The Decarbonisation Summit Returns – Driving Real Change in Road Freight

Net zero remains the destination, but the route to get there is proving more complex, costly and uncertain than many wanted to believe. The past few years have moved the conversation on. The sector has tested technologies, trialled vehicles and begun to invest. In doing so, it has exposed the realities:

• Infrastructure is not keeping pace
• Energy capacity is constrained
• Vehicle supply remains limited
• Customer demand is low

The cost base is rising, not falling. And the political environment is shifting in ways that create as much uncertainty as clarity. 

At the same time, the expectation to decarbonise has not weakened. Operators are being asked to move faster, invest more and take on greater risk, often without a clear or stable commercial framework to support those decisions.

This is where the pressure now sits. 

The challenge is clear. The industry must now work out how to deliver decarbonisation in the real world.

This year’s summit is a call to action. It brings together operators, policymakers, energy providers and technology specialists to confront the realities of delivery and to focus on what happens next. Not in principle, but in practice.

Event overview

Day One: Study tour | 7 October

An in-depth visit to Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham, offering a working view of the infrastructure and technologies shaping the transition.

Delegates will explore electric charging, hydrogen and low carbon fuels, and see how these systems are being deployed in an operational environment.

This is an opportunity to engage directly with the people building and running the solutions, and to understand what it takes to make them work at scale.

Day Two: Main conference | 8 October

The conference programme focuses on the decisions that now carry real consequence.

Sessions will explore:

• Which current decarbonisation pathways are commercially viable  
• How operators are managing risk in an uncertain investment landscape
• Aligning policy, customers and supply chains
• The gap between policy ambition and operational reality
• Infrastructure readiness and the constraints of the energy system
• What a workable transition model actually looks like.

Through operator-led insight, senior-level debate and open discussion, the event is designed to challenge assumptions and surface practical answers.