Johnson reveals Ten Point Plan for green jobs

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has outlined his Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution for 250,000 jobs.

Covering clean energy, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the Prime Minister says that his blueprint will allow the UK to forge ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050, particularly crucial in the run up to the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year.

The is expected mobilise £12 billion of government investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly-skilled green jobs in the UK, and spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030.

The Ten Point Plan includes pledges to: produce enough offshore wind to power every home; aiming to generate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power and homes; advancing nuclear as a clean energy source; accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, and transforming our national infrastructure to better support electric vehicles; investing in zero-emission public transport; research projects for zero-emission planes and ships; making our homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient; becoming a world-leader in technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere; protecting and restoring our natural environment; and developing the cutting-edge technologies needed to reach these new energy ambitions and make the City of London the global centre of green finance.

Johnson said: “Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, I haven’t lost sight of our ambitious plans to level up across the country. My Ten Point Plan will create, support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs, whilst making strides towards net zero by 2050. Our green industrial revolution will be powered by the wind turbines of Scotland and the North East, propelled by the electric vehicles made in the Midlands and advanced by the latest technologies developed in Wales, so we can look ahead to a more prosperous, greener future.”

The Prime Minister has also announced extra funding for some of the above areas, including: up to £500 million, including for trialling homes using hydrogen for heating and cooking; ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030; and £525 million to help develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants.

Ed Miliband, Labour’s Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, responded: “The funding in this long-awaited announcement doesn’t remotely meet the scale of what is needed to tackle the unemployment emergency and climate emergency we are facing, and pales in comparison to the tens of billions committed by France and Germany.

“Only a fraction of the funding announced today is new. We don’t need rebadged funding pots and reheated pledges, but an ambitious plan that meets the scale of the task we are facing and – crucially – creates jobs now. That’s why Labour called for the government to bring forward £30 billion of capital investment over the next 18 months and invest it in low-carbon sectors now as part of a rapid stimulus package to support 400,000 additional jobs. Make no mistake – this announcement from the government falls well short of what is required.”