View all newsletters
Sign up to our newsletters

Support 110 years of independent journalism.

  1. Spotlight on Policy
  2. Sustainability
  3. Energy
24 May 2023updated 12 Oct 2023 10:47am

Net zero jobs growth “not guaranteed”, says Climate Change Committee

The UK may be missing opportunities for green jobs, warns a new report by the independent body.

By Jonny Ball

The government’s commitment to achieving net zero has the potential to catalyse growth in high-quality jobs across the UK’s regions, but new policies are needed to harness those opportunities. That is one of the conclusions the government’s independent, non-departmental advisory Climate Change Committee (CCC) has come to in its “A Net Zero Workforce” report, published today.

The green transition presents opportunities as well as risks, says the committee, which was established in 2008 to advise on climate change and associated policy areas. The CCC is headed by John Gummer, a former chair of the Conservative Party from the Thatcher era, and includes the Institute for Fiscal Studies director, Paul Johnson, as well as leading scientists and academics among its members.

“Net zero will transform the economy,” says the report, “but the majority of workers will not see major impacts.” It estimates that a fifth of the workforce will be heavily impacted – those that have a “core role” in net zero delivery, principally those employed in retrofit and construction, as well as electric-battery manufacturing. “Less than 1 per cent of UK workers are in sectors that will need to phase down as a result of the transition,” it goes on, claiming “there is potential for the net zero transition to create more jobs than will be lost”.

According to the report, a potential 725,000 net jobs could be created in low-carbon sectors such as electric-vehicle manufacture and renewable energy, but jobs growth was “not guaranteed”. Realising the job-creation benefits of net zero would require the reskilling and upskilling of the workforce, it concludes. The UK was losing out to international competition, and “may be missing out on opportunities… by not supporting the skills that could help attract investment”.

The report is the latest example of criticism of the government’s approach to net zero. March’s so-called green day of policy announcements to tackle climate change was described as “underwhelming” by the climate change think tank E3G. While the US has announced $500bn in new spending and taxes as part of its Inflation Reduction Act, much of which is earmarked for subsidies for green technology and transport, the EU has launched its own multibillion-euro green transition package. The British government, however, has failed to set out an equivalent agenda with similar ambitions or fiscal weight.

Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU

“EV and battery manufacturing,” says the report, was seeing “consumer subsidies for inland manufacturing being put in place abroad”. Joe Biden’s climate commitments are being specifically targeted to promote domestic manufacturing and jobs in rust-belt areas, and help support shorter, more localised supply chains. The CCC says that decarbonisation could similarly “create opportunities in areas that have historically had lower growth”, but that “policy must be put in place if it is to harness the potential of the transition and manage its risks”.

Alok Sharma, the former Cop26 president, said “a calibrated hands-on approach from government will help to deliver hundreds of thousands of green jobs and hubs of technological innovation across the UK’s industrial heartlands. This will need to include an ambitious response to the US’s Inflation Reduction Act which is hoovering up billions of dollars of private sector investment and jobs.”

[See also: We must stop investing in our own demise]

Content from our partners
Development finance reform: the key to climate action
Individually rare, collectively common – how do we transform the lives of people with rare diseases?
Future proofing the NHS

Topics in this article : , , , ,
Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
  • Administration / Office
  • Arts and Culture
  • Board Member
  • Business / Corporate Services
  • Client / Customer Services
  • Communications
  • Construction, Works, Engineering
  • Education, Curriculum and Teaching
  • Environment, Conservation and NRM
  • Facility / Grounds Management and Maintenance
  • Finance Management
  • Health - Medical and Nursing Management
  • HR, Training and Organisational Development
  • Information and Communications Technology
  • Information Services, Statistics, Records, Archives
  • Infrastructure Management - Transport, Utilities
  • Legal Officers and Practitioners
  • Librarians and Library Management
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • OH&S, Risk Management
  • Operations Management
  • Planning, Policy, Strategy
  • Printing, Design, Publishing, Web
  • Projects, Programs and Advisors
  • Property, Assets and Fleet Management
  • Public Relations and Media
  • Purchasing and Procurement
  • Quality Management
  • Science and Technical Research and Development
  • Security and Law Enforcement
  • Service Delivery
  • Sport and Recreation
  • Travel, Accommodation, Tourism
  • Wellbeing, Community / Social Services
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU