New Net Zero priorities for construction
Image: Green building. Unsplash.
Following CCC’s 7th Carbon Budget, Construction Leadership Council (CLC) shares refreshed priorities for sector.
Following publication of the Committee for Climate Change’s (CCC) 7th Carbon Budget in February 2025, and a subsequent industry consultation, the CLC’s CO2nstructZero programme has published its refreshed programme.
Built Confidence’s Hannah Vickers, who is also CLC Lead for Net Zero and Productivity, shared the updated programme on stage at UK Construction Week in London on Tuesday 12 May. In a session entitled, CO2nstructZero: Aligning the Programme to Net Zero Delivery, which was warmly welcomed by the audience, she outlined the new priorities and how the CLC would be supporting the industry to meet them.
The six new priorities aim to support the industry to meet the expectations of the CCC, which has broadened its focus to also consider productivity/economic growth, energy security, and resilience, alongside its initial scope for achieving Net Zero.
The six new CO2nstructZero priorities:
Buildings
Housing retrofit & energy efficiency.
Heat pumps & heat networks.
Operational energy standards.
Climate-friendly choices
Carbon & biodiversity net gain measurement.
Innovative low-carbon materials.
Transport and plant
Zero emission vehicles.
Zero diesel sites.
Low-carbon NRMM transition.
Enabling low-carbon energy infrastructure
Delivery of Nuclear, heat networks, renewables & batteries.
Delivery of alternative fuels manufacturing.
Productivity-driven demand reduction
End-to-end productivity measurement.
Minimise Construction waste.
Industrialised construction models.
Investing in nature-based solutions
Biodiversity net gain.
Domestic tree planting.
Hannah Vickers, managing director at Built Confidence, said: “Following the publication of the seventh carbon budget by the Committee for Climate Change (CCC) in February 2026, I’m pleased to share CO2nstructZero’s refreshed programme and updated priorities.”
“This enables the CLC to meet a new focus from the CCC, which has rightly expanded beyond Net Zero to introduce areas such as productivity/economic growth, energy security, and resilience, to its thinking.”
“The six new priorities – buildings, transport and plant, productivity-driven demand reduction, climate-friendly choices, low carbon energy infrastructure, and nature-based solutions – will create a framework for the construction sector to continue to make progress and build on the achievements made since COP26.”
“We must remain steadfast in our approach. The end-goal of a greener, more productive, and more resilient construction sector is within reach, as are the new opportunities this will create for infrastructure and the built environment, energy security, and economic growth.”
Find out more at the CLC website where you can download Hannah’s presentation.
