This report outlines the key research and innovation needs for the UK’s net zero targets. Bringing together insights from IDRIC’s research and stakeholder engagement, it highlights where targeted action can have the greatest impact and sets out the most important opportunities, challenges and next steps to accelerate industrial decarbonisation across the UK.
The Research and Innovation Agenda for Net Zero Industries sets out a robust, stakeholder-informed framework to support the decarbonisation of UK industry through targeted, collaborative and evidence-based research and innovation.
Drawing on IDRIC’s extensive documented conversations with its stakeholders between 2021 and 2025, the report synthesises and consolidates collective and actionable insights on:
🔹 the key research and innovation priorities across technology, environment and sustainability, society and economy
🔹 the enablers required to deliver at pace, including knowledge exchange, skills and policy
🔹 the funding mechanisms, structures and delivery models needed to support innovation uptake and real-world impact
Bringing together perspectives from industrial clusters and dispersed sites, as well as from academia, government and civil society, the Research and Innovation Agenda reflects the complex interplay of technological, environmental, economic, regulatory and social factors shaping industrial decarbonisation pathways. It provides a common reference point to help prioritise effort, identify gaps and support more coordinated decision-making across the system – turning evidence into action.
