Lessons from LCAW: Energy Resilience Insights for Businesses

Energy security takes centre stage at London Climate Action Week

London Climate Action Week 2026 concluded on 26 June as the capital recorded its hottest June temperature on record. At 37.3°C, the physical reality of climate change provided an uncomfortable backdrop to a week of discussions that marked a fundamental shift in how businesses and governments approach the net-zero transition.

The event’s theme, “Climate cooperation in a fragmented world,” reflected a new commercial reality. Energy security and access moved from the margins of climate policy to its core. For UK businesses, this matters because the conversation has changed. Decarbonisation targets now sit alongside equally urgent questions about grid resilience, supply continuity, and operational stability.

This dual focus affects how companies allocate capital, plan infrastructure investments, and assess climate risk. Consequently, the business case for sustainability now includes hard-edged considerations about power availability and system reliability that finance directors understand immediately.

Why energy resilience emerged as a priority

The week’s discussions, particularly the Energy Resiliency Round-up presented by edie in partnership with Evolve Energy, revealed that investment patterns are shifting. Green economy funding continues to flow, but energy security concerns now drive where that capital goes.

Organizations like SEforALL used the platform to push for faster action on closing energy access gaps, improving grid resilience, and enhancing efficiency across systems. Meanwhile, former US Vice President Al Gore described the clean energy transition as “unstoppable” while warning that current progress remains too slow to avoid severe climate impacts.

Several factors explain this pivot. First, recent years have exposed vulnerabilities in centralized energy systems. Second, extreme weather events increasingly disrupt conventional grid infrastructure. Third, geopolitical pressures have made energy independence a strategic concern for businesses and nations alike.

The result is a fundamental rethinking of what climate action means in practice. Moreover, this shift creates new opportunities for businesses that can demonstrate both carbon reduction and energy security in their operations.

Financial returns justify resilience investments

The business case for climate and health resilience programs has moved beyond theoretical benefits. By 2030, healthcare alone represents an estimated £70 billion annual investment opportunity in this space, with returns of two to three times the initial cost.

These returns come from reduced energy bills and improved labour productivity. For example, facilities with efficient climate control systems see lower absenteeism and higher output. Similarly, businesses with backup power systems avoid costly production stoppages during grid failures.

Financing models are evolving to support this investment. Discussions at the event emphasized a shift from project-based to platform-based approaches. In this model, early risk-tolerant capital helps nature restoration and resilience projects mature into assets that attract mainstream investment.

This matters for SMEs because it changes the funding landscape. Previously, smaller businesses struggled to access capital for resilience infrastructure. Platform approaches can aggregate smaller projects, reducing transaction costs and opening new financing routes.

Practical technologies delivering energy independence

Three technology categories dominated discussions about building resilient energy systems. Solar microgrids lead the list, offering businesses the ability to generate and store power on-site. These systems can operate independently during grid outages, maintaining critical operations when conventional supply fails.

Storage solutions form the second pillar. Battery systems paired with renewable generation create buffers against supply interruptions. Prices for these systems have fallen significantly, making them viable for mid-sized facilities that previously couldn’t justify the investment.

Distributed energy resources represent the third category. These smaller-scale generation assets spread across multiple sites reduce dependence on single points of failure. For businesses with multiple locations, distributed systems also enable load balancing and peer-to-peer energy sharing.

UK manufacturers are particularly interested in these technologies. Production facilities face substantial costs when power interruptions halt operations. Installing resilient energy systems increasingly makes commercial sense, even before environmental benefits enter the calculation.

Implementation steps for energy resilience

Businesses looking to build energy resilience should start with a baseline assessment. Understanding current energy consumption, grid dependencies, and vulnerability points provides the foundation for informed decisions. This diagnostic phase identifies which operations face the highest risk from power disruptions.

Next comes efficiency and conservation. Retrofitting facilities with Energy Star certified equipment reduces total energy demand, which in turn lowers the capacity required from backup systems. Behavioral measures like automated lighting controls and temperature management further reduce baseload consumption.

Distributed resources come third in the sequence. After reducing demand, businesses can right-size renewable generation and storage systems to match actual needs. This approach avoids over-investment in capacity that daily operations don’t require.

Some organizations are also integrating health data into their resilience planning. Frameworks like the Bellona Health Action Plan, referenced in COP contexts, use climate data for early warning systems. These help facilities prepare for extreme weather events that might stress both energy systems and workforce wellbeing.

What this means for UK businesses

• Energy security now ranks alongside carbon reduction as a core business objective, affecting capital allocation decisions and infrastructure planning across sectors.
• Investment opportunities worth an estimated £70 billion annually by 2030 offer returns of two to three times initial costs through lower energy bills and productivity gains.
• Solar microgrids, storage systems, and distributed energy resources enable operational continuity during grid failures, particularly valuable for manufacturing and critical facilities.
• Financing models are shifting from individual projects to platform approaches, potentially improving access to capital for smaller businesses implementing resilience measures.
• Record temperatures, including London’s hottest June day at 37.3°C on 26 June 2026, provide physical evidence that climate adaptation and energy resilience require urgent attention.

Collaboration replaces competition in infrastructure scaling

A recurring theme throughout the week was that energy resilience requires cooperation rather than competitive advantage-seeking. Country platforms and blended finance mechanisms emerged as essential tools for scaling infrastructure globally. This collaborative approach recognizes that grid stability benefits all participants in an interconnected system.

For businesses, this has practical implications. Supply chain resilience depends on suppliers maintaining operations during disruptions. Therefore, larger companies have a commercial interest in helping smaller suppliers build energy independence. Some are exploring shared infrastructure models where multiple businesses co-invest in local microgrids.

Industry bodies are also developing standards and frameworks that enable this cooperation. Shared specifications for distributed energy resources, common protocols for grid interconnection, and standardized risk assessments all reduce barriers to collaborative investment. These developments particularly help SMEs that lack the internal expertise to navigate technical and regulatory complexity alone.

Public sector procurement is reinforcing this trend. Tenders increasingly include requirements for suppliers to demonstrate energy resilience alongside carbon reporting. Understanding these emerging criteria matters for businesses that sell to government or participate in public sector supply chains.

How carbon reporting requirements connect to resilience

Energy resilience planning intersects with carbon reporting in several ways. Businesses measuring Scope 2 emissions from purchased electricity need accurate data on their energy consumption and sources. Installing microgrids and storage systems changes this calculation, often reducing reported emissions when renewable generation replaces grid power.

Similarly, Scope 3 reporting covers supply chain emissions. Suppliers with resilient energy systems may offer lower embedded carbon in their products, particularly if that resilience comes from renewable sources. Buyers focused on supply chain decarbonisation therefore have reason to prioritize suppliers investing in distributed clean energy.

PPN 06/21 compliance for public sector suppliers already requires carbon reduction plans. Future iterations of these requirements may explicitly address energy resilience, given the government’s focus on both net zero and energy security. Businesses should consider how their resilience investments support compliance requirements they already face.

Our net-zero program for carbon reporting compliance helps businesses understand these connections. Many organizations find that energy resilience projects deliver benefits across multiple reporting and compliance frameworks simultaneously, improving the business case for investment.

Why circularity supports energy resilience

Siemens used the week to highlight circularity and decarbonisation as connected imperatives. This link matters for energy systems because circular approaches reduce the material intensity of infrastructure. Modular equipment designed for repair and reuse, for instance, requires less embedded energy than systems designed for disposal and replacement.

For businesses building resilient energy systems, circularity principles affect procurement decisions. Equipment with longer service lives and refurbishment options reduces total cost of ownership. Similarly, systems designed for component-level maintenance avoid full replacements when individual parts fail, improving reliability and reducing waste.

The secondary market for energy equipment is growing as circularity gains traction. Refurbished solar panels and remanufactured battery systems offer cost-effective entry points for businesses testing distributed energy resources before committing to new installations. These options particularly suit pilot projects where organizations want to prove the concept before scaling investment.

Training on circular procurement approaches is available through our sustainable procurement support for organisations looking to integrate these considerations into their buying processes. The intersection of resilience, carbon reduction, and circularity represents an area where strategic purchasing decisions deliver multiple benefits.

Additional information and official resources

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero provides guidance on energy security and resilience planning for businesses at gov.uk. Their resources include frameworks for assessing energy risks and identifying appropriate mitigation measures.

Ofgem offers information on grid resilience and distributed energy resources at ofgem.gov.uk, including regulatory guidance for businesses installing on-site generation and storage systems. Understanding these rules helps avoid compliance issues during implementation.

The Institution of Environmental Management and Assessment maintains resources on climate adaptation and business resilience at iema.net. Their materials connect environmental management systems to energy security planning, helping businesses integrate these considerations into existing frameworks.

SEforALL publishes research on energy access and resilience at seforall.org, including case studies from businesses implementing distributed energy systems. These practical examples illustrate different approaches to building energy independence across various sectors and scales.