The cost of reducing carbon emissions in infrastructure

In 2020, while developing the ICE’s Carbon Management in Infrastructure course, I included a slide with the following prediction:

“If carbon reduction is purely voluntary, we are unlikely to reach net zero.”

It’s since become clear to me that if this remains the case, catastrophic climate change is inevitable.

We can’t rely on the kindness of people’s hearts to solve the climate crisis.

Carbon reduction needs to be contractual

Behavioural change, raising awareness, collaboration and challenging the status quo are all important factors.

But if we are to stand any chance of hitting our national net zero targets, carbon reduction needs to become contractual, not just coincidental.

This can come at a cost – understanding what these costs may be and who should pay them is crucial.

As such, I have developed a new course, Carbon in Infrastructure Procurement, first available on 26 February 2025.

How we assess greenhouse gas emissions must be standard

We must start by levelling the playing field for the supply chain and standardising the assessment of greenhouse gases associated with the built environment.

It still surprises me to see conflicting carbon advice making the rounds within the industry on this issue.

At times, some are even reluctant to include embodied carbon in assessments.

The recent Supreme Court Finch case, where an oil extraction development proposal was ruled unlawful as it didn't account for downstream (i.e. whole life carbon) emissions, highlights this need for clarity.

The problem with carbon footprints

I’ve grown increasingly uncomfortable with the term ‘carbon footprint’.

This phrase, which is absent from relevant built environment standards, downplays the seriousness of the subject.

The phrase comes from large organisations encouraging individuals to take responsibility for climate change while keeping attention away from more systemic problems.

The progress the PAS 2080 standard is helping achieve

We must always consider the overall impact our decisions will have in terms of carbon emission, from beginning to end.

PAS 2080: 2023 - Carbon Management in Buildings and Infrastructure is grounded in this aim.

We’re gradually seeing it being mandated more frequently and at higher levels, including by the UK government’s Department for Transport.

PAS 2080 doesn’t just help to standardise what carbon to measure, it also requires us to set reduction targets and proactively manage carbon emissions across the supply chain.

It isn’t just carbon accounting, it’s genuine carbon management.

The carbon cost tipping point

As we follow PAS 2080 and use its carbon management process, we need to monitor potential cost implications, positive and negative.

There’s a strong link between carbon and cost, especially in infrastructure.

Reducing carbon often leads to cost savings, but not always.

At some point, particularly as a project moves from design to construction, lower carbon options start to cost more.

This is the concept of the carbon cost tipping point, an issue I have been raising since 2019.

This raises difficult questions such as why we should choose options beyond the carbon cost tipping point and who should bear the cost?

Can’t leave climate change to market forces

The balance between carbon and cost has interested me for years.

It prompted me to study environmental economics at Strathclyde University while working for the Scottish government in 2022.

The more I understood about the issue, the more certain I was that carbon reduction needs to be contractual.

Climate change is one of the most serious issues of our time, surely we should proactively and consistently manage it?

As my lecturer at the time, Roger Perman, put it: “Nobody who has seriously studied the issues believes that the economy’s relationship to the natural environment can be left entirely to market forces.”

Carbon in contracts

The PAS 2080 process involves assessing carbon, working to reduce it, then incorporating requirements into procurement mechanisms (ie. construction contracts) to ‘make it happen’.

This points to the importance of linking carbon experts with contract experts.

And, of raising the importance of carbon not only as an environmental issue but as an innate part of project delivery.

The X29 secondary clause was published in 2022 and is starting to be used to introduce climate change requirements to projects through NEC contracts.

Great examples exist of how to embed carbon into contracts, but there’s little widespread understanding of this and how carbon can be used to leverage multiple positive outcomes.

Knowing how to talk about carbon with clients and supply chains

I included a section on procurement in the ICE Carbon Management Course launched in 2020.

But as PAS 2080 gains traction, and awareness of the carbon cost tipping point grows, understanding how to ensure low carbon outcomes - especially those which may cost more - has become much more important.

Clients need to know how to ask for low carbon outcomes.

The supply chain needs to know how to respond to pre-qualification questionnaires and tenders, especially if clients aren’t asking the right questions during the bidding process.

How do we diplomatically challenge a well-meaning client that isn’t quite asking for the right thing?

The Carbon in Infrastructure Procurement course

For all these reasons, I have developed the Carbon in Infrastructure Procurement course.

This half day, intensive course will provide the necessary guidance to ensure that carbon reduction becomes contractual, to the benefit of all parties, helping us stay on track towards net zero.

Find out more about the course