UK: The Crown Estate commits to net zero by 2030

The UK Crown Estate has set a target to become a net zero carbon business by 2030 and outlined its commitments to reach this goal, which include optimising the green energy potential of the UK’s offshore renewable energy resources.

The move has come as the Crown Estate wants to align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Climate Agreement and support the UK in its ambition to become net-zero by 2050.

With the UK government recently setting the country’s offshore wind target for 2030 to 40 GW, the Crown Estate’s plan now includes facilitating the development of offshore wind and enabling new technologies like floating wind to help enable the delivery of this target.

A few days ago, the authority launched consultation on how best to accelerate the development of floating wind in the UK, as part of the government’s ambition to deliver 1 GW of floating wind by 2030.

The seabed manager, responsible for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, also said that this will be done in a way which protects marine biodiversity and the natural environment.

“We understand there will be big challenges to solve along the way and to succeed we will need to rapidly innovate in areas like technology and digital, to think differently about how we optimise the green potential of the seabed, as well as find new solutions by collaborating with our many customers and partners who share our ambitions”, said Dan Labbad, the Crown Estate’s Chief Executive.

Overall, the Crown Estate plans to rapidly decarbonise its real estate portfolio by, among other things, procuring 100 per cent renewable energy across its portfolio.

“The Crown Estate will focus on building capacity and expertise, supporting innovation and technological enhancement and identifying new partnerships and ways of working with customers and stakeholders to align and support each other’s environmental goals”, the authority said.