UK government & Recent Actions Against Climate change

At least, 60 of FTSE 100 companies in the UK have signed the Race to Zero Campaign by the United Nations, thereby committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

On the Race to Zero Campaign, companies are committed to going green, implementing practices that tackles carbon emissions and positioning companies at the forefront in development of new green technology.

The Race to Zero is a United Nations-led campaign working with businesses, investors, cities, financial and educational institutions committed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Small businesses in the UK have joined the Race to Zero Campaign, pledging to reduce carbon emissions.

This initiative will not only reduce emissions but provide jobs, opportunities and also encourage investment.

In September, 2021, the UK government launched a “Heroes of Net Zero Awards”, a competition organised to find the small businesses in UK implementing innovative actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions. The winning businesses, VMI.TV Ltd and Design Abled were rewarded with £4,500.

The UK government is encouraging businesses to go green.

FTSE100 companies in the UK who are leading the Race to Zero include:

National Grid:

The national grid has reduced its emissions by 70%. The grid also has plans to convert its global fleet to alternative fuel vehicles by 2050. It is expected to have 8GW of interconnector capacity between the UK and continental Europe. This is estimated to prevent upto 100 million tonnes of CO2 emissions between now and 2030.

CEO of National Grid, John Pettigrew said:

The decarbonisation of the energy system is one of the biggest challenges facing our world, and we’re committed to playing our part in the acceleration towards a cleaner future, that will deliver economic growth and opportunities for all.

Reckitt, multinational consumer goods company:

By 2040, Reckitt has set aside goals to be net zero across its value chain. Operational greenhouse gas emissions has already been reduced to 53% per product by switching to renewable energy. Reckitt’s factories in Europe, USA and India are using 100% renewable energy.

The CEO of Reckitt, Laxman Narasimhan said:

At Reckitt, our purpose is to protect, heal and nurture in the relentless pursuit of a cleaner and healthier world. We have an ambition to be net zero by 2040, ten years ahead of the 2050 target, and are proud to stand with other FTSE companies as part of Race to Zero. Only by working together will we address the climate crisis and realise a clean and healthy future for all.

GlaxoSmithKline, pharmaceutical industry company:

A research and development program was recently announced by the pharmaceutical industry company, GlaxoSmithKline. This research programme was to limit greenhouse gas emissions from metered dose inhalers which makes a large proportion of GSK’s emissions. GSK has plans to use renewable energy by 2025

Chief Executive Officer of GSK, Emma Walmsley said,

The science is clear that nature loss and climate change are already harming human health. So we must act now to protect and restore the planet’s health if we are to protect and improve people’s health. That’s why GSK has committed to have a net zero impact on climate and net positive impact on nature by 2030.

For GSK, our sustainability commitments are an integral part of our strategy, making our business more resilient, protecting our operations and helping us to achieve health impact on a global scale while delivering returns for our shareholders.

SSE, multinational energy company:

SSE is committed to decarbonizing the power sector, investing billions in low-carbon energy & electricity projects. Its investment are : Scotland’s windfarm in sea green, Europe’s onshore windfarm in Viking, building the biggest offshore windfarm in Dogger Bank thereby creating several job opportunities

CEO of SSE multinational company, Phillips-Davies said:

The UK has decarbonised its power sector more rapidly than any developed economy since the landmark Climate Change Act was passed in 2008 and as the UK’s clean energy champion we’re delighted to have played our part in that.

Setting bold targets for the future is all well and good, but they need to be followed up with action – and that’s what the Race to Zero is all about. We’re building more offshore wind than anyone on the planet and ramping up our investment in decarbonising technologies to help accelerate the net zero transition. We hope to see more companies setting target but also delivering the urgent action needed to address the climate crisis.

Some Energy companies in the UK making tremendous effort to counter climate change and its negative effect on livelihood are:

Tokamak

Oxford’s Culham Centre For Fusion Energy produced Tokamak Energy, a company whose mission is to advance clean energy

Tokamak Energy has plans to build a fusion reactor by 2030 after securing £123 millionvin equity fundraising and €11.4 million in Grants.

First Light Fusion

In 2011, First Light Fusion was spunned out of the University of Oxford. Regardless of the weather Fusion can produce baseload power.

Recycling Technologies

The University of Warwick in 2012 produced the Recycling Technologies, whose mission is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and ocean waste by installing its products at existing waste sities.

Others are Bramble Energy producing cost effective renewable energy sources, LAT Water for desalination and wastewater treatment.