Promoting Community Relations to Advance Net-Zero: An Interview with Marjorie Neasham Glasgow

Marjorie Neasham, Promoting Community Relations to advance Net Zero, Glasgow

Sir Keir Starmer swept to power and is proposing a ‘mission driven government.’ He is making clean energy one of Labour’s top missions. Vowing to make the UK a ‘clean energy superpower,’ Labour have set bold targets to double onshore wind, treble solar and quadruple offshore wind by 2030.

Their dedication to decarbonising society is welcome. Labour has also made welcome signals they are committed to translating ambitious targets into action through necessary planning reform.

To attract the level of investment required for us to achieve net zero – especially in the timeframe Labour have suggested – and for renewables to meet their economic potential, we need a more efficient planning process. In her first major speech as Chancellor, Rachel Reeves lifted the de-facto ban on onshore wind. This overturns planning rules that have made it almost impossible to secure planning consent for onshore wind in England in the last decade.

The UK can yet become a global leader in renewables innovation, enabling a rollout of onshore projects that make environmental and financial sense amid a world without consensus on climate change. In fact, the UK is making more progress than many think in the transition to a more renewables-based energy sector.

For the first time ever, renewables accounted for more than 40% total UK electricity demand in the second half of 2023. Analyses by Drax Electric Insights showed that in the 12 months leading into October 2023, coal supplied less than 1% of the UK’s electricity use for the first time.

The UK is also the first major economy to cut its emissions by half since 1990, compared to the EU, who have cut emissions by 30%, the US not at all, while China’s emissions are up by 300% according to the UK Department for Energy Security and Net Zero in a 12 March 2024 statement on reinforcing energy supply.

Further, a growing proportion of new jobs in the UK are ‘green jobs’, defined by the Office for National Statistics as ‘employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change’. Recent PwC data indicates that 2.2% of new UK jobs are classified as ‘green,’ green jobs growing four times faster than jobs in the wider UK market. And research by the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources indicates UK green jobs could increased by 150,000 by 2030.

Yet, while the data shows we are making progress, we are still some way off bringing local communities on board with the transition. To deliver on decarbonisation, we don’t just need political will and investment.

Many people see the value and importance of transitioning to renewable energy. For instance, they are aware that producing and burning fossil fuels creates air pollution that harms our health and generates toxic emissions that drive climate change. Imperial College research finds that air pollution is the largest single environmental risk factor in the UK, associated with the premature deaths of 28,000-36,000 people each year and affecting the poorest in society the most. The transition to renewable energy will help address these health concerns.

However, people understandably also want to know what tangible economic, cultural and social benefits the transition will bring to their daily lives and their communities. Right now, the renewables industry is struggling to convince people that we can genuinely deliver a green energy transition with respect for landscapes, livelihoods and heritage.

Sir Keir Starmer vowed to make public trust a central theme of his government. That must be the foundation of all our work across the renewables sector too. In my 30 years in this sector, I have learned that trust is the cornerstone for driving meaningful change in the renewable industry.

Without communities onboard, in a way that engages them based on their local needs, concerns and aspirations, it is difficult to develop the trust that is so vital to seizing the opportunities in front of the UK.

Trust fosters collaboration, ensuring that local needs, concerns, and aspirations are addressed. This engagement not only facilitates smoother project implementation but also enhances public support and acceptance.

Trust can only be developed gradually through relationships between real people, not corporate language or platitudes. This process takes time – there are no shortcuts. A recent King’s College London study found that 98% of the UK population say they trust people they know personally – joint top out of 24 countries with Sweden and Norway – showing that trust can only be built through relationships between real people rather than conglomerates and brands.

For responsible developers, months if not years of investment in community relations are necessary to understand who they are and what they care about. Consultation processes must not be tick-box exercises. They must be proactive and truly collaborative, with developers actively approaching community members at the onset of every project.

Developers need to demonstrate to local communities that a green energy transition is worthwhile for them socially, culturally and economically as well as being sustainable.

Communities must be consulted and allowed to shape projects from the start, considering the potential impacts on their lives. That includes listening and learning about their specific needs as well as generating local jobs and creating cleaner, more sustainable energy sources.

Developers have so many assets and areas of expertise they can offer communities, should both sides be open to a genuine, real relationship.

At Ridge Clean Energy we look beyond our renewable energy projects when partnering with local communities, and use our resources and expertise to advance community initiatives that are important to them. In some cases, communities may seek investment for local initiatives that are not at all directly related to energy. That doesn’t preclude a developer from helping, they just need to think creatively.

For example, we recently lent our fundraising and development expertise to one community in Scotland that wanted help to restore its much-loved local pier, an important point of cultural pride. We worked with community leaders and groups in the town of Inveraray near one of our development sites.

Our team helped the community to apply for and secure £244,000 in funding to take ownership of the pier and restore it, finally seeing it open to the public for the first time in a decade. We supported local community negotiations with the previous pier owner, helping to provide the confidence that a repurchasing was possible. This was all undertaken years before we submitted a planning permission application for our site.

We are also in the process of establishing a Climate Care Awards scheme for primary schools in the vicinity of our projects, to help contribute to their academic growth and foster a sense of ownership and responsibility towards their community and the planet.

As part of the Awards, children will be encouraged first to work together with their classmates and their families to calculate their carbon footprint, and second to take small steps to reduce it, by, for example, turning off lights, shopping second-hand and planting their own vegetables.

We are excited about the project’s potential, and would like to share the programme with other renewables companies who could take it to the schools in the communities they serve.

American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett once said ‘trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everyone notices.’ As we navigate the complexities of the green energy transition, trust cannot simply be a buzzword.

There is a profound importance to fostering genuine long-term trust among communities. Developers and politicians alike must acknowledge that will only happen through real actions, not just words, one genuine relationship at a time.

Marjorie Neasham Glasgow is CEO of Ridge Clean Energy