Environment

Our society and economy depend on access to our natural capital, such as the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we eat – but it is declining, sometimes as a result of the impact of infrastructure. The natural environment is also a major driver of infrastructure demand and supply: infrastructure needs to adapt to the changing climate and to protect and enhance the environment (and the services it provides) from the impact of human activity..

The Commission is actively exploring the relationship between infrastructure, the services it provides and its impact on the environment, and has committed to developing a set of natural capital principles to guide its work.

With Britain’s commitment to reach net zero greenhouse gas emission by 2050 enshrined in law, the government must now deliver mass deployment of renewable technologies in order to meet this target, keep consumer bills down and leave open the option of a highly renewable electricity generation mix. Our analysis suggests that deploying renewables faster – so that they provide up to 65 per cent of Britain’s electricity – will not change total system costs in either the short or the long term; using existing and emerging technologies can also ensure our electricity supply remains stable.

Alongside this, a truly national and visible network of rapid charging points for electric vehicles will be required to enable drivers to make the switch from polluting petrol and diesel vehicles.

Decarbonising heat must also be a priority. In the 2020s, choices will be required on whether the gas network should be maintained and converted or phased out. Between now and any decision on the gas grid, efforts should be ramped up on energy efficiency, hydrogen trials and gathering evidence on technologies such as heat pumps to ensure a smooth, deliverable and safe transition to low carbon heat.

Climate change increases the likelihood of flooding. UK cities, towns and villages must adapt and improve their resilience to its impacts: currently, about five million homes are at risk.

A new long term funding strategy delivering a national standard for resilience to flooding is needed to better prepare and protect all parts of the country.

The National Infrastructure Assessment set out the case for this nationwide standard of resilience to flooding, with catchment based plans. These plans should evaluate the full range of options including traditional flood defences, ‘green infrastructure’, individual property measures and spatial planning.

Climate change and population growth puts increasing pressure on England’s water: there is a one in four chance of a serious drought before 2050. Boosting resilience, the Commission showed, is almost half as expensive as relying on emergency measures in times of drought (saving up to £20 billion over the next 30 years).

A twin-track approach of managing demand and enhancing supply is needed to deliver by 2050 an extra 4,000 mega litres of water every day to reduce the risk of drought – the equivalent of well over 22 million bath tubs of water. This can be achieved by the government, regulators and water companies working together to deliver a national water transfer network and additional supply by the 2030s, halving leakage by 2050 and better managing demand.

The Commission’s Design Group was established in May 2019 following a recommendation in the National Infrastructure Assessment, which highlighted how projects can benefit from good design. Chaired by Professor Sadie Morgan, it brings together leaders from engineering, architecture, transport and landscape, to champion design excellence in infrastructure.

In February 2020 the group published the Design Principles for National Infrastructure. This set out four principles – climate, people, places and value – that should guide the planning and delivery of major projects. The government has subsequently in its National infrastructure Strategy committed to the principle of embedding good design in all infrastructure projects, boosted by new design champions on each major project, in line with our recommendations.

The design of national infrastructure must help set the trajectory for the UK to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner and provide a method for measuring emissions. Projects should support the natural and built environment, making active interventions to enrich ecosystems and seek to deliver a net biodiversity gain.

The Commission recommends that government should set out a pipeline of pot 1 Contracts for Difference auctions, to deliver at least 50 per cent renewable generation by 2030, as part of the transition to a highly renewable generation mix. Government should:

• Move technologies that have recently become cost competitive, such as offshore wind, to pot 1 following the next Contracts for Difference auction in Spring 2019. Pot 1 should be used for the overwhelming majority of the increase in renewable capacity required.
• Publish indicative auction dates and budgets for the next decade by 2020.
• Over time take whole systems costs into account in Contracts for Difference auctions, as far as possible.
• Consider whether there is a case for a small-scale, pot 2 auction in the 2020s, if there are technologies which are serious contenders for future pot 1 auctions.
• Not agree support for more than one nuclear power station beyond Hinkley Point C, before 2025.

The Commission recommends that government needs to make progress towards zero carbon heat:

• Establishing the safety case for using hydrogen as a replacement for natural gas, followed by trialling hydrogen at community scale by 2021.
• Subject to the success of community trials, launching a trial to supply hydrogen to at least 10,000 homes by 2023, including hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage.
• By 2021, government should establish an up to date evidence base on the performance of heat pumps within the UK building stock and the scope for future reductions in the cost of installation.
• Set a target for the rate of installations of energy efficiency measures in the building stock of 21,000 measures a week by 2020, maintained at this level until a decision on future heat infrastructure is taken. Policies to deliver this should include:
  • Allocating £3.8 billion between now and 2030 to deliver energy efficiency improvements in social housing.
  • Government continuing to trial innovative approaches for driving energy efficiency within the owner occupier market.
  • Government setting out, by the end of 2018, how regulations in the private rented sector will be tightened and enforced over time.

The Commission recommends that government should set a target for recycling 65 per cent of municipal waste and 75 per cent of plastic packaging by 2030. Government should set individual targets for all local authorities and provide financial support for transitional costs. The government should establish:

• Separate food waste collection for households and businesses (to enable production of biogas) by 2025.
• Clear two symbol labelling (recyclable or not recyclable) across the UK by 2022.
• A consistent national standard of recycling for households and businesses by 2025.
• Restrictions on the use of hard-to-recycle plastic packaging (PVC and polystyrene) by 2025.
• Incentives to reduce packaging and for product design that is more easily recyclable by 2022.
• A common data reporting framework for businesses handling commercial and industrial waste by the end of 2019, ideally through voluntary reporting but if necessary by legislation.

The Commission recommends that government, Ofgem and local authorities should enable the roll out of charging infrastructure sufficient to allow consumer demand to reach close to 100 per cent electric new car and van sales by 2030. Government should address the implications of technological innovation in long term transport planning processes, including the next rail control period and road investment strategy.

• Ofgem should take on the role of regulating the interaction between electric vehicle charge points and the electricity network immediately, ensuring that electric vehicle charging and vehicle to grid services contribute to the optimisation of the energy system. Government, industry and Ofgem should work together to set minimum standards for a network of interoperable, smart charge points.
• Ofgem should commission electricity network operators to work with charge point providers to identify potential anticipatory investments required to accommodate public charging infrastructure. Opportunities for investment within the current price control period should be identified by Summer 2019.
• Government should place a requirement on local authorities to work with charge point providers to allocate 5 per cent of their parking spaces (including on-street) by 2020 and 20 per cent by 2025 which may be converted to electric vehicle charge points.
• Government should subsidise, by 2022, the provision of rapid charge points in rural and remote areas, where the market will not deliver in the short term.
• Government should establish a centre for advanced transport technology in the Department for Transport to bring together work on technological innovation and ensure its implications are central to future investment proposals. This should include developing and overseeing the Commission’s proposed connected and autonomous vehicles framework.

Government should commit to decarbonising road freight by 2050, announcing plans by the end of 2021 to ban the sale of new diesel powered HGVs no later than 2040. To support this:

• government should, in conjunction with distribution and transmission network operators, prepare detailed assessments of the infrastructure required to enable the uptake of battery electric or hydrogen HGVs, including the refuelling requirements at depots and key rest areas on major freight routes. For battery electric, these assessments should include enhancements to distribution networks alongside alternatives to reinforcement, such as energy storage. For hydrogen, these assessments should cover the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen, including any dependency with the decarbonisation of the heating supply system.
•  Ofgem, as part of the next energy distribution price review (RIIO‑ED2) starting in 2023, should include a clear requirement for distribution network operators (in partnership with the freight industry) to map out the infrastructure upgrades and opportunities for alternative solutions, such as energy storage, required to enable large scale freight van charging at depots.

Government should undertake detailed cross‑modal analysis, using a corridor‑based approach, of the long term options for rail freight’s transition to zero emissions, including low carbon rail services and the scope for road based alternatives. It should then publish, by the end of 2021, a full strategy for rail freight to reach zero emissions by 2050, specifying the investments and/or subsidies that it will provide to get there.