TO BE PUBLISHED December 2026
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This conference will examine next steps following the setting of the UK's Seventh Carbon Budget, and priorities for emissions reduction and transition towards net zero by 2050. With the Government due to publish its statutory delivery plan for CB7, discussion will consider the overall approach to meeting the budget, including governance and accountability, investment requirements and implications for industrial competitiveness, questions of affordability and the distribution of costs and benefits, and the capacity of national and local institutions to support delivery.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to assess the practical choices involved in delivering nearer-term carbon budgets and the UK's 2030 and 2035 commitments while preparing for CB7. Delegates will look at the dependencies between policy, infrastructure, investment and delivery, including where progress in one area affects what is achievable elsewhere, and what contingency may be needed where technologies, networks or other enabling measures do not develop at the expected pace.
Drawing on the Climate Change Committee’s 2026 Progress in reducing emissions report, attendees will also consider implications of its assessment of uneven progress across key areas, including heat decarbonisation and industrial electrification, and what this means for timing and sequencing of measures across sectors. The agenda will examine practical barriers affecting businesses, investors, households, local authorities and communities, including electricity costs, grid and infrastructure capacity, access to finance, workforce and supply chain constraints, and the affordability and accessibility of low-carbon technologies.
Further areas for discussion include approaches to emissions reduction across power, buildings, transport, industry, agriculture and land use, the role of hydrogen, CCUS and greenhouse gas removals, and the interaction of domestic delivery with energy security and industrial competitiveness. The conference will also consider international commitments, carbon markets and trade, including the implications for UK industry, investment and the treatment of imported and consumption emissions.
Governance, accountability & investment
Attendees will look at what a credible framework for delivering CB7 might look like, with the budget set at 535 MtCO2e over 2038-2042, equivalent to an 87% reduction on 1990 emissions levels. Areas for discussion include how the forthcoming statutory delivery plan should address nearer-term carbon budgets and the UK’s 2030 and 2035 commitments, the milestones and evidence needed to assess progress, and arrangements for adjusting course where delivery assumptions are not borne out.
The agenda will also consider the visibility needed by businesses, investors and infrastructure providers to support long-term investment, and priorities for developing investable project pipelines, access to public and private finance, and allocation of risk. Further discussion will examine implications for public finances and industrial competitiveness, the predictability needed around policy, infrastructure and delivery timetables to support investment decisions, and workforce and supply chain capacity.
Areas for discussion include:
- planning: priorities for the CB7 delivery plan - sequencing with nearer-term carbon budgets and NDCs - trigger points and contingency measures
- scrutiny:
- indicators for Parliament and the CCC - follow-up to the Environmental Audit Committee’s Seventh Carbon Budget inquiry
- consistency of reporting across the UK - statutory requirements - accountability where milestones are missed
- investment: project pipelines - public and private finance - allocation of risk - policy and regulatory certainty across investment cycles
- costs & competitiveness: electricity and infrastructure costs - implications for business competitiveness and public finances - CCC analysis of net zero costs and exposure to fossil fuel price shocks
- skills & supply chains: engineering and installer capacity - implementation of the Clean Energy Jobs Plan - domestic supply chain capability - transition for affected workers and places
Sectoral pathways, infrastructure & technology
The agenda looks at the different practical requirements and enablers for emissions reduction across power, industry, buildings, transport, agriculture and land use.
Delegates will assess approaches where delivery depends on access to electricity networks, infrastructure, finance, skills or technologies that are not yet available at sufficient scale, and the implications for timing, investment and contingency. They will also discuss priorities for coordinating investment where sectors rely on the same networks, infrastructure or constrained resources.
Areas for discussion include:
- power & networks:
- grid investment and connections reform - connection availability and timing - storage and flexibility - electricity costs
- coordinating demand from homes, transport, industry and data centres
- industrial decarbonisation:
- electrification of industrial heat - capital investment and asset-replacement cycles
- hydrogen and CCUS beyond first clusters - energy costs and competitiveness - infrastructure requirements
- buildings: implementation of the Warm Homes Plan - heat decarbonisation - retrofit quality and property suitability - finance and installation capacity - public sector buildings
- transport:
- EV and commercial fleet transition - public and workplace charging
- freight efficiency - public transport and active travel - alignment between transport, energy and development planning
- aviation & shipping: sustainable fuels - airport and port infrastructure - shore power - treatment of residual emissions and use of international credits
- agriculture & land use:
- lower-emission farming and farm viability - investment and incentives - woodland and peatland recovery
- competing demands for food production, development, energy infrastructure and nature recovery
- biomass & resource allocation: competing demands for limited biomass across sectors - priorities for allocation - standards and safeguards
- greenhouse gas removals:
- scale-up of engineered removals - integration with the UK ETS - standards and market development
- the extent of reliance on removals where other routes to emissions reduction are constrained
Household affordability, participation & local delivery
The conference will consider approaches to supporting household participation in the transition, including limiting cost barriers, and questions around access to finance and infrastructure, the suitability of homes for low-carbon technologies, and the availability of trusted advice and consumer protection.
Areas for discussion include:
- household costs & access: energy bills - upfront and whole-life technology costs - access to finance and infrastructure - differences by income, tenure and location
- support & targeting: access for lower-income and vulnerable households - eligibility and targeting of support - barriers for renters and harder-to-treat homes
- consumer confidence: information and advice - retrofit standards - product performance - complaints and redress - confidence in new tariffs and flexibility arrangements
- local delivery: local authority capacity and funding certainty - regional and local energy planning - alignment of national programmes with local capability
- coordination: network operators - housing providers - community organisations - practical delivery across different places
- participation: community energy - engagement in local infrastructure and development - implementation of the Energising Britain public participation strategy
- distribution: allocation of costs and benefits across households, regions and local economies - implications for health, housing, energy security and nature
Carbon pricing, trade & international commitments
Further sessions focus on the practical consequences of carbon pricing and border measures for UK industry and trade, and the relationship between CB7 and emissions trading.
With the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism taking effect from January 2027, delegates will consider priorities for business preparedness, exposure to carbon costs, supply chains and competitiveness, alongside changes to free allocation under the UK ETS. The agenda will also consider the potential consequences of UK-EU ETS linkage for businesses and trade, as well as wider questions around international carbon markets, the UK's climate commitments and international climate finance.
Areas for discussion include:
- UK-ETS and CB7 alignment: Phase II cap trajectory, including its relationship with the 2038-2042 CB7 - investment signals - policy clarity
- carbon pricing & competitiveness: UK ETS costs - free allocation - exposure of energy-intensive and trade-exposed sectors - carbon leakage protections
- UK CBAM: implementation from January 2027 - compliance and supply chain implications - interaction with free allocation - effects on import costs
- EU CBAM: implications for UK exporters - carbon cost differentials - trade friction and competitiveness
- UK-EU alignment: negotiations on ETS linkage - implications for carbon costs, trade and investment - potential interaction with CBAM arrangements
- carbon markets & accounting: domestic and international markets - standards and integrity - imported and consumption emissions
- international commitments: alignment with the UK's 2035 NDC and the Paris Agreement - implications of COP31 developments - climate diplomacy
- climate finance: implementation of the International Climate Finance Strategy 2026 - attracting and de-risking investment - adaptation and mitigation finance
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Department for Transport; Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade; Ministry of Defence; Department for the Economy, NI; HM Treasury; Environment Agency; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Homes England; Marine Management Organisation; Government Office for Science; Planning Inspectorate; Active Travel England; Transport Scotland; Office for Investment; National Wealth Fund; the Welsh Government; and The Scottish Government.
