Two parts of the North East have been singled out as “net zero hot spots” in a report which highlights how green industries are already contributing thousands of jobs to the local economy.
The CBI report, compiled in association with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), found that there are nearly 20,000 jobs in the Tyneside and Teesside coast and the Scottish Borders and Northumberland areas, amounting to around 4% of jobs in those areas and contributing more than £2bn to the economy.
But the release of the report – which comes just a few weeks after plans for a 3,000-job battery gigafactory in Northumberland fell apart – has come with a warning that Government support is needed to help ambitious schemes come to fruition.
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New polling by YouGov released alongside the analysis has found that people in the Tyneside and Teesside area see renewable energy and clean technology as the sector most likely to create long-term growth in the local economy, but also that it is the sector the Government should prioritise support for to generate more growth in the area.
Tom Thackray, director of decarbonisation at the CBI said: “Upping the pace on the UK’s transition to net zero will challenge industries, businesses, and policymakers in the years ahead. This report underlines the real benefit to firms across multiple sectors – right across the country – of embracing that challenge.
“We can see how environmentally sustainable economic growth – for example, the development and scaling of renewable energy – will help stimulate economic activity across the UK and in turn help to reduce regional inequality. And while it is a challenge that businesses need to embrace, green growth is also one of the big opportunities in the coming years for the UK economy.”
Peter Chalkley, director of ECIU, said: “From insulation fitters to heat pump engineers and agritech pioneers, businesses in the net zero economy are adding £70bn to the UK economy. Billions of pounds of private sector investments are being made in net zero with the hot spots of activity being outside of London in places like Tyneside, Merseyside and Derbyshire.
“The net zero economy is addressing levelling-up and the UK’s productivity problem, but with the EU and US investing heavily in clean technologies, the question now is will the UK keep up or try to stick with industries of the past?”
Earlier this month a review carried out by Tory MP Chris Skidmore described net zero as “the economic opportunity of the 21st century” but warned that the UK would have to move “quickly” and “decisively”, and opportunities were already being missed thanks to a lack of skills and “inconsistent policy commitment”.
The new CBI report highlights the Houghton and Sunderland South parliamentary constituency close to the Nissan factory and the Envision AESC battery gigafactory as the area which has the highest concentration of green jobs in the UK.
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