IMPACT LAB
Identifying leverage points for systems change
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Research
We start by conducting in-house research into key systems contributing to climate degradation, such as transport, energy, land use and agriculture.
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Pillars
We call our chosen sectors Pillars. We map out necessary policy and behavioural shifts within each Pillar and identify opportunities which could drive systemic change.
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Missions
We create achievable, goal-oriented Missions based on these opportunity areas, assembling a cohort of not-for-profits with relevant expertise and ability to drive focused impact.
Discover our pillars and their missions:
⬤ ACTIVE
⬤ ACTIVE
⬤ COMMUNITY RUN
⬤ ACTIVE
⬤ COMMUNITY RUN
Heat
How might we create a future in which everyone is able to heat and cool their home comfortably without relying on fossil fuels?
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Heating currently accounts for 17% of the UK’s overall emissions. The UK faces a pressing challenge as its housing stock is old and heavily reliant on fossil fuel heating, primarily gas boilers. Heat pump installations are far too slow, and energy efficiency improvements are declining, posing significant hurdles to meeting 2030 climate goals.
Our Heat mission seeks to accelerate progress towards an equitable electrified heat future in the UK. Currently, we're focusing on increasing the adoption of heat pumps as one part of the broader systemic shift.
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Autonomy’s work on retrofit skills was used by the UK Labour Party as evidence that their plan to insulate more homes would create 4 million job opportunities. Labour plans to bring 19m of the UK’s leakiest homes up to an acceptable standard of insulation, which besides the environmental benefits, would be a significant increase in welfare for the people living in those homes. Autonomy is also currently working with UK local authorities providing research and policy guidance on the implementation of retrofit programmes.
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In response to this challenge, Subak incubated Ambient, a new independent not-for-profit with a data-driven vision: Britain as a clean energy superpower. Ambient exists to create an environment that supports the acceleration of electrified heating and cooling solutions in the UK. Electrified heat technologies are clean and proven to catalyse economic growth by creating high-paying local jobs in manufacturing, installation and software. When properly installed and with the right tariff, they are 4 times more efficient than boilers, reduce energy bills by hundreds of pounds a year and reduce emissions. By also harnessing home-grown clean British electricity, Ambient will empower local communities, creating security from price rises driven by an unstable world.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED:
Transport
How might we create a future in which all transportation is green, accessible, and safe?
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Transport accounts for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Besides reducing emissions, decarbonising transport could significantly improve people’s quality of life, by increasing equitable access to employment, education, social connectivity and green spaces.
One part of the transformation of mobility is the electrification of transportation. New AutoMotive, a member of the Subak community, is focusing on accelerating the shift to electric vehicles in the UK.
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New AutoMotive campaigned and responded to UK government consultations on the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate, which was successfully passed in 2023. This ensures that, despite delaying the phase-out of pure petrol and diesel vehicles, the government is still committed to 80% of new registrations being zero emission by 2030 and 100% by 2035.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED:
Energy
How might we create a future in which our society is powered by clean energy without reliance on fossil fuels?
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Energy powers everything in our societies, accounting for the largest portion of emissions across geographies. Shifting our reliance on fossil fuels over to clean electricity will be our quickest route to decarbonisation, reducing the emissions from our activities to a fraction of what they were before. Although the share of renewables in the UK’s energy mix is growing, we are still largely powered by fossil fuels and similar trends are reflected across the world. Subak members are working across the world to make this transition, from the UK to Australia, including Belgium, India, Poland and Taiwan. However, we can’t measure a transition to clean energy without knowing what and where energy is being produced.
It’s impossible to track a transition to clean energy without measuring it. We need to know where and what infrastructure and systems are used to generate, store, transform, trade, transport or control energy. With this data, we can use AI to optimise our energy system by making informed decisions around expanding our grid to handle an increase in electrified systems, from EV’s to heat pumps to manufacturing. Energy data needs to be transparent, i.e. openly available, regularly updated, and standardized for this to be possible. One of our key aims is to get the data right so we can make the right decisions with the substance that powers everything in our day-to-day lives.
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Ember’s policy advocacy with partners in Central and Eastern Europe led to an increase in renewable targets in Poland, and in Czechia the draft NECP matched Ember's recommendations. The Czech Prime Minister endorsed Ember’s vision of an interconnected region. In India, Ember has been championing the need to increase renewable energy (RE) and storage capacity since 2021. In March 2023, India's National Electricity Plan incorporated Ember's suggestions, introducing 8 GW of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in place of 10.5 GW of previously planned new coal power capacity by 2027.
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TransitionZero has partnered with ClientEarth to provide technical assistance and legal expertise to help policymakers with the shift to clean and affordable energy in Southeast Asia. TransitionZero's tools, like the Future Energy Outlook (FEO) and Coal Asset Transition (CAT), combined with ClientEarth’s specialist legal expertise will be crucial in developing just and bankable energy transition plans.
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Open Climate Fix was recently named by the International Research Center on Artificial Intelligence named OCF as one of the top 10 outstanding AI projects contributing to the United Nations SDGs. OCF’s first focus is on developing short-term solar forecasts to decrease CO2 emissions and help electricity network operators integrate more renewables into their power grid.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED:
Policy
How might we create a future in which policymakers are empowered to make better, greener, and fairer decisions based on accurate and unbiased data?
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Governments around the world must address climate change by making progressive policies that support a just transition to sustainable energy, transport, and food. For these transformations to be possible, policymakers need to be equipped with the right data at the right time to make decisions effectively. Yet currently, we do not have sufficient access to data to tell us which policies work and which do not. This makes it hard to learn from past failures and successes, and to design better ways forward.
Subak members are working on making policymaking more effective, by providing analysis and building tools that equip policymakers with better decision-making capacity.
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Climate Policy Radar secured over $6.8 million in new funding from multiple funders: the Environmental Defense Fund, Google.org, Open Society Foundations, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Sequoia Climate Foundation, Schmidt Futures, and Quadrature Climate Foundation.This funding will support Climate Policy Radar’s outstanding work building tools that open up the messy black box of climate laws, policies and case law globally, helping decision-makers design more effective climate change strategies.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED:
Land Use
& Agriculture
How might we create a future in which nourishing food is produced in ways that are healthy for the land and for people?
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Around the world, humans have converted diverse habitats (e.g. forests, grasslands, wetlands) into agricultural use. Land use change contributes to a loss of biodiversity and reduced carbon sequestration, as well as affecting water flows and the chemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. System change in land use and agriculture is crucial for cultivating a more sustainable and equitable future. It involves transitioning towards practices that regenerate ecosystems, support local communities, and promote healthier food systems. By embracing these changes, we can address environmental degradation, ensure food security, mitigate climate change, and promote social equity.
Our Land Use & Agriculture Mission brings together not-for-profits working on diverse aspects of the system, spanning soil health, food and farming, and policy advocacy. By harnessing the collective expertise of these organizations, we aim to catalyze transformative change in land use and agriculture policies in the UK. Through shared knowledge, resources, and collective action, this mission seeks to create a more resilient, equitable, and sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants.
ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED:
Case Studies
