COP27 – It’s never been more important to deliver a fair and just net zero
SFHA Chief Executive Sally Thomas reflects on COP27 and why our transition to net zero must have people who are already struggling at its heart.
Just twelve months ago, I spoke at COP26 about the social housing sector’s commitment to tackling the climate emergency and the work already ongoing across the country to drive down carbon emissions. And as world leaders gather again for COP27 during a cost-of-living crisis, it’s never been clearer that our transition to net zero must have people who are already struggling at its heart. While other events, decisions and circumstances vie for our attention, climate change remains our sector’s biggest challenge, as it does for the world.
This winter is set to be hugely challenging, with many more people plunging into fuel poverty. That’s a huge concern for the sector because housing associations are social purpose organisations which provide great homes, helping and supporting their tenants across the lifetime of their tenancies as well as building, maintaining and managing their homes. And all of this is now delivered with the aim of tackling the immediate effects of climate change and doing everything possible to prevent further impact.
In increasingly severe circumstances, our members are doing more than ever to protect both the people they house and the planet we all live on. It’s clear that we can only achieve this with policies which recognise it is the poorest in society who will be hit hardest by climate change. Put simply, climate justice and social justice can’t be separated.
As I said last year, at the heart of this challenge is the need for housing associations to ensure tenants can still afford to pay their rent and operate their heating once gas boilers have been replaced with cleaner – but often more expensive – systems. So while the climate crisis demands that we urgently move towards net zero, the focus must be on doing this in a fair and just way.
Ensuring a just transition for tenants has been a thread running through many of the discussions we’ve had this year. Having co-chaired the Zero Emissions Social Housing Taskforce (ZEST), our final report made recommendations on how to maximise the social sector’s contribution to the Scottish Government’s climate change targets while ensuring fairness for tenants. At SFHA, we were particularly pleased the government accepted our call for a review of the Energy Efficiency Standard for Social Housing 2 (EESSH2) to ensure a more holistic approach, with adequate funding and supporting policies. Our research had previously found that the energy efficiency standard would cost housing associations an estimated £2 billion but only reduce the total percentage of households in fuel poverty from 38% to 29%. Clearly, the right balance hadn’t yet been struck. While it was good recently to see the Scottish Government’s Interim Guidance on EESSH2, which provides some clarity while the review gets underway, it’s essential that we get this review right, while recognising the current economic challenges.
We also welcomed the revised version of the Sustainability Reporting Standard for Social Housing (SRS), now updated to incorporate changes proposed by SFHA after consultation with members. The SRS aims to reduce the Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) reporting burden and to work for organisations of all sizes. Following these changes, where possible, the standard uses criteria that are already measured and recorded. The revised standards will help our members to more easily demonstrate the positive impact housing associations make in communities every day – with sustainability at the heart.
Making reporting simpler means that Scotland’s housing associations and co-operatives can continue to focus on their priorities, including supporting tenants as energy bills soar. Our renewed partnership with Changeworks and Warmworks comes at a critical time for this, meaning that they will continue to provide SFHA members with expertise and support on improving energy efficiency and tackling fuel poverty, including jointly leading SFHA’s Energy and Net Zero Forum. Importantly, our upcoming 2022 Energy and Net Zero Conference also provides a much-needed opportunity to explore how to protect tenants from rising costs while building a net zero pathway: I’m hoping as many members as possible will attend, because climate change is the biggest challenge we have and one which we can only tackle together
The short 12 months between COP26 and COP27 have seen real challenges for the sector and for the tenants we support. Yet as we move forward, we can reflect on a year where we continued to deliver energy-efficient, affordable homes and create thriving communities across Scotland. Collectively, we’ll continue to keep people at the heart of our efforts to tackle the climate emergency as it becomes ever more urgent.