While those of us who specialise in sustainability have been pushing the green agenda for many years, it has only been in the past few that we have seen a significant increase in the demand for net zero carbon. After years of slow progress, the built environment is finally starting to respond to wider public demands and aspirations for real sustainable development. This is largely because the investment community has woken up to the inevitably destructive consequences of climate change, and the risks posed to their portfolios and assets.

Major investors are becoming increasingly vocal about what they expect from the businesses and assets in which they invest. Last year, a group of 137 investors representing $20tn in assets called on large companies to set science-based targets (SBTs) or risk losing out on investment. And just last month a group of 38 investors managing $8.5tn in assets announced that they would be using the Institutional Investors Group for Climate Change’s (IIGCC) Net Zero Investment Framework to help them achieve net zero by 2050.

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