Need for climate change action

27 September 2023

Challenges surrounding the route to net zero were amongst topics discussed at the Supply Chain Sustainability School’s Summit conference held yesterday at the Coventry Building Society Arena. 

Outlining principal reasons for taking action, Fergus Harradence from the Department for Business & Trade, said that construction techniques and services used in building and retro-fitting work had to take account of climate changes, not just the new extremes of heat and rainfall, but also the slow but steady increases in average conditions. 

Action is also needed because of demographic factors like the ageing population. He said that by 2050 the number of people aged over 65 will have doubled and that by 2060 they will comprise 25 per cent of the population. This had implications for recruitment and labour-intensive work techniques. 

More equitable practices were also required for greater inclusion, in aspects such as access and affordability. 

The Climate Change Act had identified numerous targets for action, including adopting low carbon energy sources for residential heating, decarbonising industry, reducing vehicle emissions and using alternatives to diesel powered plant and machinery. And since construction had an impact on so many other industries in terms of embodied carbon, changes in the industry would have a significant effect. 

Fergus Harradence said that progress had been made by adopting new techniques for work involved in projects such as HS2, including modular buildings, off-site construction and the use of autonomous plant. 

He also suggested that in future, construction would become more collaborative with greater sharing of information and transparency throughout the supply chain to achieve more effective solutions, and monitoring building performance data over the longer term to ensure energy efficiency. 

Subsequent break-out sessions at the Summit included a panel discussion on recruiting and retaining workers in the future. Cathryn Greville from the Supply Chain Sustainability School said that processes needed to be more inclusive. Currently only 23 per cent of job applicants are from women, and while 40 per cent are from people with ethnic minority backgrounds,  it was five times less likely for these applicants to be successful. There is also a 20.7 per cent gender pay differential. 

Tracey Collins from Keir Group wondered whether some companies prioritised previous industry experience in their advertisements over an ability to actually do the job. And a greater focus needed to be placed on longer-term career development. She also said that more attention could be given to those retiring from a business, not just in gradually winding down their involvement such as working fewer days each week before leaving, but also ensuring that their skills were passed on to others through mentoring. 

Hollie Cregan from Graham Construction suggested that companies could attract new personnel such as project managers who had proven success in other sectors, not just construction. 

Paul Aldridge from the WJ Group said that young people were a valuable resource, having a keen awareness of green issues and in many cases a keen knowledge of the issues and the need to address them. Recruiters and companies in general needed to ensure they were similarly aware of these topics and the language used in discussing them because, if young people felt the business wasn’t really interested, they would go elsewhere.

● I’ll be reporting on other issues and stories arising out of the Supply Chain Sustainability School Summit in future blog posts.