Sustainability

Construction minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan has outlined three government procurement changes designed to push the industry towards net-zero. Speaking at day one of CN’s Decarbonising Construction event today, Trevelyan said the government had to use its buying power to create change: “It’s likely that, going forward, government tenders will place greater…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has published 10 commitments in a bid to tackle climate change within the construction industry. The organisation wants the industry to reduce product emissions by 66 per cent by 2035, from 2018 levels, which will include measures such as eliminating three quarters of diesel plant…

Highways England has set out a range of net-zero target dates to help meet the UK’s own target of a net-zero economy by 2050. Central to its plans is for highways construction and maintenance work to be net-zero by 2040. Highways England said it had “a significant opportunity to catalyse…

HS2 has announced that it will aim to halve the usual amount of carbon emissions involved in the construction of a key viaduct within the rail megaproject. Main works contractor EKFB (a joint venture comprising Eiffage, Kier, Ferrovial and Bam Nuttall) has worked with engineering firms Arcadis Setec and Cowi…

HS2 is encouraging its supply chain to retrofit old plant to extend their life and reduce emissions. The megaproject’s head of environmental sciences Neil Wait told Construction News that helping to ensure machinery becomes cleaner is one of the ways it hopes to support the industry in reducing emissions. He…

A legal challenge to Highways England’s £27.4bn five-year road investment strategy (RIS2) has kicked-off in the High Court. Campaign group Transport Action Network has launched the judicial review action, claiming that transport secretary Grant Shapps broke the law by failing to consider the effect of the plan on the environment.…

Galliford Try and Henry Boot have become the latest construction firms to set formal targets for achieving net-zero greenhouse emissions across their own direct operations by 2030. Additionally, Galliford Try has pledged to reach net-zero across the whole of its activities no later than 2045. The company said it has…

The UK Government is moving too slowly on delivering policy to match its climate pledges, including on nuclear power station builds, its advisory body has said. In a new report released today, the Committee on Climate Change has warned that, despite rhetoric on cutting carbon emissions, too much policy is…

Scape has recruited two senior members from Arcadis and Sir Robert McAlpine as it prepares for more public sector project investment. Andy Bacon has joined the framework provider from Sir Robert McAlpine to take up the position of head of category management, which will involve working with contractors on Scape’s…

A fusion energy company backed by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos is to build a demonstration fusion power plant in Oxfordshire, after securing backing from the UK Government. Canadian firm General Fusion said it plans to begin construction of its Fusion Demonstration Plant (FDP) in the autumn of 2022, at the…