About.
What we do.
Creating Sustainable Cities is an Ibex Earth led initiative that works with the UK's cities and towns to co-create and implement sustainable solutions that help local authorities, communities and businesses to overcome the challenges that they face in accelerating the pace, scale and financing of delivering local net zero and climate action.
Since 2018, Creating Sustainable Cities has secured in excess of £53 million worth of funding via a range of grant programmes that has helped the organisations that we work with to deliver projects that result in greener, cleaner and healthier places to live, work and visit. This has included projects that help build greater climate resilience by building the business case to invest in nature based solutions, work to establish the adoption of the circular economy and initiatives that have helped to decarbonise schools and public buildings.
At the start of 2023 we decided to focus our efforts on developing initiatives that would help to unlock private finance into local net zero and climate action. After all, somewhere between 70% to 80% of the finance that is required globally to decarbonise our planet must come from the private sector. Yet, in practice this funding is not finding its way to the cities and towns that need it, especially those outside of major cities and mayoral devolved areas in England. If we want to achieve net zero targets and build climate resilience locally then we must create clear pathways for private finance to play its part.
Financing Sustainable Cities.
In its 2019 publication, 'The UK's contribution to stopping global warming', the Committee on Climate Change estimated that the investment needed to achieve nationwide net zero targets was £1.4 trillion. This would require the significant mobilisation of private capital alongside public spending to achieve these targets. Towards the end of 2023 Innovate UK and PwC published 'Local Net Zero Projects', which highlighted that the UK needs more than £500 billion in total investment (roughly £20 billion per year) into local net zero projects to supports its overall net zero ambitions. According to the report, under current technology, policy and market assumptions, £250 billion will need to come from the private sector, supplemented by approximately £300 billion from the public purse.
Bringing in private investment at scale will require developing the right commercial models and delivery vehicles that can help structure bankable projects that will attract investors and drive forward local net zero action. Yet, the level of resources and capacity within a local authority, together with technical know-how and financial expertise that is needed to develop and structure net zero projects that brings together stakeholders from both the private and public sector is a major challenge that will need to be overcome if local net zero targets are to be achieved.
Financing a sustainable city requires new ways of thinking, new commercial models and the adoption of new governance structures that will help drive private finance into local net zero and climate action. Our focus is working with key stakeholders from across the public, private, third and academic sectors to determine how we can get these new commercial models and governance structures into place to accelerate the pace, scale and financing of the net zero transition.
Better Planet Schools is an initiative designed and delivered by Better Planet Education (formerly Young
People's Trust for the Environment)
engaging with the UK's primary schools about some of our planet's most pressing environmental challenges. There are now over 500 primary schools taking part!
Shift to Net Zero is part of Innovate UK's Net Zero Living Programme and provides funding to engage with local authorities and help them to build their capacity and understanding of how they can access and deploy private finance to accelerate their net zero journey.
Helping to create your sustainable city.
Every Creating Sustainable City project is designed to offer opportunities for private sector involvement. Find out more by requesting a copy of our prospectus - hello@ibexearth.com