Johnson’s Green Industrial Revolution: A Closer Look
Cllr Joe Porter
The Prime Minister recently announced his ‘10-Point Plan’ for a Green Industrial Revolution. This is a historic moment and couldn't be more important for both the environment and levelling up our country. The plan will mobilise £12 billion of government investment, and potentially three times as much from the private sector, to create and support up to 250,000 green jobs. It is a great mix of nature-based solutions, carbon capture, electric vehicles, offshore wind, nuclear power, and more to drive us to reach Net Zero.
With the UK hosting the COP26 UN international climate summit next year, it is paramount that we set a benchmark to the rest of the world. We must take a pragmatic and realistic approach to climate change if we are leave our environment in a better state than we inherited.
The plan focuses on the following:
· advancing offshore wind
· driving the growth of low carbon hydrogen
· delivering new and advanced nuclear power
· accelerating the shift to zero emission vehicles
· green public transport, cycling and walking
· ‘jet zero’ and green ships
· greener buildings
· investing in carbon capture, usage and storage
· protecting our natural environment
· green finance and innovation
It is undoubtedly a very welcome and ambitious package of measures and for me the most important is the focus on our natural environment. This week is National Tree Week and one of the highlights is the pledge to plant 30,000 hectares of trees every year to protect our environment. Without a doubt, nature-solutions are amongst the best ways to address climate change, particularly on a local level. At Staffordshire Moorlands District Council we will play our part through our own actions across the district. A single tree can not only reduce carbon emissions, but be home to hundreds of species of insect, fungi, moss, mammals, and plants. Trees also have co-benefits of helping to reduce stress, anxiety, and allowing us to reconnect with nature. That’s why we want every town and village across the Moorlands to play their part in planting more trees and orchards in our communities. This will contribute to our Nature Recovery Network where, with our partners, we are already working on around 60 nature-based projects across our District.
Another welcome announcement is ending the sale of polluting vehicles over the next decade to significantly reduce climate-wrecking emissions. The ban will also help to clean up toxic air pollution on our streets, bringing many health benefits to our communities. It will also put the UK at the forefront of electric car manufacturing, offering a massive boost to the economy. A report from Cambridge Econometrics found that a 2030 ban on new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars and vans could create 32,000 new jobs by the same year, and increase GDP by £4.2bn, compared with a later phase-out date of 2035. But to make it a reality, extra funding and measures will be needed to assist consumers with the upfront costs of buying electric. Councils and businesses will also need the resources to create the necessary charging infrastructure to make all this a reality.
Green and growth can go hand-in-hand and this plan will help the UK be a global leader in meeting the most enduring threat to our planet with one of the most innovative and ambitious programmes of job-creation we have ever known.
Tackling climate change remains every bit as important as it was before the COVID-19 health pandemic and I am proud that our council is wholeheartedly committed to a ‘green’ recovery in the Staffordshire Moorlands. Rural communities such as ours are at the forefront of both feeling the effects of climate change and taking action to address it and I am determined that we use our local powers and influence to ensure we leave our environment in a better state than we inherited it.
Cllr Joe Porter is Cabinet Member for Climate Change & Biodiversity and District Councillor for Brown Edge & Endon. Photo by Illiya Vjestica on Unsplash