In Cannock, just off the M6 toll road in Staffordshire, new industrial warehouses have been built on the site of a former open-cast coal mine, disused for half a century. The new buildings, built with support from the local community, are highly energy-efficient, ranking in the top 1.5% of all non-residential buildings in the UK for their energy efficiency. Financed by institutional investors, the development is expected to support more than 450 local jobs.

Now that the government has announced that the UK will issue a sovereign green bond in 2021, we could see more investments like the one in Staffordshire, which can address both the climate emergency, and social renewal.