The month in review – February 2026

This month, the Aldersgate Group has continued to make the case for ambitious climate and environmental measures that drive economic growth and reinforce energy security. We hosted an HGV policy workshop, a roundtable on the heat pump workforce, continued our engagement with key stakeholders on important climate and environmental policy developments, and progressed our pipeline of 2026 events and report launches.

Continuing our focus on decarbonising transport and industry, we held a productive HGV workshop with members on Monday 2 February to discuss the barriers to zero-emission freight. On Wednesday 4 February, we hosted a parliamentary reception, in collaboration with Luke Murphy MP, bringing Aldersgate Group members together with MPs and policymakers to further press the case for planning for future clean heat skills. Further details below.

Following publication of the UK government’s response to its consultation on UK Sustainability Reporting Standards, Head of Policy Beth Barker’s reactive quote was covered by Sustainable Views. She said, “We welcome the Government’s decision to endorse UK Sustainability Reporting Standards based on the ISSB framework. Alignment with global baseline standards is essential to provide businesses and investors with the clarity, comparability and confidence they need to allocate capital towards the UK’s net zero and nature-positive transition.” Aldersgate Group responded to the initial government consultation in September 2025.

2. Policy and Public Affairs news

In the past month, Aldersgate Group has:

Financing green

Aldersgate Group team members met senior leadership at the Office for Investment, a joint department of DBT and No 10 which aims to promote inward investment into UK businesses. The discussion centred on our response to the National Wealth Fund strategic plan and on our forthcoming work in green finance, as well as how the Aldersgate Group can help the Office connect with British businesses, especially industry.

Enabling private sector action on nature 

The policy team met Defra officials to rearticulate our concerns about implementation and offer some solutions presented by members, including on Natural England financing, assurance programmes and public registers for transparency. We are pleased that our views were well received and we were given assurances that permanence of conservation measures under EDPs were being looked at carefully.

The team have also met with the Labour Climate and Environment Forum, the Liberal Democrats Nature Coalition and the Conservative Environment Network in the past month to discuss policy priorities and the Nature Restoration Fund. We were able to clearly articulate member views on the implementation of the new planning reforms, as well as insights from our meeting with the number 10 policy unit in January where we discussed our recent briefing on the NRF.

In addition, Rachel, Executive Director, spoke at an Aviva/Defra-organised event as part of the IPBES12 Parallel Programme Business and Finance Day on 4 February.

Decarbonising heavy goods vehicles 

We hosted an online member workshop to discuss the Department for Transport’s consultation on a new HGV CO₂ emissions regulatory framework for the UK. The discussion covered key questions in the consultation on regulatory options to support the transition to zero-emission HGVs, as well as wider policy questions around low-carbon fuels and enabling infrastructure.

Decarbonising industry 

Aldersgate Group will publish its latest policy brief and accompanying technical report on Powering up public procurement to drive industrial decarbonisation and competitiveness on Thursday 5th March.

Business action on climate adaptation

Aldersgate Group team members met the senior clerk of the Environmental Audit Committee. Building on ongoing engagement with Chair Toby Perkins MP, the discussion covered the committee’s forthcoming work and how the Aldersgate Group can support it, with particular interest in our upcoming work on adaptation and resilience.

Skills

Following the launch of the Aldersgate Group’s report, “Workforce planning for clean heat” – produced jointly with the MCS Foundation, Santander and Phoenix Group – we hosted a parliamentary reception in collaboration with Luke Murphy MP to further share our findings. Other attendees included Bill Esterson MP, Chair of the Commons Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, and representatives from the Office for Clean Energy Jobs.

Supporting the launch of the same report, External Affairs Manager Alex Hutchinson spoke on an Energy Saving Trust webinar panel, “From policy to practice: Evaluating the Warm Homes Plan”. Following the launch of the Government’s long-awaited plan to upgrade five million homes by 2030, Alex stressed the potential skills constraints the “Workforce planning for clean heat” research had found.

Circular Economy 

Rachel Solomon Williams, Executive Director, joined the UK Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh CBE MP and EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Jessika Roswall, at an IEEP UK event to speak about ‘Delivering growth across Europe through a circular economy’. Minister Creagh’s speech focused on the upcoming Circular Economy Growth Plan, which she said will be published ‘soon’.

EU-UK policy reset 

Beth Barker, Head of Policy, joined the panel for an IEEP UK webinar on ‘Is the UK-EU Reset on track for the environment?’ alongside Alistair Carmichael MP, Chair of the EFRA Committee. The discussion covered key policy areas from negotiations to link emissions trading schemes to a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to fishing deals. The next EU-UK Reset Summit is expected later this year.

3. AG Insights

From targets to traction: aligning business incentives with the Environment Act.

Guy Thompson, Director at Aldersgate Group, wrote for the website on how smarter regulation and better incentives can unlock private investment to clean up rivers, restore nature and grow the economy.