beams to boost coverage in certain locations, such as areas of high usage where the network is struggling to cope with demand.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

From helping during a disaster to providing broadband on planes, this amazing technology will show how next-generation 5G connectivity can benefit all of us on Earth.

It is fantastic to see some of our finest space tech companies joining forces on this exciting project which will put the UK at the forefront of satellite communications technology.

The new funding, which builds on the UK Space Agency’s previous investments in the Sunrise Programme, will see OneWeb team up with other UK companies, SatixFy, Celestia UK and Astroscale UK, to demonstrate the technology for its second-generation constellation of satellites.

Massimiliano Ladovaz, Chief Technical Officer at OneWeb, said:

Innovation and collaboration are at the core of OneWeb. Working together with our partners, Oneweb will accelerate the development and expansion of our cutting-edge technologies and manufacturing capabilities for the benefit of communities, enterprise and governments around the world.

This is an exciting opportunity to work with talented potential supply chain partners and we are delighted with the support from ESA and the UK Space Agency to bring continued innovation across the whole of OneWeb’s connectivity ecosystem.

The satellite’s pilot beam-hopping payload will be developed by SatixFy, based in Farnborough. The user terminal to support this satellite is also being developed by SatixFy, who have been awarded over £25 million.

Charlie Bloomfield, CEO of SatixFy Space Systems, said:

We are really excited to be demonstrating new game-changing satellite payload capabilities in space next year, in collaboration with OneWeb.

The £25m funding from the UK Space Agency via ESA, matched with SatixFy’s own internal investment, will not only demo best-in-class future payload capability, but will also result in the lowest-cost and highest performance electronically-steered multibeam user-terminals on the market. UKSA and ESA support has been fundamental in unlocking these new technologies and we look forward to a fruitful and ongoing partnership with them.

Celestia UK, based in Edinburgh, has been given £4.4 million to develop and trial smart ground-station technology featuring multibeam electronically steered antenna to reduce the footprint and costs of each ground station and increase the efficiency of the whole ground network.

José Alonso, President of Celestia UK, said:

The business opportunity that OneWeb and UK Space Agency have presented to Celestia UK in the context of the Sunrise Programme is outstanding. The pioneering project we are developing looks set to become a game changer in the satcom ground segment market.

Gateways and user terminals are key elements in the OneWeb constellation, and Celestia UK’s products will be state-of-the-art and fit for commercial purpose. We are very proud to be part of Sunrise.

The Sunrise Programme has maintained a clear focus on encouraging the development of Responsible Space using debris removal technologies, and this element is being developed by Astroscale UK, based at Harwell Campus, Oxfordshire. Astroscale UK has received close to £2.5 million to develop novel technologies to safely de-orbit unresponsive satellites.

Astroscale’s current mission, ELSA-d, is preparing the way for a multi-debris removal service, ELSA-M. This funding will support further technological innovations and UK in-orbit servicing skills development and demonstrate the government’s commitment towards developing a sustainable and vibrant New Space economy.

John Auburn, Managing Director of Astroscale UK and Co-Chair of the In-orbit Servicing and Manufacturing Working Group at UKspace, said:

Astroscale UK will deliver important innovations in space debris removal, develop new expertise on Harwell Campus, and provide UK commercial leadership to help protect space for future generations.

Following our ELSA-d mission demonstrations later this year, the Sunrise programme will help to mature our debris removal technologies ready for commercial service launch by 2024.

OneWeb currently has 182 satellites with another launch of 36 satellites scheduled for 27th May. Designed to provide organisations and governments with global and resilient connectivity services, OneWeb’s network will feature 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, global gateways and air, maritime and land user terminals. In late 2021, OneWeb will begin providing commercial services across the Arctic regions and expanding to global coverage in 2022.

Elodie Viau, Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications at ESA, said:

Joey-Sat will be used to demonstrate how next-generation 5G connectivity can benefit life on Earth. ESA is proud to support the space industry in Europe to bring such innovation to the competitive global telecommunications market. We congratulate all the partners involved.

With the support of these British companies, OneWeb is already starting to create the roadmap for its future generation constellation so as to be launch-ready for its Gen2 constellation in 2025.

OneWeb recently launched its first Innovation Challenge to seek further new technology to give its future constellations the capabilities to keep it at the forefront of satellite communications technology and meeting end-user demands.

The findings from the latest ‘Size and Health of the UK Space Industry’ report, commissioned by the UK Space Agency and published this week, show income from the UK space sector has risen from £14.8 billion to £16.4 billion, representing growth of 5.7% in real terms, while employment is up by 3,200 from 41,900 to 45,100.

Another barrier to space exploration from UK soil is lifted today (24 May 2021), with spaceports expected to be in operation from next summer.

Developed with the UK Space Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority, new regulations being laid in Parliament today will mean satellites and rockets can launch from UK soil for the first time – with spaceports planned for Cornwall, Wales and Scotland.

Future satellite launches will improve our access to data and communications, and revolutionise services such as satellite navigation and earth observation – enhancing the way we live, work, travel and interact with our planet.

Space exploration has a long history of inspiring us all to consider our impact on the Earth, and access to space is essential as we tackle global environmental issues such as climate change.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

This is a pivotal moment for our spaceflight ambitions. Since the start of the spaceflight programme in 2017, we have been clear that we want to be the first country to launch into orbit from Europe.

The laying of these regulations puts us firmly on track to see the first UK launches take place from 2022, unlocking a new era in commercial spaceflight for all 4 corners of our nation.

The legislation, laid just 2 weeks before the G7 summit in Cornwall, will come into force this summer and will help propel the development of commercial spaceflight technologies, from traditional rockets to high-altitude balloons and spaceplanes.

In time, we will also start to see new and emerging space activity – including sub-orbital space tourism and eventually new transport systems such as hypersonic flight, which will dramatically reduce aviation travel times.

UK spaceport launches will help create new jobs and offer economic benefits to communities across the country, as well as inspiring the next generation of space scientists.

Not only will this support our thriving space sector, it will also attract companies from around the globe to come to, and benefit from, these commercial opportunities.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

Continuing to grow our launch capability will help bring jobs and economic benefits across the UK. The Space Industry Regulations we’ve tabled today will create a supportive, attractive and safe environment for commercial spaceflight.

Today marks another crucial milestone that will enable the first launches from British soil in 2022 and make UK commercial spaceflight a reality.

• £166.5 million cash boost will drive forward developments in critical technology needed for a green industrial revolution including carbon capture, greenhouse gas removal and hydrogen
• Funding package will help benefit energy-intensive businesses like Tate & Lyle, BAE Systems and Celsa Manufacturing, creating over 60,000 well-paid green jobs across the UK, cutting business costs and helping to revitalise industrial heartlands
• UK government powering ahead with ambitious commitments set out in the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a green revolution just six months ago

The green technology required to help the UK meet its world-leading climate targets has been given a £166.5 million cash injection, just six months on from the publication of the Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

The multi-million pound investment, awarded to innovators, businesses, academics and heavy industry right across the UK, will accelerate the delivery of the critical game-changing technologies needed to further drive Britain’s climate change ambitions, while creating over 60,000 jobs across the UK.

The £166.5 million funding package announced today (Monday 24 May) will develop technologies in carbon capture, greenhouse gas removal and hydrogen, while also helping find solutions to decarbonise the UK’s polluting sectors including manufacturing, steel, energy and waste.

This investment will help put the UK at the forefront of the green technologies of the future, while supporting British industries to lowers costs, remain competitive and protect jobs as they improve their energy efficiency and transition to a green economy.

This significant investment will help the UK meet its ambitious climate commitments, including reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and the world’s most ambitious climate target of reducing UK emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels.

Energy Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

We are determined to tackle climate change and make it win-win for both our planet and our economy. Today’s major cash boost – targeted at our most polluting industries – will encourage the rapid development of the technologies we need to reign in our emissions and transition to a green economy, one that reduces costs for business, boosts investment and create jobs.

Just six months ago, the Prime Minister set out a clear 10 Point Plan for creating and supporting up to 250,000 British jobs as we level up and build back greener from the pandemic. Today we’re boosting our armoury for the fight against climate change and backing innovators and businesses to create green jobs right across the United Kingdom.

The Prime Minister’s ambitious 10 Point Plan committed to removing ten megatonnes of carbon dioxide, generating 5GW of hydrogen by 2030, and creating 250,000 green jobs.

Today’s announcement takes the UK closer to delivering on these commitments and includes:

• £60 million to support the development of low carbon hydrogen in the UK and to identify and scale-up more efficient solutions for making clean hydrogen from water using electricity. This will take the UK one step closer to using low carbon hydrogen in key industries across the UK – from powering transport such as trains and ships to factories and the heating systems in our homes. This funding will help create around 8,000 hydrogen jobs set out in the 10 Point Plan.
• £37.5 million to fund the largest government programme of greenhouse gas removal methods helping cement the UK’s status as a world-leader in this technology. Of this, twenty-four projects across England and Wales will receive up to £250,000 to fund innovative designs that develop new ways of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and store them safely, and a further 5 projects will receive up to £4.5 million each to investigate the viability of adopting greenhouse gas removal methods at scale.
• £20 million to support the development of the next generation Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) technologies so they can be deployed at scale by 2030. This could include funding innovative technologies that widen the suitability of CCUS to a larger range of UK industrial uses such as chemicals and cement, reducing the cost of deploying CCUS and helping industrial waste or power sector companies to capture and store harmful emissions from the source, before they are emitted into the atmosphere.
• £20 million to establish a new virtual Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre that will accelerate the decarbonisation of key energy-intensive industries which currently make a significant contribution to UK emissions. Run by Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, the Centre will bring together new technologies and address the challenges faced by industrial areas, helping to provide solutions that reduce costs, risks and emissions. This centre will connect and empower the UK industrial decarbonisation community with over 140 partners, including industry and business, government and regulatory agencies and world-leading academics, working together to deliver an impactful innovation hub for industrial decarbonisation.
• £16.5 million through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund to develop new technologies and processes that help energy-intensive sectors cut their emissions, while reducing their energy bills. Projects receiving funding include Tate & Lyle to decarbonise its London sugar refinery and cut emissions by up to 90% and Celsa Manufacturing to install new technologies that improve energy efficiencies in the process to melt scrap metal and produce steel. BAE Systems will also receive funding to install energy efficient technology that could save equivalent annual emissions of around 700 households.
• £8 million for projects to develop innovations, such as repurposing textile waste, new clay production techniques for the ceramics industry and concrete manufacturing that support the rapid recovery and sustainability of UK industry. Projects include developing glazes for fast-fire manufacturing of ceramic tiles made entirely from recycled waste, creating a cost-efficient, low carbon concrete manufacturing solution using waste materials and developing the world’s first, high temperature heat pump that can compete commercially with burning fossil fuels.
• £4.7 million will establish a new Transforming Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub. The hub will be led by Cranfield University and will help industries like metals, glass, cement, paper and glass to work together and address their common challenges while accelerating the development and adoption of new technologies and business models. This could include creating new, smart materials and processes that enable cheaper, lower energy and low carbon products.

On Wednesday, the newly formed Net Zero Expert Group will meet for the first time. Chaired by the Business & Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, this group was a key commitment set out in the PM’s Ten Point Plan, and brings together an expert group as part of Task Force Net Zero to drive forward net zero targets, providing advice on tackling climate change and helping to develop new polices to support the development of the government’s Net Zero Strategy. This will be published ahead of the UN climate summit COP26 taking place in Glasgow this November.

Challenge Director for UK Research & Innovation’s (UKRI) Industrial Decarbonisation challenge Dr Bryony Livesey said:

The introduction of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre concept shows the commitment to not only fund largescale decarbonisation efforts, but to make sure we continually learn from and adapt to their early results and challenges. By enabling the Centre to build evidence on a range of areas from direct costs and emissions to skilled jobs and wider net zero policy, we believe we are creating a more adaptive and responsible path for the UK’s big industry to take to remain at the forefront of a global low carbon culture.

Challenge director of UKRI’s Transforming Foundation Industries challenge Bruce Adderley said:

For the Foundation Industries there are huge benefits to be gained by looking at reducing and re-using waste materials that arise from the creation, processing and use of the products manufactured by these sectors, so it is inspiring to see so many innovations that tackle this challenge head on. The focus these projects bring on greener alternatives, lower emissions, and energy saving, will have an impact across the economy, support the move towards net zero in the UK, and we look forward to helping them bring their innovations to fruition. The research hub also represents a crucial step forward in addressing innovation in these industries, by introducing a more collaborative environment to share knowledge and experiences.

Professor Mercedes Maroto-Valer at Heriot-Watt University said:

The role of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre will be to consider a wide-range of opportunities and challenges for the industrial sector to decarbonise– starting with the industrial clusters and our joint ambition to deliver the world’s first net zero industrial hubs by 2040. The research and evidence we’ll work through with our academic and industry partners across the UK will not just focus on industry itself, however, but also how it will shape society and economies at both a local and national level. It’s a key part of making sure the UK heads down the most effective path with its decarbonisation efforts and I’m looking forward to starting the journey.

£86 million of the total funding package announced today comes from the government’s £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which provides funding for low-carbon technologies and systems, helping the UK end its contribution to climate change.

Projects receiving funding include:

• Professor Christopher Evans, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology is being backed with almost £4.5 million to manage and restore peatlands to maximise their greenhouse gas removal potential at farmland near Doncaster, and at upland sites in the South Pennines and in Pwllpeiran, West Wales. Peatlands store more carbon than any other ecosystem on land, but as a result of human disturbance they are rapidly losing this carbon to the atmosphere. This project will re-create, and where possible enhance, the environmental conditions that lead to peat formation, and to re-establish a secure long-term carbon store in the landscape.
• Celsa Manufacturing, Cardiff, Wales, will receive £3 million to install new technologies to reduce emissions and improve energy efficiencies in the process to melt scrap metal and produce steel. Further, this project could increase domestic scrap processing and production of steel in the UK, reducing the next to import materials from around the world – lowering the country’s carbon footprint.
• Saint-Gobain Glass, Eggborough, North Yorkshire, will receive over £1.4 million to deliver a new flat glass production furnace to improve the efficiency of its UK plant while reducing energy consumption, emissions and on-going maintenance costs. The company has designed a new furnace and production line component replacements that utilise the latest technological advances.
• Tate & Lyle, London, will receive over £500,000 to study how it can decarbonise its sugar refinery and reduce greenhouse gas emission by 90%. The company’s Thames Refinery currently uses boilers fired with natural gas to generate steam and power for its refining operations, which emits carbon dioxide. The aim of the project is to explore new technology that reduces emissions and can also remove carbon from the air that could be deployed at Tate & Lyle’s refinery and also at other sugar refineries around the world.
• Phillips 66 Limited, Humberside, will receive over £500,000 explore switching fuel in its gas refinery’s industrial fired heaters with renewable and low carbon hydrogen. Doing so will help to decarbonise these heaters and significantly reduce emissions, while demonstrating the importance of hydrogen for industrial fuel.
• Over £250,000 for a Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology project led by Storegga, owned subsidiary Pale Blue Dot Energy, with technology partner Carbon Engineering (CE), engineering partner Petrofac Facilities Management, and support from the Universities of Cambridge and Edinburgh. DAC technology has the potential to accelerate UK net zero efforts by capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere so it can be stored permanently underground. This project will research and develop an alternative to using natural gas to power the calciner, which is a kiln that operates at high temperatures and a key step in the process. This will enable the system to run on clean energy only, eliminating the current requirement to co-capture the carbon dioxide from natural gas which is used in other systems.
• Scotland’s Rural College alongside partners University of Strathclyde, Agri-EPI Centre and No Pollution Industrial Systems Ltd, is receiving over £200,000 to reduce the environmental impact of beef production. The project aims to capture the greenhouse gas methane from housed cattle and convert it to carbon dioxide and energy using a novel system. At the same time, manure and waste feed will be converted to a fertiliser and biogas that will be used to power farm sheds and produce low-carbon fruits and vegetables. As a result, farmers could improve their profitability, increase their selection of goods to sell and utilise natural resources through more sustainable low-carbon farming that reduces their carbon-footprint.
• BAE Systems, Glascoed, Wales, has been awarded over £82,000 to incorporate energy efficient technology that replaces a steam heating system at the company’s Glascoed site. The project aims to reduce energy consumption and the company’s carbon footprint by up to 25%, saving the equivalent annual emissions of approximately 700 households.
• William Cook Holdings Limited, Sheffield, will benefit from over £38,000 to improve energy efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint by recovering waste heat from its furnaces to produce electricity, among other uses.

Notes to editors

• The full greenhouse gas removal projects receiving the £37.5 million funding will be published here.
• The full projects receiving £8 million for industrial innovations will be published here.
• The full projects receiving £16.5 million funding through the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund can be seen here and the competition page here. These projects are the first tranche of winners to come from the Phase 1 2020 competition window.

Funding overview

• The Hydrogen Supply 2 (HYS2), CCUS Innovation 2.0 and Direct Air Capture & Greenhouse Gas Removal competitions are part of BEIS’ £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes through the 2020s and 2030s.
• The expression of interest process for the HYS2 and CCUS innovation competitions has opened today.
• Hydrogen Supply 2 (HYS2) will build upon the success of our earlier support for bulk hydrogen supply solutions, which accelerated progress on influential and award-winning projects like HyNet, Gigastack and Acorn.
• Projects in the earlier Low Carbon Hydrogen Supply competition made great progress, but we believe there are still technologies out there that could help bring down the cost of hydrogen supply if progressed further, so we are opening this second follow-on competition.
• The cost of producing and delivering low carbon hydrogen is far higher than for natural gas. We need to innovate to bring down the costs whilst maximising the UK role in the burgeoning global hydrogen economy.

The new £60m HYS2 innovation competition will be split into two streams:

• Stream 1 (up to £30m) will support development of solutions to a market entry stage, to help increase competition in the market, maximise potential future cost reduction and foster export opportunities. This Stream will be run over two phases, feasibility followed by demonstration. The funding will be split across four categories so we can bring on a diverse range of technologies; Low carbon hydrogen production; Zero Carbon hydrogen production; Hydrogen Storage and Distribution; and Net zero hydrogen supply solutions.
• Stream 2 (up to £30m) will support a few more developed projects, to help ensure UK hydrogen supply solutions remain competitive, maximising cost reduction for projects deployed in the 2020s. We hope it will create a pipeline of projects for the £240m Net Zero Hydrogen Fund.
• Industry or academic-led projects can apply for CCUS innovation 2.0 funding. Particularly we are looking to broaden the audience from the traditional power sector’s interest in CCUS innovation, to gain greater interest of next-generation CCUS technologies in industry, waste and power sectors.
• UK is already home to leading carbon-tech companies such as Carbon Clean, Carbon 8, Pale Blue Dot, Econic Technologies, C-Capture and CCM Technologies, who with UK public funding have allowed them to develop and expand their businesses and have recently raised tens of millions of private sector investments. The new CCUS innovation programme will continue this success by funding innovation that widens the applicability of CCUS to a larger range of UK industrial applications, increases the technology readiness level (TRL) of the novel CCUS technology, reduces the cost of deploying CCUS in the UK and create competitive pressure on existing first-generation CCUS technology.

The first CCUS call will consider grant application of:

• Up to £50,000 for industrial, waste or power sector companies performing analysis on next generation carbon capture technology that are most suited to their site or industrial sector.
• Up to £1 million for projects developing and piloting mid-stage (TRL 3-5) technology.
• Up to £5 million for projects demonstrating late-stage (TRL 6-8) technology at intermediate scale at site.
• The full list of winners for the GGR & DACS competition from the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio will be published here

• Local authorities will pilot alternative accommodation and translation help to further support those who have to self-isolate

• Programme designed to help find further ways to support people self-isolating across the country

The government is to launch 9 trailblazing pilots in England to test new, creative ways to help ensure people stick to self-isolation rules in areas with higher prevalence of infection including from new variants.

In partnership with local authorities, the government is backing the pilots with £12 million which will be used for a range of initiatives including providing alternative accommodation for people in overcrowded households, social care support such as increasing existing social care support for vulnerable adults and providing ‘buddying’ services for people whose mental health has been affected by lockdown and the variant outbreaks, and language communications support for individuals where English isn’t their first language. These pilots are designed to encourage people most at risk of catching and transmitting COVID-19 to come forward for testing and to self-isolate successfully if they test positive.

The areas that will receive funding for these pilots are: Newham; Yorkshire and Humber; Lancashire, Blackburn & Darwen, Blackpool; Greater Manchester; Cheshire and Merseyside; Royal Borough of Kingston; Hackney; Peterborough, Fenland and South Holland, and Somerset.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

From the very beginning of this global pandemic, the British public have made tremendous sacrifices and played their part whenever they’re asked – social distancing, self-isolating, getting tested and now finally, getting the jab.

Variants have the potential to be a Trojan horse for our hard won progress and it is more vital than ever that we do what we can to show them the exit door, following the rules and self-isolating when asked.

We recognise just how challenging self-isolation is for many people and these pilots will help us find the best ways to support people and making it easier for everyone to keep doing their bit.

To test ways to best support people to stay self-isolating if they test positive for COVID-19 and to encourage uptake of testing, the government is already backing a pilot across the Greater Manchester region with £2 million of funding. This cash injection is assessing ways to boost people’s ability to keep isolating , including ‘support and engagement teams’ who work with households within 24 hours of a positive test to develop a bespoke plan for self-isolation.

Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said:

We are doing everything we can to send this virus into retreat and stifle the spread of new variants, and at the heart of this effort is our collaboration with local authorities.

COVID-19 is a global disease but it requires local solutions as well as national ones, and I am hugely grateful for the efforts of the local authorities that are going to be involved with these pilots.

Our partnership with local councils has seen us reach more positive cases of the virus than ever before, many of whom were people who could otherwise have unknowingly spread the virus to their loved ones.

The government has acted swiftly and decisively to tackle head-on the spread of the B1.617.2 variant, first identified in India. Working in partnership with local authorities, strengthened testing operations are working round the clock to help to control the spread of variants wherever they have been detected.

Additional surge testing, genomic sequencing and enhanced contact tracing is helping to control the spread of variants by rapidly break chains of transmission. NHS Test and Trace continues to trace the contacts of any individual who has tested positive while also providing support to local authorities throughout the process.

Cllr James Jamieson, Chairman of the Local Government Association, said:

Rapidly targeting local outbreaks and supporting people to self-isolate when required is absolutely crucial to our continuing fight against coronavirus.

These pilot schemes will provide further insight into what works best in supporting those who test positive and their contacts to do the right thing to protect themselves, their families and their wider communities.

All councils continue to use their unique local knowledge and connections to reach out to areas where they are most needed, working with government in our joint national effort to stop the spread and keep case rates as low as possible as we look towards a return to our normal way of life.

Notes to editors

The Environment Agency (EA) has pledged to default to low-carbon concrete when constructing flood defences and other critical infrastructure projects, provided they meet performance requirements, as it sets out its roadmap to hit net zero as an organisation by 2030.

The comprehensive new roadmap demonstrates how the organisation will cut its carbon footprint by 45% by 2030. As well as the use of low-carbon concrete, this includes using energy-efficient pumps to help move water away from homes during floods, switching to only electric cars by 2023, and reducing the overall number of vehicles.

With emissions from the supply chain accounting for a significant proportion of the Environment Agency’s current carbon footprint, contractors and suppliers will also be pushed to take action, with large contracts including commitments to reduce carbon footprint year-on-year.

Where appropriate, staff will continue to receive support to work from home and reduce emissions from commuting. Flexible working arrangements during the pandemic have already reduced the Environment Agency’s emissions from business travel by 48% and emissions from buildings by 22%, against the previous financial year.

An offsetting strategy is also in development to address all remaining emissions. The strategy, due out by April 2022, will outline how the EA will work with key partners on projects to harmlessly lock away carbon while bringing added benefits to people and nature, such as reduced flood risk and improved habitats.

Sir James Bevan, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said:

Reaching net zero will be one of the biggest challenges the Environment Agency has ever faced. It will require every single one of us to play our part, and to think and act differently.

We will integrate net zero into every aspect of our work over the coming decade. By learning, sharing best practice and partnering with our suppliers, businesses and communities across the country, we will do everything we can to play our part in becoming a net zero nation and tackling the climate emergency that we all face”.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

In the flurry of net zero announcements recently, many have questioned how some organisations are going to reach future targets. This roadmap sets out credible short-term and long-term action to bring down emissions in our operations and supply chain.

We can’t insulate our activities from the wider economy’s impact on the climate, which is why the Environment Agency’s work to help the country become more resilient to shocks like floods and heatwaves has never been more important.

You can do both. We are working with businesses and Departments across government to create resilient infrastructure and reach net zero at the same time, with tools like low carbon concrete. As a global ambassador for COP26’s Race to Resilience, I aim to bring practical examples of this work to the attention of the world.

Tom Brown, Jacobs CSF Framework Director and Chair of the Framework Directors’ Net Zero Group, said:

It is clear just how passionate and committed the Environment Agency’s supplier partners are to delivering our work more sustainably, understanding the hugely significant part we play in helping the Environment Agency achieve its net zero ambitions together.

Meeting this challenge will take many forms, including innovative low-carbon solutions, new ways of thinking and delivering to use less carbon in all that we do whilst delivering resilient flood risk management.

More than half of the EA’s carbon emissions currently come from the construction of flood defences – and while the vital work to protect people and property from flooding will continue, there will also be an increasing focus on nature-based solutions that don’t require hard defences built from carbon-intensive concrete.

Low-carbon concrete has already been used by the EA to construct the recently completed Hythe Ranges sea defence, helping to cut more than 1,600 tonnes of emissions from the project’s footprint and now better protects nearly 800 properties from flooding. The works also saw the refurbishment and raising of 30 timber groynes and the recharging of the shingle beach with over 300,000 cubic metres of material.