Many public sector bodies are dissuaded from making changes due to a perception of drawn out timescales and of blockages. This is often attributed to lender and investor diligence processes and reviews. As noted above the increased awareness of climate change and how both public and private organisations are signing up to NZ targets creates a backdrop that better aligns public and private sector ambitions. This includes lenders and investors who are equally keen to demonstrate engagement in the decarbonisation agenda. This is beneficial to the decarbonisation of the PPP estate, as it results in an engaged lending market that is actively embracing finding positive solutions.
This active involvement from all parties increases the possibility of existing contract mechanisms being utilised in adopting NZ measures, and improved understanding of the beneficial outcomes. This could be as simple as embracing the use of lifecycle mechanisms to deliver improvement to a more positive view of changes within the contract targeting improvement.
Collaborative approaches and in particular the establishment of dedicated forums with energy and carbon savings as a key objective provide a recognised environment where aims and objectives can be discussed. This allows initiatives to be identified and any challenges that arise to be discussed collectively to design realisable solutions.