Why Net Zero is impossible without Smart Data
When people talk about ‘open data’ in the context of climate action, they often mean something broader than the definition allows.
‘Open Data’ means information that anyone can use, for any purpose, for free. That works well for things like bus timetables or public weather feeds, but it doesn’t get us far enough for Net Zero.
The reality is that the data we need to decarbonise (for example, on energy use, manufacturing, supply chains, and financial performance) is usually commercial and highly sensitive. It can’t simply be dumped into the public domain. What we need instead is Smart Data: authorised access, with harmonised rules, and clear governance, so businesses and consumers can control who sees what, and under what conditions.
Definitions: https://ib1.org/open-shared-closed (‘Smart Data’, which is now embedded in UK policy, but not universal, is a type of Shared Data and used in this blog with that framing).
Lessons learned from Open Banking
A good example is Open Banking. It’s an open standard that enables Smart Data sharing: customers are in control of their data, and banks are required to provide standardised, secure access to authorised providers.
The results speak for themselves: over £7 billion in economic value for the UK, and over 14 million monthly active users.
However, it took a decade to get there, starting with one narrow use case (account switching) before expanding into a broader, functional ecosystem.
The success factors were clear:
- a regulated standard with both legal and technical harmonisation
- socio-technical interoperability (rules and governance, not just APIs)
- common rules across the market to open up access & enable controls
This is the model we now need to apply to climate and Net Zero: a systems-level challenge that requires connecting data across energy, finance, and supply chains.
The carbon reporting crisis
I’ve spent 20 years in carbon reporting, including building a startup that aggregated over 40,000 different carbon calculation methodologies. That experience showed me a problem that persists today: even when everyone is “using the GHG Protocol”, the results can differ dramatically. Depending on methodology choices, the same footprint can come out at materially different (e.g. double, half) values.
For regulators, that’s confusing and hard to navigate, and leads to compliance-led interventions. For financial institutions, it’s unworkable: banks, insurers, and pension funds need assurable, trustworthy, comparable data to allocate capital effectively and, right now, they don’t have it at scale.
The reality, as we move past the easy wins, is that we should be treating compliance as the floor and opportunity as the ceiling. The scale of the opportunity is huge: the UK ‘green lending’ market should be around £40 billion [BBB], but today — based on my conversations with banks — I’d estimate it at about £1 billion.
Could we use assurable data to create a 40x increase in Net Zero impact?
Perseus: a pragmatic intervention
We created Perseus (https://ib1.org/perseus/) to prove how a Smart Data model can work for Net Zero. We started with a narrow focus: one customer type (SMEs), one data type (electricity), one financial service (lending) and one use case (‘green lending’).
The results so far:
- 30-minute resolution smart meter data combined with carbon intensity at time and place of use
- 12 banks signed up to co-design a harmonised approach
- a bank already issuing loans using this data for due diligence
- dozens of carbon application providers engaged in co-design
- multiple trade associations steering the work (FSB, ICAEW, IoD)
- SMEs able to share their data with ‘one click’ (like open banking)
We are now adding gas data and expanding use cases based on business demand and addressable market modelling.
Data is infrastructure
One principle underpins all of this: data is infrastructure, not oil. Unlike oil, data doesn’t get ‘finished’ when it is used. It increases in value when connected. It can be copied infinitely while the original remains intact.
That’s why we need to govern it like roads or energy grids: harmonised, open where possible, shared where necessary.
The UK is sitting at an inflection point. The Data Act establishes rights for businesses and consumers and, combined with leadership in renewable energy and data governance, we have a potential global competitive advantage in building these Smart Data models.
I am part of many, many conversations about data strategy, and we’ve created this image to help stimulate conversations about how we get to a truly data-enabled economy.
Navigation in turbulent times
A feature of this approach is that it’s politically ‘resilient’ (although not entirely politics-proof). By tying financial incentives to assurable environmental impacts with credible information, we create the foundations for better investment decisions regardless of political ideology or ‘beliefs’. Long-term investors (e.g. insurance and pension funds) are already committed, because unmanaged climate risk is unmanaged financial risk, and therefore part of their fiduciary responsibilities.
With the US rolling back green investment, the UK has a window to lead. By exporting its combined expertise in energy solutions and trusted data governance, we can build markets that drive prosperity and climate action.
If there’s one thing Perseus is demonstrating it’s that to go far, we must go together.
Join us: https://ib1.org/join
