The UK must stop “funding Putin’s war machine” and launch a Northern-led green energy revolution, a North East mayor has urged.
Jamie Driscoll has joined with other leaders in calling for the region to be at the forefront of a renewed push to develop clean technologies that will cut a reliance on fossil fuels, including those from Russia, and fight climate change.
The North of Tyne mayor said that the North East “is ready to play its part in accelerating the change”, citing huge investments in the Dogger Bank wind farm and in electric car battery plants in Sunderland and Blyth.
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The government announced this week that it would phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year, following the invasion of Ukraine, and was “exploring options” to reduce the supply of Russian gas too.
Mr Driscoll said that the war in Ukraine and resulting sanctions being imposed on Russia by Western nations “powerfully demonstrate why the transition to net zero is an issue of national resilience”.
The Labour mayor added: “It highlights the madness of not investing in renewables for energy independence. Instead we’ve been funding Putin’s war machine. We must transition now for our own security.
“The North East is ready to play its part in accelerating the change. We are investing millions in wind turbines off our coastline, creating new jobs and tackling emissions. Industry is with us too, Britishvolt and Nissan have chosen the North East to establish cutting edge gigafactories – the largest industrial investment in the region since the 80s.
“I stand with the other Northern mayors when we say we must double down on renewables to secure cheaper energy prices. We have the solution. All we need is for Government to trust us to get on with the job so we can change people’s lives for the better.”
Mr Driscoll co-signed a statement with fellow mayors Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin, and Dan Jarvis, plus Northern Powerhouse Partnership vice-chair Juergen Maier, arguing that the North can compete in a global race to develop green energy jobs but is “in danger of getting left behind”.
They wrote: “We can’t afford to stand by and watch while the rest of the world builds up huge industries in sectors such as electric vehicles and low carbon hydrogen.
“We need more investment in R&D to develop clean technologies, more investment in local supply chains and more investment in skills so people can access these new green jobs.
“The north already produces more than half of the country’s renewable energy.
“Many northern regions are accelerating our own local plans to reach carbon neutrality well ahead of the national target of 2050, from insulating homes in Greater Manchester and building a green jobs taskforce in West Yorkshire.
“We have offshore wind on the Humber and hydrogen power on Teesside. We have fusion capabilities at the UKAEA and small modular reactors at the Nuclear AMRC in South Yorkshire, as well as carbon capture and storage technologies from the East Coast across to the Mersey. We’re leading the nation towards a renewable energy future. We need to be leading the world.”
