Playing a key role in the UK’s transition to net zero

In July 2024, the UK general election brought in a new government. Our work to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills fits well with its priority of making the UK a clean energy superpower. 

We can support the government in this by providing unrivalled insights from the impact and learnings from our work on the ground across all four UK nations and beyond. For example, we deliver the flagship Home Energy Scotland (HES) service.  

To support our call for a similar energy advice service in England, DESNZ officials visited HES to see how we gave free energy saving advice to almost 100,000 people last year.  

Through our involvement with EU-funded projects, such as the Energy Network of Regions, we’ve gathered best practices from across the continent to inform improvements to UK policy.   

In our mission to address the climate emergency, partnerships are critical to extend our reach, amplify our messages and accelerate our impact.  

Both internally and externally, collaboration is at the heart of our success.  

Many of our projects and digital products are bespoke, calling for diverse skills and cross-team working. We bring together the right people from across the organisation to deliver the greatest impact. 

Our specialist skills complement those of our partners, and by building strong relationships we create new opportunities. For example, we have partnered with global consultancy EY to deliver sustainable energy grants and loans for the Scottish Government.  

The banking sector is just one of the other sectors where we’re collaborating to help influence consumer behaviour change. 

With our digital products, we’re working with high street names in banking including Lloyds, Co-op, Barclays and Santander to help their customers to make tailored and costed home energy improvement plans that will keep them warmer, cut their energy bills and save carbon.  

Elsewhere in the commercial space, we helped no fewer than 924 businesses of all types to cut their energy bills and emissions and so boost their profits. 

Large, combined local authorities are becoming hubs for innovation and resourcing. As the UK Government increasingly works with these bodies to deliver policy, partnering with them is essential to grow our reach and impact.  

We won a regional contract to deliver sustainable energy advice for West Yorkshire Combined Authority through a one-stop shop model. We also launched Home Energy Advice North East with North of Tyne Combined Authority which delivered advice to over 2,000 households in its first year. 

On the roads, we’re accelerating the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs) by delivering the local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) fund for the Department for Transport. This is supporting local authorities in England to roll out 100,000 new chargepoints. 

So, we continue to make a real impact on our mission to address the climate emergency.  But none of this would be possible without the brilliant team at Energy Saving Trust.  

Their dedication, expertise, and hard work have been instrumental in delivering impact across all areas – from policy influence to consumer engagement.  

A heartfelt thank you to everyone for their great work over the past year.