Partners launch new market mechanism to fast-track commercialisation and adoption of innovative and sustainable construction materials across the UK.
London, 2nd December 2025 – Innovate UK, in collaboration with Carbon Limiting Technologies (CLT) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), has launched an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) designed to accelerate the development and commercialisation of next-generation low-carbon concrete.
An AMC is a promise to buy an innovative product before it is widely available in the market. By sending a strong demand signal, these commitments unlock investment and help innovators move from pilots to full-scale production much faster.
“This Advance Market Commitment exemplifies Innovate UK’s mission to drive economic growth by supporting businesses to develop new ideas,” said Dr Stafford Lloyd, Innovation Lead, Clean Growth Strategy at Innovate UK. “It is a bold, collaborative effort to create a market for sustainable solutions before they are fully commercialised, sending a clear signal to innovators that their efforts will be met with demand and providing an essential component in unlocking investment in scale-up companies.”
The launch event in London on 25 November brought together leaders from construction, infrastructure, finance, innovation and government to celebrate the first signatories of the AMC. Funded by DESNZ, the programme’s inclusion in the Autumn Budget demonstrates the government’s commitment to decarbonising construction, supporting UK innovation, and driving economic growth.
Carbon Limiting Technologies, as delivery partner to Innovate UK, is instrumental in developing and managing the AMC and enabling collaboration across industry and government. CLT has 20 years of experience helping climate tech innovators and investors bring low-carbon solutions to market, bridging the gap between policy ambition and commercial reality.
Natalie Fredericks, COO of Carbon Limiting Technologies, said:
“Decarbonising concrete is one of the most complex challenges in the transition to net zero, and it requires coordinated action between innovators, policymakers, supply chain, designers and end users. The AMC provides a practical and powerful mechanism to align that effort – creating demand certainty, accelerating investment, and ensuring that breakthrough technologies can achieve real commercial traction. At CLT, we’re proud to support Innovate UK and DESNZ in delivering this vital programme, and to help build the conditions for new low-carbon concretes to become standardised across the UK construction industry. Thank you to the sector for its support in making the AMC a reality and we look forward to building up the scale of the commitment towards our target.”
Underpinning almost everything we build, concrete is strong, reliable, and affordable — but it carries a high carbon cost. If the cement industry were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of CO₂ in the world, after China and the US. Without faster scale-up and adoption of next-generation concretes, the sector risks falling short of net-zero targets and facing shortages of low-carbon concrete in the years ahead.
Addressing delegates, Industry Minister Chris McDonald said:
“We want to make the UK a world-leading producer of reliable, low-carbon cement and concrete. While demand is uncertain and risks are high, we need to do more to back innovation and scale up these new technologies. That’s where Advance Market Commitments are so useful.”
In construction today, demand for low-carbon concrete is weak because the products are not available in sufficient volumes and their performance and commercial viability are not yet proven. AMCs are an effective instrument to overcome this impasse; they were successfully deployed to speed up vaccine development and are now being tested in carbon capture and clean shipping.
Under the new AMC, concrete users sign up for time-limited commitments to purchase concrete from producers that can verify that their products meet carbon reduction targets and technical and commercial standards. The initial target is to secure commitments for up to 500,000 cubic metres of novel, low-carbon concrete over the next five years — unlocking the tens of millions in investment needed to set up the first commercial production facilities. This approach delivers earlier carbon savings, faster cost reductions, and positions the UK as a leader in next-generation construction materials and methods.
Crucially, the AMC brings together cross-sector partners and stakeholders to ensure innovations can make it to market successfully. At the launch, Chris Arnold, Procurement Category Manager at Scottish Water, announced his support for the programme, signalling the supply chain’s appetite to move together to reduce risk for early adopters and innovative companies.
“We are delighted to be the first signatory to the Advance Market Commitment for Low Carbon Concrete, which is hugely significant in enabling the decarbonisation of concrete,” said Arnold. “Concrete is a significant contributor to Scottish Water’s carbon emissions and the adoption of new innovative low-carbon concrete products is a key step forward towards decarbonising construction practices and enhancing the sustainability and resilience of our infrastructure supply chains.”
Joining Scottish Water as the first signatories to the AMC are eight other organisations:
Heathrow, AtkinsRéalis UK, Derwent London, Ramboll, JN Bentley, Mott MacDonald, Buro Happold, and BAM.
The launch also set out next steps, including an invitation for further organisations to sign up to the AMC and a call to action for investors and insurers to help future solutions scale so that the market becomes self-sustaining.
To learn more and get involved, visit the programme page.