Climate Change Committee : Net Zero offers real "levelling up" opportunity

Commenting on the briefing, Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Committee said:

“The UK has committed to Net Zero. The only question is whether the Government intends to get there in a way that benefits workers or leaves them behind.

“This is a unique moment to tailor our approach to skills and jobs, in the certainty of achieving the legal goal. A Net Zero workforce means secure employment for the future. This is an opportunity for the Government to bring real meaning to ‘levelling up’.”

Global factors are at play. The introduction of the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s proposed Green Deal Industrial Plan have increased the risk to competitiveness of the UK in some key areas of the Net Zero transition.

The CCC says the UK risks missing out on opportunities to capture low-carbon market shares by not supporting skills that attract investment to the UK. Manufacturing priorities like electric vehicles and battery production face competitive pressure from new ‘green’ subsidies for inland manufacturing in the United States and European Union. It thinks the UK must defend its competitive advantage in Net Zero sectors like hydrogen and carbon capture in the face of these new international pressures.

The briefing outlines that decarbonisation will reduce demand for certain goods and services, but the few sectors that may see job losses will see a pace of change more gradual than the coal and steel transitions of the past. They hope clarity on Government’s aims will give businesses and workers time to respond.

A big argument they put forward is that net zero can offer employment for economically deprived areas through the ability to direct the necessary programme of investment:

• Sectors that are expected to see the largest growth in employment include buildings construction and retrofit, transport, and low-carbon energy supply. These are spread across the UK. They are also the sectors that will see some of the fastest transitions, driven by the roll out low-carbon technology at pace.
• The first major UK sites for decarbonised industry are expected to be in The Humber and South Wales, exploiting hydrogen and carbon capture. Other clusters could be located in Grangemouth in Scotland, Teesside, Merseyside and Southampton. These areas already employ manufacturing workers – the North of England, the East Midlands, and Yorkshire and the Humber represent 16%, 9%, and 21% of energy-intensive manufacturing jobs respectively
• Energy supply and construction are key Net Zero sectors which have historically had an under-representation of women or ethnic minorities. Through targeted support, Net Zero offers an opportunity to increase diversity in these sectors.

One of the key findings from the briefing is that Government intervention is not necessary in every sector of the economy. Clear policy direction for each sector is important however, combined with a responsive education and skill system but the CCC feels that options for developing the Net Zero workforce are not being considered systematically across Government.