In the latest in our Green Business 2022, Labour’s Lisa Nandy argues the roll out of clean tech will continue in the UK, but the government could make it a whole lot easier. The next six years through to 2022 will see clean tech industries continue to grow around the world. Businesses that produce cleaner and cheaper energy technologies that are both better and offer people more control over how they generate and use energy will ultimately succeed. That is why I am convinced the transition to a greener economy is irreversible. But the crucial question now is over the pace and scale of the switch in the short to medium-term – and who will benefit most from the transition. Under the last Labour government renewable energy generation in the UK doubled, and many thousands of jobs were created here. In spite of the Chancellor’s recent attacks on the sector there are still many reasons to be optimistic. In six years’ time there should be nothing to stop every city in Britain having its own energy company using clean energy sources and challenging the market dominance of the ‘Big Six’. They could plough their profits into cutting energy bills for local people and insulating the homes of the fuel poor. Many Labour councils are already blazing a trail in this area. Ahead of the Paris Summit in December dozens of our council leaders from towns and cities right across the UK pledged to go 100 per cent clean by 2050, and there are already countless examples of innovative schemes that imaginative local leaders are creating to attract investment in these industries in their area.
Business Green 15th Feb 2016 read more »