Expert Panel Outputs for 2025: Net Zero Expert Panel

Summary by Expert Panel Chair Gareth Atkinson, Civic

2025 has been a pivotal year in London’s Net Zero journey. Across the built environment, ambition is becoming action, and throughout the year the NLA Net Zero Expert Panel has brought together voices from engineering, architecture, development, planning, finance and construction to examine what true Net Zero leadership looks like — and how we begin to deliver it at scale.

This summary reflects the themes that have shaped our discussions and introduces the forthcoming Net Zero Leadership Report, to be published in early 2026.

1. Leadership and Skills: A Shared Responsibility

A clear message has emerged from this year’s work:

There are no bystanders in the transition to Net Zero. Leadership is shared, distributed, and behavioural.

Across our sessions, we explored the skills London needs for the decade ahead: carbon literacy, systems thinking, data-led decision-making, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. We also looked at emerging roles — from digital modellers to materials auditors — and the need for stronger alignment between education, industry and policy.

These insights form the foundation of the upcoming Expert Panel report on Net Zero Leadership.

2. Barriers and Progress Across the Sector

The panel discussed the persistent challenges slowing progress:

Short-term commercial priorities continue to outweigh long-term environmental value.
Fragmented regulation and inconsistent Net Zero definitions create uncertainty.
Perceived risk still limits uptake of low-carbon and circular-economy approaches.

Yet we also saw clear signs of acceleration:

Clients adopting embodied-carbon limits as standard practice.
Contractors rolling out fully electrified site systems.
Manufacturers improving data transparency.
Boroughs embedding whole-life carbon in planning and procurement.

The direction of travel is positive—our task now is to scale what already works.

3. Systems Thinking: Seeing the Interconnections

A major theme of the year was systems thinking. Our conversations highlighted how decisions made in design, construction, finance and policy ripple through supply chains, communities and the environment.

Systems thinking reframes the question from “How do I optimise my part?” to “How do we achieve our shared goal?”. It demands climate literacy, better communication and the humility to work across boundaries.

The forthcoming report expands on this, positioning systems thinking as central to any credible Net Zero pathway for London.

4. Growing the Conversation: Establishing the Circular Economy SIG

A significant development this year has been the creation of the Circular Economy Special Interest Group (SIG) — a direct outcome of the Expert Panel’s work and a recognition that circularity is inseparable from Net Zero.

The SIG brings together designers, contractors, developers, manufacturers and asset owners to explore what a circular future for London could look like. Early work has focused on:

Creating a visionary narrative for London’s circular future.
Exploring scenarios for 2035–2050.
Gathering case studies and identifying barriers and opportunities.
Examining circularity through five stakeholder lenses.

This group will continue to grow in 2026 and plans to publish an illustrated “vision piece” in mid-2026.

5. Introducing the Net Zero Leadership Report (2026)

In early 2026 NLA will publish the Expert Panel’s Net Zero Leadership Report — a synthesis of the panel’s insights and a practical guide to the behaviours, skills and systems that London needs to transition at pace.

The report examines:

What Net Zero leadership looks like in practice
The actors shaping London’s transition
The skills and capabilities required across the sector
The systemic interventions needed in policy, finance and supply chains
A redefinition of “success” for the built environment

Its core message is simple: London has the talent and ingenuity to lead — but acceleration is essential.

Closing Reflection

2025 has shown a sector ready to move beyond rhetoric and into coordinated action. As we look to 2026, the work of the Expert Panel and the new Circular Economy SIG will deepen London’s understanding of Net Zero as both a technical challenge and a cultural commitment.

The momentum is building. The opportunity is clear. And as our panel has emphasised throughout the year:

There are no bystanders. We all have a role to play in shaping a just, regenerative and climate-safe London.