Tackling climate change is a priority for the Government. I am encouraged that the UK is playing a world-leading role in reducing emissions and since 2000 the UK has decarbonised faster than any other G20 country.
I note that you are specifically interested in how much UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on tackling climate change.
As you may know, in line with the recommendation from the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), the UK Government has adopted the legally-binding sixth Carbon Budget which commits the UK to reducing emissions by 78 per cent by 2035, compared to 1990 levels.
The Government is already working towards its commitment to reduce emissions in 2030 by at least 68 per cent compared to 1990 levels through the UK’s latest Nationally Determined Contribution, which is the highest reduction target made by a major economy to date.
The CCC’s latest estimates put the net cost of achieving net zero at less than 1 per cent of GDP through to 2050 when taking into account the benefits from the falling prices of low-carbon technologies, with scope for the economic effect to be net positive as resources shift from imported fossil fuels to UK investment. This downward revision, from 1-2 per cent previously estimated, is welcome.
In addition, building a greener economy will bring new jobs to new sectors. The Green Jobs Taskforce, of which I am Co-Chair, has been established and forms part of the Government’s ambitious plan to build back greener and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The Prime Minister's Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment to create and support 250,000 highly-skilled green jobs across the UK. It is expected to spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030. Included in the plan is a commitment to produce enough offshore wind in the UK to power every home, quadrupling how much we currently produce to 40GW by 2030, thereby supporting up to 60,000 jobs.
The Government is working to deliver on these targets and I will follow further developments closely.
