Financial Pathways Incubator 2

Financial Pathways Incubator 2:The Co-benefits of Decarbonisation 

Gayle Erwin, Cornelia Helmcke, Sean Field, Mette High, James Crooks, Andrew Sudmant and Paul Conlan at the second Financial Pathways Incubator.

Returning to the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow, the second annual Financial Pathways Incubator welcomed stakeholders from government, academia, finance, and industry to discuss the co-benefits of realising net zero in Scotland.  

Financial Pathways is one of three themes that encompass the Scottish Research Alliance for Energy, Homes and Livelihoods, funded by the Scottish Funding Council. Led by Dr Sean Field and Dr Andrew Sudmant, the mission of the Financial Pathways theme is to establish a cross-sectoral coalition to decarbonise Scotland’s housing and building stock. By uniting an ever-growing number of isolated financial research programmes and initiatives, the theme aims to collectively meet Scotland’s ambitious challenge of reaching net zero by 2045. 

In January 2024, the inaugural incubator event focused on the general and pervasive challenge of achieving net zero homes and buildings in Scotland. By bringing financial industry representatives together with researchers from universities across the UK and partners to discuss how can we decarbonise Scotland’s housing and building stock to craft a more sustainable future. This year’s incubator took the discussion a step further by examining the co-benefits of decarbonisation interventions that are not typically captured by ‘traditional’ financial methodologies.   

Dr Sean Field explains, “At a time of both transitional and fiscal challenge, taking these benefits seriously and accounting for them in a way that places them on equal footing with reducing CO2, for example, is vital for creating healthy, thriving communities, which will underpin future social wellbeing and sustainable economic growth”. 

Dr Andrew Sudmant, adds, “Scotland’s journey to net zero isn’t happening in isolation. The Financial Pathways Incubator revealed how climate action intersects with warmer homes, healthier communities, and more resilient local economies. These aren’t just co-benefits – they’re often the primary drivers of change”.  

The aim of the incubator was to facilitate cross-sectoral knowledge exchange, forge novel and impactful collaborations, and shape collaborative research trajectories over the next decade.  

On the first day, five panels of experts from local authorities, academia, industry, finance, community, and government shared their candid reflections on the event themes, prompting lively discussions in the room which continued into the coffee and lunch breaks and beyond, creating an enthusiasm and buzz that was felt throughout the event.

Speaking in the third panel, Sara Edmonds, Co-director at the National Retrofit Hub, suggested that “co-benefits are core benefits and it’s our job to surface them to turn the dial on better outcomes for people and planet.”

Capturing the spirit of the incubator, James Vaccaro, CEO at Repattern, advised that “unlocking the interconnected benefits requires a change for how we bring stakeholders together, not just the technical hardware.” 

The focused format of day two delivered clear results. Groups identified key methodological challenges around measuring and embedding co-benefits, matched these with available expertise, and formed specific research partnerships to address them. 

Gemma Bone Dodds, Director of Insights and Policy at the National Investment Bank, said the incubator provided “a rich environment from which real actions and activities, I am sure, will happen as a result!”

Priority areas emerged around standardising measurement approaches, developing frameworks that work across sectors, and creating tools to capture the full value of retrofit programs. These collaborations will continue beyond the incubator, helping ensure co-benefits move from concept to practice. 

Reflecting on the event, Dr Sean Field concluded that “The incubator was a success in bringing together people from across government, academia, industry, and finance to focus on the topic of (co)benefits. We were really thrilled to be joined by so many brilliant and engaged colleagues from across sectors.”    

We will be sharing further updates from the incubator in due course. In the meantime, please visit our website or join our mailing list for more news and updates from the Alliance