The UK needs to "act now and act fast" to drive investment in green industries and future proof the economy, the International Trade Secretary said at a speech on Tyneside.
Kemi Badenoch was addressing delegates at the Green Trade and Investment Expo being held at the Sage Gateshead, where businesspeople gathered to hear her set out three key priorities for the Government in growing the country's green industrial base, marketing opportunities to global investors and growing exports. Ms Badenoch said the UK was quickly becoming the "green creativity capital of the world" as she singled out projects supported by the North East-based Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult.
She said: "If we get our strategy wrong, we risk being on left on the back foot as other countries seize the advantage. We need to act now, and act fast.
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"Here's how: first, we're focussed on building our green industrial base, so now we're creating a pipeline of brilliant opportunities for investors. In our British Energy Security and Net Zero strategies we've set our plans to drive £100bn worth of private sector investment into green energies, including offshore wind by 2030.
"And as you've already heard this morning, we've given ourselves an ambition of up to 50GW of offshore wind capacity by that same date - more than enough to power ever home in the UK."
Ms Badenoch went on to talk the role of the Office of Investment in attracting "billions" of investment in clean technology, including an £85m injection by the Qatar Investment Authority into Rolls-Royce's Small Modular Nuclear Reactors project - which could bring a factory to the North East.
The Secretary of State opened the speech by talking about Blyth as a place that "illustrates the promise of the clean energy revolution". She said: "When Blyth's last colliery closed three decades ago, around 1,700 jobs disappeared. Some people thought the town would be left behind. It is true that the past years have been difficult and challenges still exist. However, Blyth has been on a journey."
There was also praise for the investment by JDR Cables Systems to build its new factory in the town. She added: "As we are seeing in Blyth, green trade and investments acts as a future proof for the future by creating those jobs of tomorrow. The jobs that will drive economic growth and keep communities alive."
Despite the focus on Blyth, the speech made no mention of the funding crisis threatening the planned nearby Britishvolt battery factory that promises 3,000 green jobs. The Expo was taking place as reports emerged of short term funding secured by the battery start-up to stave off administration.
Later asked about the Government's support for Britishvolt, Ms Badenoch told Business Live: "What I would say is that the Government is doing what it can to be supportive, but at the end of the day it is taxpayers' money and we need to make sure we're getting value for money. One of the good things about the Expo is that there is multiple investments that we're encouraging and supporting, Britishvolt is not the only one. It's very, very big for this region and we're doing what we can but we need to make sure the money we're putting in is going to deliver for people."
She added: "It's not the only gigafactory but with all investments - the investment landscape is one that is very risky so we have to look at what our risk appetite is. And my understanding - and I don't know the full facts - is that certain criteria were needed in order to get the grant funding and the criteria wasn't met. If that's the case then we need to stick to whatever the business case modelling that BEIS or whichever government department - perhaps the Treasury as well - was involved in, in order to get the right outcome.
"One of the things that we cannot do is back every single project everywhere, fully to the hilt. There's just not enough money to do that and we need to make some calls. At the moment, as I understand it, it's not necessarily the case that Britishvolt is no longer happening, I think they do have some short to medium-term funding, so let's see what happens.
"I don't have enough detail to give a full comment on Britishvolt but what I would say to people living here is that we're doing what we can to make sure that jobs and growth happen in the North East. And there's a lot happening - whether its offshore wind or hydrogen - there's much more to the green industry landscape than the gigafactory."
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