The days of “green crap” were today a distant memory as the Government published a clean growth strategy, setting out how it plans to further reduce the UK’s carbon emissions to boost economic growth.
Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark published the strategy, which sets out how the UK can benefit from low carbon opportunities through the creation of new technologies and new businesses that meet national targets to tackle climate change.
“The world is moving from being powered by polluting fossil fuels to clean energy. It’s as big a change as the move from the age of steam to the age of oil and Britain is showing the way.”
Carbon emissions in the UK have fallen and national income risen faster and further than any other nation in the G7 – since 1990, emissions are down by 42 per cent while the economy has grown by 67 per cent.
Greg Clark said: “This government has put clean growth at the heart of its Industrial Strategy to increase productivity, boost people’s earning power and ensure Britain continues to lead the world in efforts to tackle climate change.
“The world is moving from being powered by polluting fossil fuels to clean energy. It’s as big a change as the move from the age of steam to the age of oil and Britain is showing the way.”
Claire Perry, Climate Change and Industry Minister, said: “The impact of the Paris agreement and the unstoppable global shift towards low carbon technologies gives the UK an unparalleled opportunity.
“By focusing on clean growth, we can cut the cost of energy, drive economic prosperity, create high value jobs and improve our quality of life.
“Every action that the Government takes to cut emissions must be done while ensuring our economy remains competitive. The government’s actions to reduce carbon emissions, through support for renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, have helped to reduce average consumer energy bills and more than offset the cost of government support for low carbon technologies, and the costs of key technologies such as offshore wind is plummeting.”
The strategy gives details of how more than £2.5 billion will be invested to support low carbon innovation from 2015 to 2021, as part of the largest increase in public spending on science, research and innovation in over three decades. This funding covers programmes delivering low carbon energy, transport, agriculture and waste.
This includes up to £505 million from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Energy Innovation Programme, which aims to accelerate the commercialisation of innovative clean energy technologies and processes.
There are already more than 430,000 jobs in low carbon businesses and their supply chains. Today’s policies will provide further opportunities right across the country for more jobs, higher earning power and increased productivity. The low carbon economy could grow 11 per cent a year between 2015 and 2030 – faster than the rest of the economy.
Juergen Maier, CEO Siemens plc, said: “Clean growth is good growth and the UK has a great opportunity to lead. Siemens welcomes the launch of the government’s Clean Growth Strategy which sets a clear direction for business and puts decarbonisation at the heart of the industrial strategy.”
The publication follows the recent establishment of a taskforce of senior financial experts to accelerate growth of green finance in the UK’s low carbon economy. The taskforce, which includes Bruce Davis, of Abundance Investment, has been given six months to deliver ambitious proposals to accelerate investment in the transition to a low carbon economy, creating high-value jobs and opportunities for UK businesses. It will examine a range of interventions, from making infrastructure investment more sustainable to scaling-up green mortgages.
Mr Davis said: “Abundance welcomes the launch of the clean growth strategy. It shows the importance of investment in the green economy for present and future generations. We look forward to working with the government to ensure we have the finance to deliver this strategy in a way that benefits both the whole UK economy and the whole population through their ISA and pension investments.”
Paul Ellis, chief executive of Ecology Building Society said: “Improving the energy efficiency of our existing housing stock will be critical to help meet our carbon targets and the challenge now is to move beyond statements of ambition and aspiration to practical policies that will deliver.
“We’ve been calling for incentives for homeowners to invest in energy efficiency improvements, such as stamp duty relief and support for green finance, for more than ten years. We already incorporate energy efficiency into our lending decisions and, as an existing provider of green mortgages for renovation and retrofit, we are ready to play our part in ensuring this package of proposals has real impact.”
The UK was the first country in the world to introduce a Climate Change Act that sets a legally binding long-term target and a series of five-year caps on greenhouse gas emissions up to 2050. The Government is focused on hitting the fifth carbon budget (2028 to 2032) with the package of measures outlined today.
Shaun Spiers, executive director of the Green Alliance said: “It is great to see this long awaited strategy setting out the government’s ambitions for clean growth. It is certainly a welcome move in the right direction. The test now will be to embed the strategy across government and encourage investment in clean growth by giving businesses the certainty they need.
“Going green is not only good for the environment: it is crucial for the future of the UK economy. By taking decisive action to reduce carbon emissions at home we can take advantage of the growing global market for low carbon technology and expertise. This strategy is the opportunity to reboot the agenda on energy efficiency, clean vehicles and the efficient use of resources in the UK.
“UK progress was confirmed in a report by PwC which demonstrated the country is strongly outperforming its peers within the G20 according to PwC’s Low Carbon Economy Index (LCEI). Its analysis published last month shows the UK decarbonising faster than any other G20 nation. It also reveals that in 2016, the UK achieved a decarbonisation rate of 7.7 per cent – almost three times the global average.”
Jonathan Grant, PwC sustainability director and Low Carbon Economy Index author, said: “Analysis by PwC shows that the UK leads the G20 on clean growth and is decoupling emissions from economic growth significantly faster than its peers. The UK’s success comes down to policies that create a positive investment climate for low carbon technology, the drive to tackle emissions from coal and the strength of our services sectors.”
The funding will include:
- up to £10 million for innovations that provide low carbon heat in domestic and commercial buildings
- up to £10 million for innovations that improve the energy efficiency of existing buildings
- an extra £14 million for the Energy Entrepreneurs Fund, including a new sixth fund
- up to £20 million in a Carbon Capture and Utilisation demonstration programme
- up to £20 million to demonstrate the viability of switching to low carbon fuels for industry
- up to £20 million to support clean technology early stage funding
Other measures include:
- introduce a ‘Green Great Britain’ week to promote clean growth.
- improve the energy productivity of businesses by at least 20 per cent by 2030
- help large companies install measures to cut their energy use and their bills
- investing up to £100 million in carbon capture and storage technology
- support around £3.6 billion of investment to upgrade around a million homes through the Energy Company Obligation (ECO)
- target for all fuel poor homes to be upgraded to Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2030
- develop a long term trajectory to improve the energy performance standards of privately-rented homes, with the aim of upgrading as many private rented homes as possible to Energy Performance Certificate Band C by 2030 where practical, cost effective and affordable
- spend £1 billion supporting the take-up of ultra low emission vehicles, including helping consumers to overcome the upfront cost of an electric car
- invest around £841 million of public funds in innovation in low carbon transport technology and fuels
- phase out the use of unabated coal to produce electricity by 2025
- provide up to half a billion pounds for further Contract for Difference auctions for less established technologies, such as offshore wind, with the next one planned for spring 2019
- establish a new network of forests in England including new woodland on farmland, and fund larger-scale woodland and forest creation, in support of our commitment to plant 11 million trees, and increase the amount of UK timber used in construction
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: “We are determined to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it, and achieving clean growth is an integral part of our work to deliver a Green Brexit.”
