LSE: Green jobs can boost recovery and help deliver “levelling-up”.
New report by Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment focuses on six key areas that should be at the heart of a sustainable recovery plan to ensure long-term growth.
The report, Jobs for a strong and sustainable recovery from Covid-10, which is published today by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, both at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – suggests that tens of thousands of green jobs could be created if the government invests in the green economy.
The report states that investing in jobs that will help the UK meet its net-zero carbon emissions targets for 2050 will also help deliver the government’s “levelling-up” agenda. The authors of the report say that these jobs will create work across the country in the near term, setting the groundwork for sustainable and resilient longer-term economic growth.
Six areas have been identified where government investment could create jobs and advance the fight against climate change. They include energy efficiency in buildings; natural capital projects; active travel equipment and infrastructure, such as bicycle and cycle lanes; renewable power generations, distribution and storage; electric vehicle production and charging infrastructure; carbon capture, use and storage, and blue and green hydrogen production.
The authors predict that there will be a rapid increase in demand for cleaner and more environmentally friendly products and technologies, leading to longer-term employment and growth benefits. They also point out that the UK already has manufacturing strengths in a number of green technologies, including making parts for wind turbines, accelerating the potential growth in the green economy.
The report recommends that investments that create jobs in the short term should be complemented by investments, policies and incentives for building innovation and skills to meet these longer-term challenges.
Report co-author Sam Unsworth, policy analyst at the Grantham Research Institute, said: “There is an urgent and immediate demand for labour-intensive and hence job-creating investments that will address large-scale unemployment triggered by the Covid-19 crisis. The job-creating investments we set out in our report are key to meeting net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
Anna Valero, ESRC Innovation Fellow at the Centre for the Economic Performance and report co-author, said: “Looking beyond the immediate crisis, the transition to a green economy offers extraordinary opportunities for sustainable, resilient and more inclusive growth. With global demand for cleaner and more environmentally friendly products and technologies set to increase rapidly in the coming decades, countries that take early action to develop green innovation and production capabilities are likely to reap significant growth benefits.”
Read the full report here.
20 October 2020
Climate Action
