Michael Hardisty
Head of Environmental Sustainability, EngineeringUK
Mike ensures that all EngineeringUK resources and programmes highlight the contribution that engineers and technologists can make to environmental sustainability. He’s also responsible for ensuring that EngineeringUK will become a Net Zero organisation in the 2040s.
Mike originally studied Production Engineering at university. Since then, he gained an MSc in Climate Change & Sustainable Development and has worked in sustainability for over 20 years, specialising in carbon management. He’s a Chartered Environmentalist and a member of the Institute of Engineering & Technology (IET).
Reasons to stay positive
It’s often hard to stay positive about the climate crisis. Following the optimism of COP21 and its Paris Agreement, comes COP30 at which even a reference to fossil fuels failed to make the final text. As the dust settles, we’re left hoping the new initiatives launched (Global Implementation Accelerator and Belém Mission to 1.5°C) will achieve more than COP30 itself.
So, how do we stay positive?
At EngineeringUK, one of our strategies is to focus on the solutions to environmental problems that engineering and technology offer. There is some comfort in the International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook 2025 that recently reported:
- the average price of wind power, solar power, EV batteries and battery storage all fell over 2015-25, some dramatically. For example, solar panels fell by ~80% while EV batteries fell by ~70%
- energy related CO2 emissions modelled as peaking between now and 2030, depending on the scenario, mainly due to a decline in coal-fired power
In a separate publication (Electricity 2025), the IEA reported that the carbon intensity of electricity generation has fallen across the globe on all continents in the last 10 years. Very few countries have not followed this pattern. This is significant, as countries – all too slowly – transition from fossil fuels to electricity generated by renewables. But do we have the people to make this transition?
The government’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan suggests the clean energy workforce could nearly double from 440,000 jobs in 2023 to around 860,000 jobs by 2030. However, according to the IET, 76% of engineering employers already struggle to recruit for key roles. Since much of the anticipated jobs growth will be in engineering & technology roles, our sector workforce problem could get much worse.
EngineeringUK’s vision is for the UK to have the diverse workforce needed for engineering and technology to thrive. We also want engineering and tech to drive economic prosperity, improve sustainability and achieve net zero. We were pleased to see the Curriculum & Assessment Review acknowledge the need for young people to understand the possible solutions to the climate crisis. And, with respect to future work, that “solutions to the climate crisis require the expansion of green technology”.
Whilst changes to the curriculum will take time to appear in schools, teachers can help their students now by signing up to Climate Schools Programme. The programme links the curriculum to climate solutions and associated careers. Recent analysis also shows that our lessons plans help young people to feel more hopeful about what we can do to tackle climate change.
My NESO (National Energy System Operator) mobile phone app shows that, as I write this piece:
- 100% of electricity in the north of Scotland is being provided by wind power
- in the south of Scotland, 51% is from wind (and 42% from nuclear)
- in north Wales & Merseyside its 68% from wind (20% from nuclear)
The Government estimates that in 2014, wind and solar generated more electricity (34.3%) than gas (30.4%).
While it can be challenging to feel optimistic about the pace of global action on climate change, there are still reasons to stay positive. The adoption of low-carbon technologies and the progress we are now seeing offer hope for the future.
The best analysis I came across on COP30, was from Carbon Brief.
Learn more about Climate for Schools Programme
