The UK can unlock more than £70bn of economic benefits and export £17bn of renewable energy a year according to a new report out this morning
The report by the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development says that by becoming a “sustainability superpower” the country would create an additional 279,000 British jobs (and support a total of 654,000 British jobs) across clean energy industries.
Just as the UK became a major exporter of North Sea oil and gas during the 1980s and 1990s, Britain’s potential to generate huge amounts of clean energy would turn the UK from a net importer of energy to one exporting “vast amounts” of clean power, worth £17bn a year, to mainland Europe.
Thanks to its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and competitive advantages in offshore wind generation the report found the UK can fulfil the Government’s ambition of becoming a “clean energy superpower” if it can turn its barriers to growth into enablers.
The report was written by former government economist Chris Walker for the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, in partnership with Prologis UK and Inspired Plc.
It highlights the potential rewards of sustained, aggressive strategy aimed at maximising the UK’s competitive advantages in generating clean energy.
The report analysed two competing scenarios facing the UK as it heads towards its current target of decarbonising all sectors of the economy by 2050.
It says: “Because we are in a global race with critical tipping points, one version of 2050 sees the UK becoming a world leader in the energy transition by attracting trillions of pounds of global private investment, innovating in key technologies and deploying them at an international scale to become a clean energy superpower. This is the ‘beyond net zero’ scenario.
“In another version of 2050, the UK lapses into clean energy mediocrity and stumbles along. This is the ‘near net zero’ scenario.”
In the “beyond net zero” scenario, the UK achieves economic benefits of £70.3bn a year by 2050 – not including the social value of reduced greenhouse gas emissions and averted climate change.
Jason Longhurst, Chair of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Development, said: “It is now almost four years since Britain effectively fired the starting pistol on the global race to net zero by becoming the first major economy to set a net zero emissions target in law.
“Today, more than 90% of global GDP is covered by some form of net zero target.
“We commissioned this report to find out more about the opportunities which net zero can bring to Britain.
“The findings are clear. The UK can unlock more than £70 billion of economic benefits a year if we become a world leader in the race to net zero.
“We have the potential to generate huge amounts of clean energy which would turn the UK from a net importer of energy to a nation exporting vast amounts of clean power, worth £17bn a year, to mainland Europe.
“We believe this paper delivers an evidence base to enable our government to drive new incentives to transition, leverage in further private sector investment and position the UK as one of the world’s most investable markets for companies tackling the challenges created by climate change.
“Having fired the starting pistol on the race to net zero it’s now time for the public and private sector to work together to put Britain at the front of the field again.”
