Yahoo Finance CBI urges UK to become global leader in creating 'green jobs'
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the UK to become a global leader in climate action to create new “green” jobs and lift productivity after the coronavirus crisis.
Director general of the CBI, Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, will tell a conference that the Government should use the rest of the year to “reignite” global efforts to achieve net zero by 2050.
Launching the CBI’s Green Recovery Roadmap, she will urge ministers to take “ambitious” steps, towards achieving “fast and bold” climate action.
CBI’s Green Recovery Roadmap outlines six priorities to reignite business investment, create green jobs and kickstart a sustainable economic recovery.
The initiative proposes measures such as, quicker delivery of electric vehicle charging points, at least £1bn ($1.3bn) of Government funding for hydrogen testing programmes, the creation of an Office for Sustainable Aviation Fuels, as well as retrofitting homes and buildings to be more energy efficient.
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Fairbairn is also pushing for the publication of an Energy White Paper and National Infrastructure Strategy this autumn to unlock business investment.
Speaking at the CBI’s first virtual Net-Zero Conference, Fairbairn will say: “For so many, this feels like a time of fiercely competing goals. The world faces two seemingly separate yet fundamental problems.
“Covid-19, the biggest health crisis in living memory, and climate change – the defining challenge of the modern era.
“The response to one affects success on the other, and the defining question is, how does the UK use this moment to rebuild our economy and the greener and stronger world we want to return to.
“Business has been promised and is waiting for the Government’s climate blueprint – the Energy White Paper, National Infrastructure Strategy, as well as plans for the decarbonisation of transport, heat and buildings.
“Enabling firms to strike ahead with their investment plans for a net zero future with confidence.”
The business group represent 190,000 businesses of all sizes and sectors, across the UK, employing nearly 7 million people, about one third of the private sector employees.
In July, British startup Britishvolt, announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Welsh government to build Britain’s first gigafactory, which will produce batteries for electric cars.
