Net zero projects boost Lancashire economy while safeguarding future, new report says
New report reiterates the importance both economically and morally of net zero projects locally
Hello and welcome to The Lancashire Lead.
Have you noticed that climate talk has slipped almost entirely from public debate? The threats to the UK as a result of climate change are well-documented, broadly accepted and, in 2026, not deemed worthy of much acknowledged.
Politics reporting, as has been acknowledged by our national edition, often resembles a cross between sports and celebrity gossip. On one hand, we have Nigel Farage offering straight anti-climate policies and Kemi Badenoch scrambling to follow his lead. But Labour’s lack of popularity is arguably contributing to them declining to counter those arguments.
That means that support for climate policies has fallen sharply. The share of the UK public who say the country needs to reduce to net zero has fallen from 54% to 29%, according to a study by Kings College London. Often, this is related to costs, we are in a cost-of-living crisis. Young people, unsurprisingly, remain the most in favour of strict climate policies.
But as this week’s report sets out, it does not need to be the case that net zero ambitions come with economic burden. It can come with significant benefits - as the North West and Lancashire is already showing.
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Lancashire briefing
🔐 A firm that supplies building security services to Lancashire County Council claims the local authority is repeatedly late paying its bills – and that some invoices have been outstanding for more than two years. Burnley-based KeyPlus says it was owed around £465,000 by the end of last month – £285,000 of which had been due for more than 30 days. The company holds a contract with County Hall for opening up and locking public facilities such as schools and community centres. The business operates across 550 sites – and says it has even had to threaten to down tools in order to get paid. The county council said that it was “in regular discussions” with KeyPlus, but that it was unable to address commercially-sensitive matters in public.
⚽ The football pitches on Preston’s Moor Park are getting an upgrade – thanks to silt removed from the lake on the site. The Grade II-listed green space is currently undergoing a £4m transformation, centred around the remodelling and extension of the Serpentine Lake. However, a much wider area – extending towards the Deepdale Road side of the park – has been cordoned off and dug up to enable the remediation of the playing pitches. That work was always planned as part of the overall project and it is being carried out using sediment dredged from the lake. The material is being deposited in the area usually occupied by the football pitches in order to make the surfaces more level. It is hoped that the silt will also help improve drainage in that part of the park. The newly-levelled playing areas will then be covered with top soil before being fully reinstated.
🍴 The regeneration of Accrington’s town centre has received another major boost, with a successful local restaurateur being picked to run the new look Market Hall. Owner of The Crafty Fox bar and restaurant, Paul Fox, has been selected through an open recruitment process as the person to oversee the rejuvenated Grade II-listed venue, which will feature both familiar stalls and a number of new businesses. With the exterior of the iconic market now fully refurbished, the restaurant owner will be overseeing the all-important revitalisation of the market hall’s offering to visitors, with modern eateries and social spaces aimed at drawing people back to the centre of Accrington Mr Fox is a well-known figure in the town’s hospitality scene, having run The Attic music venue for years, bringing over 1500 performing artists to the town in that time. Then, in the Covid pandemic, he did some civic regeneration himself. After completely transforming a unit on Abbey Street and turning it into his new eatery, Mr Fox’s business success last year saw him expand The Crafty Fox into the neighbouring shop unit, investing £150,000 in the extension, in response to public demand for his field-to-fork food.
Net zero projects boost Lancashire economy while safeguarding future, new report says
By Luke Beardsworth
Net zero projects can provide safety for future generations while also providing a significant boost to economies like Lancashire.
That is the verdict of a new report published on Tuesday morning by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) with business analysis provided by CBI Economics and The Data City which found that the projects contribute a total of £9.7bn to the North West region and 111,800 jobs.
Analysis in 2025 found that net zero jobs are worth £1.16bn to the Lancashire economy and accounted for 13,421 jobs.
It comes amid growing scepticism about the role of net zero policies in the UK. Both Reform UK and the Conservatives have vowed to scrap net zero targets and there are instead growing calls for, for example, greater investment in extracting the fossil fuels found in the North Sea.
Net zero businesses can include renewable energy generation, waste management, consultancy, heat pumps, energy storage and low emission vehicles.
Peter Chalkley, Director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Reaching net zero emissions is scientifically the only way to bring the climate back into balance and stop climate change but it’s now become a major part of the UK economy.
“Thousands of small businesses across the UK are the unsung heroes of this net zero economy, installing solar panels on roofs, manufacturing parts for electric cars and in doing so creating greater energy independence for the UK, shielding us from the oil and gas price crises of recent times.
“With global demand now falling for petrol cars and installations of net zero tech like solar panels and heat pumps rising, the UK is in a global race to develop future-proof clean industries. Standing still or looking back just isn’t an option for job security.”
In Lancashire, the ruling Reform UK group has expressed climate scepticism and said that the county is being made poorer by ‘unachievable’ net zero policies. A cabinet role for climate change was scrapped in one of the party’s first moves after the 2025 local elections in which they took control of the authority.
For the leader, Cllr Stephen Atkinson, he has said at a full council meeting in summer 2025 that he agrees with the need to make the UK more resilient to climate change but not at the cost of energy prices for people in Lancashire. However, in the UK, the cost of energy is broadly dictated by the cost of wholesale gas rather than renewable energy.
The Lancashire Lead asked Lancashire County Council for its latest view on net zero projects after the report was published but did not receive a response.
But other local politicians said that the evidence set out in the report - pointing to the economic benefits of the businesses as well as their role in countering climate change - means that pursuing greater opportunities is a no-brainer.
