A green economic recovery package totalling £100 billion could create 1.8 million new green jobs in industries such as energy, transport and housing, while helping to cut Britain’s climate-heating emissions, a new report published today (Tuesday 30 June) by Greenpeace UK has found.
The findings come ahead of an announcement from the Prime Minister later today, in which he is expected to set out the government’s plans to revive the economy, with tens of billions of pounds expected in stimulus packages.
The research – which was carried out by sustainability advisors, 3Keel, on behalf of Greenpeace UK – looked at the possible employment outcomes of the transformative policies and investments set out in Greenpeace’s manifesto for a green recovery, published last month.
Of the £100 billion that should be injected into zero-carbon industries to revive the economy over the next four years, almost half (£48 billion) should go towards cleaning up our transport system. This would create 890,000 new jobs in areas such as electric vehicle manufacturing, expanding and improving the public transport network and creating new infrastructure for walking and cycling all across the country.
A £25.2 billion stimulus package for smart power and renewable energy would create 320,000 jobs in offshore and onshore wind and solar power generation, as well as upgrading the electricity grid to ensure it is smart, flexible and able to cope with demand.
Increasing energy efficiency of homes and buildings, such as schools and hospitals, has the potential to create a huge number of nationwide jobs immediately, as programmes are ‘shovel-ready’ to roll out. A £17.2 billion investment in upgrading and retrofitting existing buildings would create a total of 400,000 jobs.
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Posted On: 30/06/2020