The UK’s 2025 Data Act marks a turning point in how data is shared and governed. Just as common standards in telecoms and banking unlocked innovation, trusted data could be the key to credible climate action. But with carbon reporting fragmented and confidence in the numbers low, can open data really help us reach net zero?
In this episode of the Tech Tomorrow podcast, Zühlke’s David Elliman speaks with Gavin Starks to explore how data sharing could unlock the path to net zero.
Meet the guest: Gavin Starks
Gavin Starks has spent over two decades building data ecosystems for public good. From co-founding the Open Data Institute to launching Icebreaker One — a non-profit shaping data governance for climate action — and co-chairing the UK’s Open Banking Standards, he’s been at the heart of some of the UK’s most ambitious open data initiatives.
Now, he’s applying those lessons to one of the world’s biggest challenges: the race to net zero.
Key takeaways from the episode
From open banking to open carbon
If the 2010s were the decade of open banking, the 2020s could be the decade of open data for climate. But what does that actually mean? Starks explains: 'Open data is data anyone can use for any purpose for free, but the climate challenge isn’t just about open data. It’s about shared data: commercial, sensitive, permissioned data that flows safely across sectors.'
In other words, achieving net zero requires the ability to connect manufacturing, finance, energy, and supply chain data — securely, transparently, and at scale.
This isn’t just a technical problem; it’s a governance problem.
'The technology has existed for years,' says Gavin Starks. 'What we’ve lacked are the standards, the regulation, and the trust.'
The data infrastructure for net zero
The idea of open data often conjures images of APIs, dashboards, and data lakes. But as Starks points out, data isn’t a commodity; it’s infrastructure.
“Data is not the new oil. Data is infrastructure, like roads or energy grids. It needs to be governed, standardised, and maintained so that everyone can build on top.”
This mindset shift — from data as an asset to data as public infrastructure — could define the next wave of sustainable innovation.
When open data became regulated under open banking, it unlocked £7 billion in economic value and 14 million active users. Now, the UK’s new Data Act aims to extend that success to every sector, setting the foundation for a data-driven green economy.
Solving the ‘carbon reporting crisis’
If data is the infrastructure, carbon reporting is the traffic jam. As Starks puts it bluntly: 'We absolutely have a crisis in carbon reporting.'
The problem isn’t a lack of data, but the fact that most of it is too fragmented or inconsistent. This means that different standards produce wildly different results: two companies can use the same framework and arrive at opposite conclusions. The result? Mistrust, greenwashing, and stalled investment.
Icebreaker One’s Perseus programme is tackling this head-on. Rather than trying to automate everything, it focuses on one simple but powerful use case: using smart meter data to calculate the carbon footprint of a green loan.
'We created a golden thread,' says Starks. 'From the point of energy use, through national infrastructure, to the carbon accounting application. All harmonised, all traceable.'
It’s a small step, but one that could scale to an entire ecosystem of assured, verifiable carbon data.
Lessons from open banking
The parallels with open banking are striking. Ten years ago, banks were forced to adopt common standards that allowed customers to share financial data securely across providers. It wasn’t an easy or popular measure, but it unlocked a wave of innovation.
Gavin Starks sees the same opportunity for climate data. 'We didn’t start by boiling the ocean. We started with one use case: account switching. Once we solved that, the rest followed.'
Perseus is applying the same principle: start small, prove value, then scale. It’s an approach David Elliman recognises from software engineering: focus on high-frequency pain points and problems you face daily, not problems you face annually.
Compliance is the floor, opportunity is the ceiling
For too long, sustainability has been framed as a compliance exercise. Gavin Starks wants to flip that narrative. ‘Compliance should be the floor. Opportunity should be the ceiling’, he says.
Standardised, shared data doesn’t just make it easier to prove impact, but it also makes it easier to unlock entirely new markets. From green lending to insurance and risk management, transparent carbon data could underpin a new class of financial products that reward sustainability with better access to capital.
The potential is vast: UK green lending alone could reach £40 billion — but today, it’s closer to £1 billion. Better data could close that gap.
The UK Data Act: an inflection point
The UK’s Data Act marks a major turning point. It extends data rights beyond consumers to include businesses, making shared, standardised APIs a legal requirement across sectors.
For engineers, David Elliman says, this means moving from ‘building castles with moats to building bridges.’ Every system will need to expose data securely and interoperably, which is an architectural revolution that could reshape entire industries.
For policymakers and boards, Starks argues, it’s a moment to treat data as a long-term investment: ‘Boards need to see investment in data as a market-shaping exercise, not as a cost centre.’
Building a politics-resistant climate economy
One of the most striking moments in the conversation comes when Starks reframes the climate debate entirely:
“We design everything at Icebreaker One to make it almost irrelevant whether or not you care about net zero. If we can join financial incentives with real-world environmental impact in an assurable way, it’s just better investment. Even if you don’t believe in climate change, you can’t deny the economics.”
It’s a refreshingly pragmatic take, and one that transforms sustainability from a moral imperative into a financial inevitability.
So, is net zero possible without open data?
Not really, says Gavin Starks. But that’s actually good news.
‘We’ve seen with open banking that when we set standards with robust governance, entirely new markets can flourish. We now need to do the same for energy, finance, and supply chain data. It’s not easy to do, but it is possible.’
David Elliman agrees: ‘Having open data isn’t technically required, but it makes life a lot easier. The more integrated our systems become, the faster we can move.’
The takeaway? Open data may not guarantee net zero — but without it, we don’t stand a chance.
