Today, Labour has launched its new Green Economic Recovery report. You can read it here.

As we face an unemployment crisis and the climate emergency, Labour is challenging the Government to deliver a Green Economic Recovery from the pandemic which will:

• Recover Jobs with urgent investment to support up to 400,000 clean, green jobs across the country
• Retrain Workers with an emergency training programme to give people skills they need for the future greener economy
• Rebuild Business with a National Investment Bank that supports the drive to a net-zero economy.

In June, Labour launched a consultation asking what a ‘green economic recovery’ should look like. The consultation received almost 2,000 responses from businesses, trade unions, Labour members and other stakeholders, which have helped shape the document released today.

Ed Miliband MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said:

“We face a jobs emergency and a climate emergency. It’s time for a bold and ambitious plan to deliver hundreds of thousands of jobs which can also tackle the climate crisis.

“This is the right thing to do for so many people who are facing unemployment, the right thing to do for our economy to get a lead in the industries of the future and the right thing to do to build a better quality of life for people in our country.

“As other countries lead the way with a green recovery, Britain is hesitating. It’s time to end the dither and inaction, and start delivering now.  It is what the British people deserve and what the crises we face demand.” 

Anneliese Dodds MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said:  

“Labour is ambitious for Britain. We can harness the opportunities for green growth if the Government takes the right decisions now.

“In recent years, and particularly during this crisis, our country has fallen behind in the drive to a cleaner, greener economy.  We’ve seen far more rhetoric than action- and that has cost our country jobs.

“Future generations will judge us by the choices we make today to tackle the unemployment crisis and face up to the realities of the climate emergency.

“That’s why we need coordinated action to support 400,000 jobs of the future today, not tomorrow. Now’s the time to build it in Britain.” 

The green recovery consultation report details a number of areas where progress has so far been limited in the UK, but where action now would support the creation of new jobs and tackle the climate and environmental crisis. They include:

• Investing in upgrading ports and shipyards for offshore wind supply chains. 
• Expanding investment in Carbon Capture and Storage and hydrogen to help establish new opportunities for highly-skilled workers.
• Accelerating planned investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and ensuring the planning system better supports electric vehicle charging. 
• Bringing forward orders for electric buses to help struggling manufacturers fill their order books.   
• Introducing a National Nature Service, an employment programme to focus on nature conservation projects.
• Expanding energy efficiency and retrofit programmes, including in social housing.
• Ensuring that updated Sector Deals for sectors like automotive, steel and aerospace protect jobs and promote the shift to net zero.   
• Bringing forward flooding protection investment, prioritising areas of need across the North West, Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

To ensure no worker is left out of Britain’s recovery, Labour is also calling for the Government to give workers in industries experiencing change the right to retrain and learn additional skills to equip them for the future.

Labour would also boost apprenticeship numbers in low-carbon industries through unspent levy contributions to help young people into work.