Green opportunities missed in UK levelling up strategy, say experts
The need to reach net zero carbon emissions, and the green jobs that could be created in doing so, received scant attention in the government’s levelling-up strategy, an omission slammed by green campaigners and businesses.
The mention of “the green industrial revolution and transition to net zero” came second bottom of the list of 16 priorities in the levelling-up paper published on Wednesday, promising £26bn of capital investment, though green analysts said it was not clear if any of this was new money or how it would be spent.
The strategy did not include any commitment to insulate the UK’s draughty homes, despite the current energy price crisis, or to shift the UK away from its expensive reliance on imported gas.
Ed Matthew, campaigns director at the climate crisis thinktank E3G, said: “As energy bills go through the roof due to the rocketing cost of gas, it is worth remembering that the most energy-leaking housing stock in western Europe is in the north of England. Fixing it would slash energy bills and emissions whilst boosting the economy of the north. Failing to put that at the heart of this levelling up strategy is a spectacular own goal.”
Renewable energy should also have played a greater role, argued Nina Skorupska, chief executive of the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology. “[The paper] is a missed opportunity,” she said.
Pointing to Humberside, where investment in offshore wind has driven a resurgence of manufacturing jobs, Skorupska said it could be “replicated on a much wider scale” if ministers took action.
Cara Jenkinson, cities manager at the climate charity Ashden, said: “We are really surprised and disappointed to see the absence of green skills and commitments connected to net zero.”
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