UK won’t be net zero without net zero roads: David Symons, WSP

The UK won’t be net zero carbon by 2050 unless we have net zero roads

WSP and Magnetic worked with National Highways to develop and launch a strategy to drastically reduce UK emissions. David Symons, Director of Sustainability, WSP, discusses his role and the project.

I’m the UK Director of Sustainability at WSP and Director of Future Ready, which is our work on large-scale sustainability programmes. These challenge and inspire our people to see the future more clearly and design and advise for that future.

This gives us purpose and sets us apart. We work with organisations to develop and help implement sustainability, net zero and ESG. Most of the innovations we’re working on are aligned to megatrends such as climate and digital.

The growth opportunities that come from the transition to a net zero, resilient, future-ready economy are enormous. The growth of what we call clean revenue is unstoppable. We employ 20,000 environmental specialists, for example — that’s a third of our global business.

You can have strong business growth while also doing good. A lot depends on the management team and how the Board sees ESG, sustainability, net zero, climate and future social needs, and how they integrate these into products and operations.

We worked with National Highways on its net zero programme, a strong strategy for 2030/40/50. In December 2022, it became the first major roads authority to be certified to PAS 2080, the international carbon management standard. We’re now working with Magnetic and others to implement the plan at scale and at pace. There will be no net zero UK without net zero roads. Many of us love to hate roads, but we all travel on them. Most of us have cars. The goods we use are transported, mostly by truck. Transport is the largest greenhouse gas-emitting sector in the UK, and most of that comes from our road network.

To meet net zero targets, the pace of change has to be fast, not just in how National Highways operates but in people’s skills and mindset. Doing this at pace in an organisation that’s focused on safety and cost is both a great opportunity and a challenge. Engagement is crucial. Everyone involved has to be comfortable with the plan and up for delivering it.

The ambition of the project is huge. I’ve been pleased how big the ambition of the leadership team is. National Highways operates and maintains a lot of roads and this is a chance to be at the heart of construction decarbonisation. It would have been safe to produce plans in their comfort zone, to keep to the 1.5 degree global warming limit. Instead they’re leading internationally.

This is an excerpt from our book Purpose: Built. It’s all about making change happen and designing a brighter, better future. Order your copy here.