Politicians love the concept of ‘zero.’ It sounds firm and precise. It conjures up a business-like, tough, no-nonsense approach. That’s probably why ‘zero tolerance’ of crime garnered such widespread support in the US. Presumably the goal of declaring that all future buildings should be zero carbon was intended to elicit the same level of approval from the electorate here. Carbon, however, is not a crime. Well, not just yet. Everyone agrees crime is unequivocally a bad thing, but they may be less sure about carbon, mainly because it is too abstract.

Most people probably don’t know what zero carbon means never mind whether they are willing to make the changes to their current lifestyle to achieve it. This is not helped by the Government’s current lack of an agreed definition for zero carbon. By the time a definition eventually emerges from the consultation process, the goalposts may have moved to the extent that low carbon will do just fine, whatever that means.

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