As Labour sets out to meet its mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030, the challenge of turning political promises into tangible progress looms large. The Committee on Climate Change’s recent report underscores the urgency, revealing that the UK is off track to meet its Paris Agreement commitments. 

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“Having worked in lockstep with cleantech startup communities across the UK & Europe over the years, it’s promising to see ambitions ramped up towards a new chapter for climate action,” says Chiara Carlini, Head of Open Innovation Programmes at PUBLIC. “We’ve seen a surge in both public and private sector activity towards technologies and innovation in CleanTech, but now more than ever startups play a crucial role in bridging the gap between idea generation and commercial viability.” 

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Labour’s manifesto outlines bold objectives: doubling onshore wind, tripling solar power, and quadrupling offshore wind by 2030. Achieving these targets will require more than just political will. It demands a recalibration of how the public sector calls on, procures, funds, and implements a robust ecosystem of innovative solutions. 

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“Our challenge programme, Tech for Our Planet, delivered in partnership with Cabinet Office and COP26, demonstrated how startup innovations can prove critical in addressing climate change,” Chiara shares. “One of the startups, BrainBox AI, can autonomously monitor the energy efficiency of buildings, generating up to 25%  energy reduction in fewer than 3 months and a 40% reduction in carbon footprint. The new government must consider how as part of their wider clean energy transformation agenda, they can run open innovation programmes to identify and design the most optimal pathways for broadening the adoption of impactful solutions.”

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Having worked with CleanTech and energy startups across a wide range of projects and programmes, we have seen first-hand the impact that these innovations can have. Yet, the path from innovation to implementation is fraught with challenges and if reformed, would see seizable gains towards Labour’s broader commitment to kickstarting economic growth. Many startups face what’s known as the “valley of death” - costly and time-consuming steps to commercialisation that must be navigated before delivering solutions for the public sector. 

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The proposed creation of Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company capitalised with £8.3 billion, aims to drive forward investment in clean energy production. This new vehicle can bring more capital, interest and scalability to CleanTech solutions being piloted across the public and private sectors, and we are excited to see how it can play a role in bridging the CleanTech “valley of death”.

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Leyre Villaizan Herrero PUBLIC's expert on sustainable procurement, also points out that public authorities have a role to play in meeting Net Zero goals: “Public procurement practices account for 15% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, and more sustainable sourcing processes should be a key tenet of any Net Zero plan”. 

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“We’re already seeing a shift in how we approach sustainable procurement and climate action,” Leyre notes. “In particular, we have seen the emergence of more agile, data-driven approaches to designing and implementing clean energy solutions. For example, the Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS) has pioneered more data-driven sourcing approaches for Scottish local authorities. By leveraging shared data platforms, SCIS enables local authorities to rapidly consolidate existing climate action plans and design, implement, and improve city-wide clean energy programmes. This approach not only accelerates progress but also creates the right conditions for startups to offer innovative solutions that can be sustainably and seamlessly integrated into existing processes.” 

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Leyre continues, “If done right, sustainable procurement has far-reaching benefits. It allows for faster adoption of impactful technologies, promotes local economic growth by engaging with innovative SMEs, and ensures that climate actions are tailored to specific regional needs.”

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Standing at this critical juncture, the question for Labour isn’t just whether they can achieve their clean energy targets, but how they can do so in a way that is sustainable, equitable and economically viable. This will require a concerted effort from all sectors of society - industry, startups, public sector bodies, academia and citizens alike. To support this public-private collaboration, we have been really pleased to support the Department for Business and Trade to conduct further research into industry needs and practices for sustainability reporting. We interviewed a wide range of businesses, financial institutions and reporting organisations to understand how the UK can create the most effective sustainability reporting process for the private sector, known as the UK’s ‘Green Taxonomy’.

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Turning Labour’s clean energy vision into reality demands smart, data-driven policies, effective cross-sector collaboration, and a commitment to sustainability at every level - from policy-making to procurement. With concerted efforts and innovative thinking, a cleaner, more equitable energy future for Britain grows increasingly more within reach. 

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For public sector organisations looking to harness the power of startup innovation: Explore our Open Innovation Programmes hub. We can help you design and run challenge programmes that identify leading solutions to meet your specific clean energy goals. Contact Chiara Carlini at chiara@public.io to learn about how we can accelerate your clean energy initiatives through startup collaboration. 

For procurement teams aiming to embed sustainability into their practices and drive economic growth and innovation: Check out our Commercial, Spend & Impact services. Reach out to Leyre Villaizan Herrero at leyre@public.io to discuss how we can help implement procurement processes for a sustainable future. 

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