The UK has made remarkable strides toward its net zero commitments. By 2024, greenhouse gas emissions had already fallen 50.4% below 1990 levels, a major milestone on the road to the legally binding targets of a 68% cut by 2030 and 81% by 2035.
The Committee on Climate Change (CCC), in its latest Progress Report to Parliament (June 2025), struck a cautiously optimistic note: net zero by 2050 remains technically achievable. But optimism is no excuse for complacency. The report makes clear that while progress is real, the UK must act with greater urgency, and businesses cannot afford to sit back and wait for the grid to do the heavy lifting.
What the CCC Report Really Says
The CCC highlighted several encouraging signs:
• Record Renewable Growth: In 2024, the UK added more offshore and onshore wind and solar capacity than in any year of the past decade. The project pipeline is strong, even after setbacks such as the cancellation of Hornsea 4.
• Offshore & Onshore Wind on Track: These technologies are broadly aligned with 2030 trajectories.
• Solar Lagging Behind: Despite overall momentum, solar deployment is behind schedule, putting 2030 clean power goals at risk unless the rollout accelerates.
• Optimism, With Conditions: Net zero is “within reach,” but the CCC stresses the need for sustained investment, faster delivery of infrastructure, and sector-wide action to cut demand.
The nuance is important: it’s not that the UK isn’t making progress, but rather that progress isn’t yet fast enough to guarantee success.
What This means for Businesses
For organisations in hospitality, retail, stadia, and industry, the implications are clear:
• Don’t Rely on the Grid Alone. Renewables are growing, but solar is behind, and the overall pace still needs to accelerate. Businesses that assume the grid will deliver all the savings risk falling short of their own 2030 and 2035 targets.
• Energy Price Exposure Remains. Until the system is fully decarbonised, volatility in energy costs is likely. Efficiency is the surest way to protect margins.
• Stakeholder Pressure is Rising. Investors, customers, and regulators are looking for demonstrable action now, not vague reliance on national progress.
In short: the CCC is telling government to pick up the pace, and businesses would be wise to do the same.
Energy Efficiency: The Immediate Lever
The CCC emphasises that cutting demand is one of the most effective levers we have. For businesses, this means:
• Voltage Optimisation (VO): Correcting oversupply from the grid, cutting unnecessary consumption without affecting service.
• Load Management (e.g. KBR Energy Saver): Preventing equipment from wasting energy outside active use.
• Monitoring & Analytics: Identifying “invisible” waste in HVAC, refrigeration, and lighting.
These measures require no waiting for national infrastructure, they can be delivered quickly, with paybacks often measured in months.
Case Studies in Action
The results speak for themselves:
• At The Gym Group, a voltage optimisation rollout delivered 12% average energy reductions across 40+ sites, protecting equipment and ensuring consistent member experience.
• At Holiday Inn Stevenage, a multi-technology rollout delivered £27,500 in annual savings and cut 27 tonnes of CO₂, with no compromise to guest experience.
These examples show how efficiency translates into both cost and carbon savings, today.
Conclusion: Act Now, Don’t Wait
The CCC’s 2025 Progress Report paints a picture of cautious optimism: the UK is heading in the right direction, but the journey is far from over. The pace of renewable deployment, particularly solar, must accelerate, and in the meantime, businesses cannot sit idle.
The most resilient organisations will be those that act now, using efficiency as both a shield against cost pressures and a lever for meeting ambitious sustainability targets. Increasingly, this doesn’t just mean hardware, it means intelligence too.
That’s why Powerhub is integrating IoT-enabled wireless monitoring and control into its projects. Using LoRaWAN sensors, smart plugs, water meters, people counters, and non-invasive CT clamps, IoT unlocks real-time visibility of energy use across multiple sites.
Through the Vision iQ platform, businesses can:
• Benchmark and compare sites by region, size, or format.
• Spot inefficiencies instantly with real-time alarms.
• Control HVAC, heating, or plug sockets remotely.
• Automate scheduling to prevent out-of-hours waste.
• Generate live cost, carbon, and ESG reports for stakeholders.
In short: IoT turns energy management into a continuous, data-driven process, ensuring savings don’t just happen once, but are maintained and proven over time.
At Powerhub Solutions, our Monitor – Install – Validate approach now goes further: find waste, fix it, prove it, and keep proving it with IoT intelligence.
The grid is getting greener, but not fast enough on its own. The smartest businesses will take control of their energy destiny today.
