Net Zero Living
Innovate UK’s £60 million, three-year Net Zero Living Programme aims to help places and businesses across the UK to accelerate the transition to net zero.
About the programme
Innovate UK’s Net Zero Living Programme is a £60 million, three-year programme that aims to help places and businesses across the UK to accelerate the delivery of the transition to net zero.
Many of the immediate solutions needed to transition places to net zero already exist. However, challenges are often encountered when trying to deliver these solutions at scale. There are often barriers to overcome including coordinating many stakeholders, engaging with citizens, attracting finance or navigating procurement and governance processes.
We recognise that local authorities can directly address or influence up to 30% of the UK’s total carbon emissions, and help facilitate the reduction of emissions across a place even more, through their influence in planning decisions, policy setting and defining local goals.
Aims and objectives
The Net Zero Living programme aims to help places to open markets by:
- Removing the non-technical barriers to demand, including skills, organisational capacity, citizen engagement, financing, procurement and governance processes, which can all create barriers to the rapid scale up and adoption of net zero solutions.
- Driving widespread business growth and innovation across the economy.
- Unlocking significant additional private investment to enable true levelling-up both between and within places.
To understand what is meant by non-technical systemic barriers, please watch this short recording.
Focus areas

FOCUS AREA
Thriving Places
Providing support to local authorities, their partners and communities to overcome non-technical systemic barriers to the scaling and adoption of net zero solutions. This challenge will be delivered under two grant funding awards and supported by our Future Ready procured support.
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FOCUS AREA
User Focused Products
Supporting businesses to better understand and respond to the needs, opportunities and barriers preventing the large-scale roll out of net zero solutions. Includes funding for a Digital Accelerator, Design Foundations and international activities including City Twinning, Bilaterals, Net Zero Incubators and an International Net Zero Pilot.
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Related Opportunities
Net Zero Living: User focused design
Opens: 01/08/2023 Closes: 04/10/2023
UK registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £3.8m to support them in developing net zero products or services.
More Information
SSPP: Liquid food and beverages in refillable packaging
Opens: 18/09/2023 Closes: 25/10/2023
Up to £1.5m available to demonstrate a reuse or refill packaging system for liquid food and beverage products, at scale, in a retail chain.
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SBRI: Approaches to encourage and enhance schools' knowledge of health benefits by sourcing from local food supply chains
Opens: 28/08/2023 Closes: 09/10/2023
Cardiff and Monmouthshire Councils are looking for new approaches to food sourcing and food education in schools.
More Information
Our Experts
Related Events and Recordings
Thu
26
Oct
2023
Overview of the UK’s Net Zero Strategy for Public Sector
10.00 - 11.30 | Online