Low carbon and renewable energy economy

The UK's green economy grew by 30% in 2021 while the number of jobs in low-carbon industries increased by 16% year-on-year.

But IPPR, a think tank said, “Today’s ONS assessment shows that the UK risks falling behind in the global green race, just as our allies and economic competitors such as the United States are unleashing significant interventions to boost their economies and accelerate towards net zero.

“While the growth in the low-carbon and renewable economy is positive, overall, the UK’s progress in growing the green economy over the best part of a decade has been decidedly unspectacular. It’s estimated that there are thousands fewer businesses operating in these sectors than in 2014, and the number of jobs has only increased by 5 per cent over the same period.

“Before the UK falls out of the race altogether, the UK government needs to step up public investment, offer longer term and more ambitious policies from energy efficiency to clean transport, and back them with a serious green industrial strategy. Failure to do so will see the UK fall behind economically and undermine our progress towards our climate goals.”

The ONS concludes that although a proportion of this observed increase could be attributed to the recovery of the UK economy from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this is not likely to be the whole picture and more significant progress is now being made.

Lynne Baber, Head of PwC Sustainability, said: “We know that the transition to a green economy must accelerate. (The) ONS data is welcome confirmation that the pace is beginning to pick up with turnover and employment rates in the low carbon and renewable energy sectors both reaching their highest levels, but more must be done.

“With our recent Green Jobs Barometer showing that green jobs are growing at almost four times the rate of the overall jobs market, today’s data reinforces how strong the UK’s starting position is in the race for green economic growth.

“However, with countries across Europe and other parts of the world stepping up their own ambitious plans for green growth, the UK must ensure the path is clear to continue moving at the required pace – that means ambitious policies aimed at green growth, and investment in infrastructure, energy efficiency, and technology while ensuring that these jobs are created in the regions where they are most needed.

“PwC analysis has shown that reskilling or upskilling of the workforce needs to accelerate now in order to fill the green skills gap in time to meet net zero by 2050.
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“Challenges arise in ensuring that workers are sufficiently reskilled into new roles and that the demand for skills are met, particularly given a lack of coherent labour force planning, a lack of engagement with educational institutions and negative perceptions of the energy sector amongst young people.”