The month in review – August 2026

Aldersgate Group is participating in the UK Electricity Bills Taskforce, led by E3G, developing proposals to cut electricity bills for all consumers by 2029 and accelerate the shift towards electrification. The taskforce has drafted a report setting out recommendations and policy solutions for government, which will be published ahead of the Autumn Budget.

We are advertising for a new Communications and Events Officer at the Aldersgate Group. The new role will be responsible for administering, coordinating and supporting activities across our Communications function, and will support the organisation in growing its influence and membership. It would be great if you could share the advert with anyone you think would be interested. Further details here.

Aldersgate Group will be represented at five of the political party conferences this autumn. Our aim is to meet with MPs, advisers, officials and fellow organisations shaping the next phase of climate and environment policy, and to make the business case for a competitive, sustainable economy directly to those making the decisions. Details of which team members will be at which conference are highlighted below.

This month we held a team “watch party” for an online screening of the National Emergency Briefing on climate change. For more information or to arrange a screening, see National Emergency Briefing.

2. Policy update

In the past month, Aldersgate Group has:

Overarching climate and nature policy

New report: assessing government progress on climate and nature

In September, the Aldersgate Group will publish a short report assessing the government’s progress on climate and nature policy, identifying the key gaps and setting out recommendations to address them. Designed as a succinct and practical resource, it will help us deepen engagement with businesses, MPs and policymakers. The report launches on 9 September.

Party conference season

Conference season is almost upon us, and the Aldersgate Group will be attending all five conferences this autumn. We’ll be meeting MPs, advisers, officials and fellow organisations shaping the next phase of climate and environment policy, and making the business case for a competitive, sustainable economy directly to those taking the decisions. If you’re attending any of the conferences, do let us know, we’d be delighted to see you there.

Here is where you will find us:

• Reform UK, 3^rd September – Rachel Solomon Williams
• Liberal Democrat, 19^th to 22^nd September – Tom Fewins
• Labour, 27^th to 30^th September – Rachel Solomon Williams and Tom Fewins
• Green, 2^nd to 4^th October – Alex Hutchinson
• Conservative, 4^th to 7^th October – Tom Kelly

Net Zero Council

This month we held a workshop with senior business and DESNZ representatives to develop a renewed approach to the Net Zero Council’s work on cross-cutting barriers to business decarbonisation. Aldersgate Group will be leading ‘sprint-style’ work under the Council’s Strategy workstream, driving action on a focused number of specific, critical barriers where the Council can be genuinely useful.

Climate adaptation

The Aldersgate Group has started a new project exploring how climate adaptation can support the government’s growth agenda. Using a place-based approach, the project will examine how climate risks could affect priority growth areas, the roles of national and local government, businesses and other stakeholders in delivering adaptation, and the planning and funding mechanisms needed to enable resilient growth. The project will develop practical policy recommendations.

Electricity costs and electrification

AG Reaction: Reducing emissions remains crucial to UK resilience

As the Conservative Party revealed a new ‘cheap power’ plan, designed to deliver more nuclear and gas capacity and restrict the UK’s pipeline of renewables projects, Rachel Solomon Williams shared her reactive commentary. She said, “We fully agree that reducing the cost of electricity should be a top priority, enabling businesses and consumers to make the transition to electric heating and transport while keeping costs down. But we are also in the middle of a climate crisis that poses huge risks to businesses and communities. The risks of fire, flooding, drought and overheating have never been more apparent, and the UK is no exception…” See her quote in full here.

Water

Aldersgate Group were approached for reactive comments by ENDS Report for an article investigating the ecological health of English waterbodies. Head of Policy, Beth Barker, said, “The government’s planned water reforms are welcome, but improving water quality requires action across the whole system. Catchment nutrient budgets could help coordinate action and investment to reduce pollution at least cost across sectors…” The article also promoted Aldersgate Group’s recent report, calling for the creation of a National Water Strategy supported by a National Water System Operator. Read the article here.

Following July’s publication of The Business Case for a National Water Framework, we will be holding a launch event at Pinsent Masons in London on 28^th October, with a keynote and panel discussion followed by networking. We are also seeking a roundtable with the All-Party Parliamentary Water Group ahead of the Water Bill, to take the report’s recommendations directly to parliamentarians. The policy team continues to engage with external and political stakeholders over the contents of the report and we are interested to hear suggestions from our members on avenues through which our recommendations can be amplified.

Planning

This month, the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government published its latest National Planning Policy Framework. Disappointingly, our written evidence submission to the NPPF consultation in March has not resulted in substantial improvements to the nature and energy efficiency measures set out in the new NPPF. We are conducting some comparative analysis to examine areas of advocacy for the coming months, with the maximum limits for BNG and energy efficiency standards being a key consideration.

There are, however, some important changes to planning rules that may be of interest to developers, built environment professionals and those working in the energy sector.

Enabling private sector action on nature

On 4^th August, Aldersgate Group met with the team at Defra responsible for nature markets. This was a friendly informal chat to discuss the water paper and Defra’s work in this area. The team were optimistic about the new ministers and gave some interesting insight on the new nature minister. They viewed devolution as a key priority that will impact all policy areas at Defra and were viewing their work through that lens.

We discussed the Aldersgate Group recommendation for a catchment pollution budget at the catchment/river basin level. Defra were interested in the concept but viewed mechanisms that might exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis as politically challenging at present. This was countered in a measured way, reflecting the views of the members. The AG team were invited to attend the next regular meeting with the nature markets team to discuss the investment chapter of the recent water report we published.

Built environment

The Aldersgate Group coordinated a session with the DESNZ team responsible for delivering recently announced changes to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for non-domestic properties. In the session, several Aldersgate Group members expressed their views on how the new policy would affect them and their clients, with specific focus on the size of buildings in scope. The session aimed to influence how DESNZ will ultimately implement changes to MEES.

Transport

As part of our collaboration with the Renewable Energy Association to develop a package of policy recommendations enabling the decarbonisation of HGVs, this month we held an online workshop with representatives from our membership and the wider stakeholder community. The discussion focused on the policy measures needed to address long-term policy certainty, costs and economic structures, and charging and grid access. Over the next month we will be developing a policy report and are planning an event in late October.

Industrial decarbonisation

The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee has launched an inquiry into the relationship between high UK energy costs, industrial decarbonisation and economic growth, with a particular focus on industrial electrification. The deadline for submissions is 18^th September. The Aldersgate Group is responding.

The Aldersgate Group is also working with the Carbon Balance Initiative and the Grantham Institute on research into a whole-value-chain policy approach to industrial decarbonisation, with the aim of informing government strategy and the policy beneath it.

Industrial Strategy

We have continued our work on the enabling policy needed to drive forward the decarbonisation of the creative industries, one of the eight growth sectors identified in the Modern Industrial Strategy. The work predominantly focuses on policy recommendations for decarbonising temporary power and transport. We are keen to identify opportunities for cross-sector collaboration where common decarbonisation challenges and policy solutions exist in these areas.

Net Zero and Nature Positive case studies

Our ongoing case studies project will offer bold, evidence-based demonstrations of how the climate and nature transition is benefitting people, communities, and businesses across the country now and changing the UK for the better. We hope they will allow us to build a story we can use to raise awareness, stimulate engagement and secure support from policy makers.

We are nearing publication of our first case study, which we will share with members.

3. AG Insights