As the UK is failing to expand its green industries, we are also losing out on new sustainable jobs in this time of economic instability.
In the current economic climate it’s important we don’t overlook opportunities for sustainable job creation.
Some startling figures demonstrate this point. The UK is the windiest country in the European Union with around 40% of the EU’s total wind capacity, yet we produce little more than 4% of the EU’s wind energy.
This massive under-utilisation of our green resources is also reflected in job figures. According to government-sponsored research, the UK has, at very best, 26,000 jobs in renewable energy. By contrast, Germany has 250,000 jobs.
With the right investment, the UK has the wind resources to be a European green industry leader. As well as reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy security, wind power also creates a large number of jobs per TWh unit.
While nuclear produces 75 jobs per TWh per year, oil and gas around 250 jobs, wind produces up to 2,400 jobs.
The government’s own research shows that investing in wind could generate 43,000 new green jobs. This depends on developing turbine manufacturing in the UK. Without a major focus on developing that industry, these projections shrink to less than 7,000 jobs.
The government’s recently-launched New Challenges, New Opportunities report (pdf)reviews the manufacturing industry and provided an opportunity to prioritise investment in new green jobs and skills in green manufacturing. But the report sorely disappoints by prioritising investment in nuclear before renewables; leaving another environmental debt for future generations.
The EU is pushing the UK to do more on true renewable energy, partly as a result of legislation influenced by Green MEPs from across Europe. The government describes the UK’s target of producing 15% of our total energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020 as "very challenging". But to put that in context, Romania’s target is 24% and Sweden’s is 49%. In fact, most EU member states have higher 2020 renewable energy targets than the UK.
Simply put, progress on the green agenda is being delayed by Government timidity and lack of forward thinking.
Would the Tories be any better? David Cameron and Boris Johnson both expend their own form of renewable energy on two wheels, so perhaps. But Boris Johnson has so far put a cuts agenda ahead of the environment at City Hall. He has cancelled a fleet of hydrogen cell buses and is putting up bus and tube fares. Future commitments to a range of London green initiatives, secured by Green party assembly members, are now in question: his example is hardly leading the way.
As I argue in Green Work: Employment and skills – the climate change challenge, new report (pdf), the European Union could do much more. It needs to combine its Lisbon Agenda jobs priorities with its climate change strategy and work on training and skills. In this way EU funds could more readily aid investment in jobs and skills and help tackle climate change at the same time.
On October 1, as a result of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive every domestic property offered for rent or sale in the UK will require an energy assessment. This huge task will need an army of energy assessors. A significant proportion of the housing stock is still uninsulated, with 9m UK homes in need of cavity wall insulation and 12m needing loft insulation. In London alone, that’s over1m cavity walls and 1.5m lofts (pdf).
It won’t be a solution to all our problems, but a wide-scale free insulation programme could reduce energy bills by a third and slash carbon emissions. It would also create huge numbers of green jobs.
There is massive potential for green jobs and training, but it’s unclear whether the UK is ready to seize this opportunity. We have a serious green skills deficit and public investment in green training is sorely needed if we are to meet the climate change challenge and our green EU obligations.
The green agenda is intrinsically linked to jobs, skills and economic issues. It will fail if not fully integrated into relating strategies and it must not be set up as a straw man in opposition to them. As the green work agenda becomes increasingly relevant, failure on green issues will also mean failure in terms of sustainable jobs, skills and investment in industry and manufacturing.
The important work, the green work, still needs to be done