Planning for net zero

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58248/PN736  

This POSTnote summarises the challenges and opportunities for the planning system and related policies in England for delivering the infrastructure and services that would be needed to achieve the UK’s 2050 net zero target. Areas of opportunity and challenge include the electricity generation system, housing and development, and resourcing and skills. Contributors to the POSTnote stated that coordination between policy areas is lacking, with missed opportunities to realise multiple objectives simultaneously.

With increasing global competition for low carbon infrastructure investment, organisations such as the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association state the planning system is a major constraint. The Committee on Climate Change have set out the need to implement infrastructure at a faster pace. The Planning Act 2008 introduced a separate statutory regime for nationally significant infrastructure projects, which applies to projects of a certain type or size that the government considers of national importance. This sytem abides by national policy statements, which state specific infrastructure planning policies. However, there are delays in gaining consent in this system, particularly at the pre-application and at the final Secretary of State decision stages.

Unlike the devolved nations, there is no national spatial plan for England. Organisations such as the Royal Town and Planning Institute suggest national plans can be transparent about the trade-offs between land uses, and could inform public debate on net zero developments. The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) suggest national scale spatial plans may allow national objectives, such as net zero targets, to be translated into local plans by encouraging a proactive approach. 

Key Points 

• Achieving the UK’s 2050 net zero goal will require new low carbon energy, transport and built infrastructure while also reducing energy demand. The government has stated delivery of these at the required pace requires addressing planning system delays.   

• Infrastructure plans and policies are implemented at different scales, from nationally significant projects to local planning decisions. Planning organisations state concerns about the lack of holistic spatial planning to coordinate these scales of planning as well as with national net zero targets.  

• Nationally significant projects, such as large-scale renewables, face delays due to issues arising prior to submitting planning applications or at the final stage of being granted permission. In some cases, community benefits for hosting projects are not properly considered and delivered.  

• The new National Energy System Operator has committed to the delivery of Regional Energy Strategic Plans. These will map out the distribution networks and technologies required to reach net zero across the UK mainland and will be complemented by Strategic Spatial Energy Planning assessing sites for energy storage and generation infrastructures.  

• The local planning process considers many aspects of an infrastructure project, but some stakeholders believe not all aspects are considered equally within planning applications. They suggest planning reforms are needed to reduce delays and to support a net zero transition.  

Acknowledgements 

POSTnotes are based on literature reviews and interviews with a range of stakeholders and are externally peer reviewed. POST would like to thank the interviewees and peer reviewers for kindly giving up their time during the preparation of this briefing, including: 

Members of the POST board* 

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government* 

Danielle Abbey, The University of Sheffield* 

Hadi Arabi, The University of Sheffield* 

Beth Barker, Aldersgate Group* 

Harry Burnham, UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association*  

Ben Clifford, UCL* 

Rachel Coxcoon, The Climate Guide 

Jack Daniels, The University of Exeter 

Celia Davis, Town and Country Planning Association 

Gemma Delafield* 

Danielle Densley, The University of Sheffield* 

Daniel Dickinson, Greater Manchester Combined Authority 

Caspar Donnison 

Hugh Ellis, Town and Country Planning Association 

Marina Goodyear, Bioregional 

Dawid Hanak, Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre, Teesside University* 

Marie-Laure Hicks, Aldersgate Group* 

David Hodcroft, Greater Manchester Combined Authority* 

Robert Holland, The University of Southampton 

Susan Kenyon, Canterbury Christ Church University* 

Lewis Knight, Bioregional 

Ada Lee, Royal Town Planning Institute* 

Emma Link, Construction Industry training Board 

Simon Mair, University of York 

Nick McDonald, National Infrastructure Planning Association* 

Lauren Pennycook, Construction Industry Training Board 

Helen Poulter, The University of Sussex* 

Aleyna Prokudina, UCL’s Policy Impact Unit* 

Margaret Read, National Infrastructure Commission 

Jekaterina Rindt, Lancaster University* 

James Robottom, Renewable UK* 

Julia Stegemann, UCL’s Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-Based Construction Materials* 

Ramya Venkataraman, UCL’s Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-Based Construction Materials* 

David Warnock-Smith, Buckinghamshire New University 

James White, The University of Glasgow 

Rebecca Windemer, Regen 

Ahmed F. Zobaa, Brunel University of London* 

*Denotes people and organisations who acted as external reviewers of the briefing