COP26 climate summit to examine role of buildings

Sharma, who last week quit as business secretary to focus on his climate role full-time, revealed the decision in a recent letter to the World Green Building Council.

In it, he said that ‘action to decarbonise the buildings and construction sector is critical to meeting our Paris Agreement goals’.

The World Green Building Council had written to Sharma offering to organise a dedicated built environment day.

In his letter of response sent two days before Christmas, Sharma accepted the offer.

He wrote: ‘The built environment is key to driving a green recovery and the UK is putting this into action. The Chancellor recently announced a net zero building package worth over £3 billion, including commitments in the Prime Minister’s Ten Point Plan to make our homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, whilst supporting up to 50,000 jobs by 2030.

‘We look forward to working with you in the lead up to COP26 to drive further ambition and catalyse action.’

The government says COP26, which will be held in Glasgow and involve representatives from nearly 200 countries, will be the largest summit ever hosted by the UK.

It was originally scheduled for November 2020 but was delayed by a year because of Covid.

Kwasi Kwarteng will now take on the business brief in government, but Sharma will remain in the Cabinet and will also oversee plans for the UK to become net zero by 2050.

Sharma previously served as housing minister for six months between 2017 and 2018.

The Conservative election manifesto included a pledge to spend £9.2 billion on retrofitting homes, schools and hospitals. However, the policy is believed to have been watered down by former Downing Street chief adviser Dominic Cummings and only smaller sums for this purpose have since been pledged by the Treasury.