High-growth firms are being told to stop treating Net Zero as a drag on expansion and start using it as their competitive edge.
That is the thrust of the Carbon Trust’s new Grow to Zero report which argues that the companies scaling fastest should also be decarbonising fastest with policy and standards redesigned to help them do it.
The message suggest growth does not have to mean higher emissions and the firms building the most dynamic parts of the economy can break that link, if the rules stop punishing them for expanding.
Right now many fast-growing climate solution providers face steeper decarbonisation pathways than slower rivals, which risks putting targets out of reach and slowing the rollout of the very technologies Net Zero depends on.
The report says the business case is already there, companies that cut emissions early boost resilience sharpen competitiveness and win investor confidence.
That unlocks capital for new assets from renewables to EV fleets which accelerates their own Net Zero pathway and lowers costs across the market through scale.
The standards are starting to catch up. The latest draft of the Science Based Targets Initiative’s Corporate Net Zero Standard adds asset decarbonisation targets and alignment targets so companies can show progress by replacing old kit and expanding low-carbon activities not just cutting absolute emissions on a flat line.
That mirrors the Carbon Trust’s recommendations and gives fast-growing firms a more realistic route to credible targets.
Grow to Zero also calls for clear sector pathways that recognise how fast new tech replaces old assets. Without that climate solution providers risk being held to standards written for industries with slow turnover not step-change innovation.
The Carbon Trust argues that if high-growth firms lean in early the whole economy benefits. They deploy clean tech at scale cut the cost curve and set the pace for the UK’s Net Zero transition.
Firms told see Net Zero as a boost not a drag to growth appeared first on Energy Live News.