Six reasons green growth is still a big opportunity for the UK

It’s not about growth despite, it’s about growth because of net zero

Speaking at the CBI’s Achieving Net Zero Conference, Helen Whately MP, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, asked business leaders to look at the numbers to prove the benefits of going green:

• Between 1990 and 2019 the UK cut emissions by 44% while the economy grew by 78%.
• In 2019 low carbon businesses and their supply chains in the UK turned over £42bn of revenue supporting over 410,000 jobs.
• Green growth offers opportunities for UK which could contribute up to £60bn of gross value added to the UK economy by 2050.

We’ve done it before, we can do it again

Britain was at the forefront of investment the first Industrial Revolution, doubling productivity and growth rate in GDP as a result of coal production. Ambition and credibility will give the UK an opportunity to spearhead the Green Industrial Revolution.

Those are the two ingredients attracting companies like Norway’s Equinor, says its Senior Vice President Grete Tveit. The energy firm is looking to invest as much as $50bn in renewable energy and low carbon solutions by 2030. It’s already participating in the East Coast Cluster – turning the Humber from the UK’s largest emitter to a leader in hydrogen and carbon capture and storage – which is helping to save 55,000 jobs and create plenty of new ones too.

Likewise, British Volt is focussing on homegrown talent and looks at the northeast of England as a regeneration opportunity. It’s currently forging ahead with plans to build the UK’s first gigafactory on the site of a former coalfired power station in Blyth – and its founder and CEO Orral Nadjari believes the UK is sat “right on the epicentre of green growth”.

Green growth is going global

Thanks to COP26, 90% of countries have now signed up to climate commitments – and they’re looking for ways to achieve them. The global market for low carbon exports is growing rapidly, says Andrew Mitchell, from the Department for Trade. By 2030 could be worth £2trn – and who wouldn’t want a piece of that?!

We have the brainpower – we just need to tap into it and deploy it in different ways

Whether it’s our strength in financial services or space and satellite technology, we have a global lead we can take advantage of when it comes to going green.

We also have incredible research and academic institutions in this country, says David Craig of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. But we need

to better deploy that academic excellence into new products, into training for the net zero skills we need and into education to help more people to understand the role of nature and biodiversity in climate change.

We’re starting to get better at learning from each other

Pick your analogy and whether we’ve already picked the low hanging fruit or we’ve completed the video game level, the journey to net zero is getting harder and businesses are having to learn as they go.

It’s why we need collaboration. And lots of it. Public and private. Big business and small. It’s the only thing that will drive the rate of innovation needed to meet our targets – especially when you’re an energy intensive user, says Seamus French at Laing O’Rourke.

Reckitt Benckiser’s David Croft talks about the rise of collaborative learning – where those most in the know, including the UK’s universities, banks and consultancies are helping to bring firms together to help convert plans into action.

It’s also the idea behind the CBI’s Be More Green campaign.

We have the public’s backing

Long-time sceptics might use the current cost of living crisis to argue net zero is a costly distraction. Currently, the public don’t quite agree. Despite all the challenges, the surveys show continued commitment to tackling climate change. And not just from young people – although, as Force of Nature’s Sacha Wright says, they remain vital to firms’ ability to adapt.

Alok Sharma, COP26 President, says climate change is still a top three issue for members of the public, despite the squeeze on household income. "This is here with us to stay," he says.

But at the CBI we believe that we can’t be complacent.

The Pheonix Group’s Tim Lord believes it’s still on business to explain the benefits of going green for where people live and the job opportunities they have. Firms have to make it easy for the consumer to adapt.

But the evidence mounts that firms that move early on sustainable opportunities achieve greater success – because as more consumers choose green, they’re managing to generate faster sales growth. Investors are following this money – and it’s already starting to make it easier to secure cheaper capital if your sustainability credentials are up to scratch.

So you could say it pays to go green.