In my last column in January, I set the scene for some of the big-picture challenges facing the economy and construction in 2022: the pandemic, domestic political turmoil, rising inflation and interest rates, public procurement reforms, building safety legislation, resource scarcity and an ever more urgent need to decarbonise. Six months on – and this week in particular – it is fair to say that the storm clouds have gathered.

Although the pandemic is hopefully behind us, we now have the conflict in Ukraine to contend with as well as an impending threat of recession. And that is before we even attempt to consider the consequences of the current political turmoil.

The seriousness of the issues above is hard to ignore. We are facing one of the most volatile markets of recent times. However, I want to deviate from the understandable focus on the current market, which is already securing lots of column inches. I would like instead to debate whether longer-term trends on decarbonisation risk wrong-footing an industry preoccupied with current issues.

…