ERM, alongside partners Eigen Ventures, Scope 3 Peer Group and SRS Sustainable Business, has undertaken research funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), to identify potential market interventions to accelerate adoption of low-carbon and resource-efficient innovations across the UK’s automotive, built environment and chemicals sectors. 

Unlocking net-zero progress by strengthening demand for innovation 

The UK has a strong pipeline of low‑carbon and resource‑efficient innovations and businesses, yet many struggle to scale beyond early deployment. Commercialization is held back by perceived investment and performance risks, fragmented value chains, and supply constraints, driving up cost premiums and weakening demand.  

These barriers limit private capital mobilization and slow progress towards net zero and circular economy goals. As a result, even technically mature and potentially viable innovations can fail to achieve widespread market adoption without targeted intervention. 

Through this project, ERM and its partners identified priority innovations with significant potential to deliver lifecycle emissions reductions and improve resource efficiency, but which face persistent demand‑side barriers. Drawing on extensive stakeholder engagement and the MFI Toolkit, the team developed a series of interventions to help drive market uptake across each sector. While grounded in the specific sectors and geographies assessed, the MFI Toolkit provides a structured, transferable approach that can be applied to address similar demand‑side challenges in other markets globally.

Stafford Lloyd, Innovation Lead at UKRI said “Scaling innovation requires more than derisking technology – it requires markets that are ready to deploy. These interventions demonstrate how unlocking demand can accelerate the clean energy transition while strengthening UK supply chains and economic growth. The MFI Toolkit provides a practical framework to help policymakers and industry design and implement effective demand-side interventions, supporting the scale-up and integration of low-carbon solutions across key sectors.” 

Richard Platt, Partner at ERM said: “We welcomed the opportunity to work with UKRI and DESNZ to research practical interventions that could advance low-carbon innovations, address market barriers unlocking investment, accelerating adoption, and strengthening the UK’s transition to a competitive, resilient, and low-carbon economy.”  

The full reports are available to download here: 

About ERM 

Sustainability is our business. 

As the world’s largest sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business. 

With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations. Learn more here.

About Eigen Ventures 

Eigen Ventures are specialists in designing and delivering innovation acceleration programmes and business support services for clean tech and resource efficiency innovators. They bring extensive knowledge of the UK innovation landscape and barriers faced by innovators in scaling their businesses across a broad range of sectors, and have helped over 400 innovators commercialise their solutions. Eigen has been a lead delivery partner for some of the largest UK cleantech acceleration programs, including DESNZ’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio acceleration services and Innovate UK’s Energy Catalyst Accelerator Programme. 

About the Scope 3 Peer Group 

The Scope 3 Peer Group is a cross-industry, global collective of 3,400 sustainability and procurement practitioners tasked with supply chain emissions reduction. We host peer exchanges on best practices, relevant tools and facilitate collective action to drive faster, non-duplicative and credible impact. We also have Nature & Biodiversity and Human Rights & Workforce Resilience Peer Groups. We are a group of “those who do”, not “those who say”.  

About the SRS Sustainable Business 

SRS Sustainable Business provides sustainability advisory services with a particular focus on strategy and innovation. We bring senior experience working with the public and private sector, providing advice to boards, help to create mission-led strategy and support you to turn your plans into reality.  

About Innovate UK 

Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK’s innovation agency. It works to create a better future by inspiring, involving and investing in businesses developing life-changing innovations. Its mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate. 

About DESNZ 

DESNZ is responsible for leading the government mission to achieve clean power by 2030 and accelerate to net zero. This government is committed to transitioning the UK to a circular economy. This is an ambitious goal, requiring major changes throughout the economy. Getting the transition right will generate major contributions to the Government’s Missions to kickstart economic growth and to make Britain a clean energy superpower, including accelerating to Net Zero.