" Government needs to strengthen the policies, financial incentives and regulations that will help drive this transition to a low carbon and zero waste economy "

Sarah Williams
Name
Sarah Williams
Location
London, UK
What was your ‘eureka’ moment for getting into sustainability?
I grew up in a family that took sustainability very seriously – we recycled, grew vegetables and could often be found traipsing around the countryside. However it was attending an LSE conference in the summer of 2009 titled The politics of climate change: from economic crisis to business revolution which made me realise that I wanted to be directly involved in tackling this challenge throughout my career. Leading political figures and business leaders spoke about the threat posed by climate change and the opportunities posed by the transition to a low carbon economy. A consistent theme was the stark difference between where we needed to be (according to climate change science) and where we currently were. More encouraging were discussions about the policy frameworks that could be built which would incentivise more sustainable behaviour, and the different roles that governments, businesses and individual citizens could play going forward.
What have you been doing on sustainability since?
I am Policy Manager for the Aldersgate Group, which is an alliance of businesses, civil society organisations and cross-party politicians that drives action for a sustainable economy. We support ambitious policies on climate change, energy, resource efficiency and the natural environment that also deliver economic benefits to the UK. Right now we are very focused on the government’s fifth carbon budget, which sets a cap on UK emissions for the period 2028-32, and its Emission Reduction Plan that must set out the policy drivers to help deliver the fourth and fifth carbon budgets.
What’s your vision for reaching a sustainable future?
My vision is that we live and work in well-insulated homes and buildings, powered by decarbonised energy and with smart devices that are connected to each other and the power grid, we travel using electrified transport and landfills are obsolete. Government needs to strengthen the policies, financial incentives and regulations that will help drive this transition to a low carbon and zero waste economy. For example, those who would like to install efficiency measures (which can have a high upfront cost) but live in private rented accommodation need easy access to a funding mechanism that can support their installation.
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