Last Updated on Thursday, 19 November, 2020 at 3:23 pm by Andre Camilleri
- UK PM sets out ambitious plan to transform the green economy, including ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and new measures to become a world leader in carbon capture.
- Government has mobilised £12 billion for the ten-point plan, which will support up to 250,000 jobs.
- It comes as the UK prepares to co-host the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12th and COP26 next year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is today setting out an ambitious ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution which will allow the UK to forge ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050.
Covering clean energy, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the blueprint will also create and support up to 250,000 jobs. It comes as the Prime Minister steps up the UK’s leadership on climate change ahead of co-hosting the Climate Ambition Summit on December 12th and COP26 in Glasgow next year.
The plan will mobilise over £12 billion of government investment and aims spur over three times as much private sector investment by 2030, to build the green jobs and industries of the future across the UK and around the world.
The ten points, which are built around the UK’s strengths, are:
- Offshore wind: Producing enough offshore wind to power every home, quadrupling how much the UK produces to 40GW by 2030.
- Hydrogen: Aiming to generate 5GW of low carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power and homes, developing the first town powered entirely by hydrogen by the end of the decade.
- Nuclear: Advancing nuclear as a clean energy source, across large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors.
- Electric vehicles: Ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 – ten years earlier than planned – with hybrid cars to follow in 2035, and transforming the UK’s national infrastructure to better support electric vehicles. This will put the UK on course to be the first G7 country to decarbonise road transport.
- Public transport, cycling and walking: Making cycling and walking more attractive ways to travel and investing in zero-emission public transport of the future.
- Jet Zero and greener maritime: Supporting difficult-to-decarbonise industries to become greener through research projects for zero-emission planes and ships.
- Homes and public buildings: Making homes, schools and hospitals greener, warmer and more energy efficient, with an ambition to install 600,000 heat pumps by 2028.
- Carbon capture: Becoming a world-leader in technology to capture and store harmful emissions away from the atmosphere, with a target to remove 10MT of carbon dioxide by 2030.
- Nature: Protecting and restoring the natural environment, including planting 30,000 hectares of trees every year.
- Innovation and finance: Developing the cutting-edge technologies needed to reach these new energy ambitions.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:
“Although this year has taken a very different path to the one we expected, the UK is looking to the future and seizing the opportunity to build back greener.
“The recovery of our planet and of our economies can and must go hand-in-hand. As we look ahead to hosting the COP26 climate summit next year, I am setting out an ambitious plan for a green industrial revolution that will transform the way we live in the UK.
“This is a shared global challenge – every country in the world needs to take action to secure the future of the planet for our children, grandchildren and generations to come.”
The Prime Minister has announced significant new investment today to deliver on the plan, including:
Carbon capture: To revitalise the birthplaces of the first industrial revolution, the UK will be at the global forefront of carbon capture, usage and storage technology, benefiting regions with industries that are particularly difficult to decarbonise.
An extra £200 million of new funding to create two carbon capture clusters by the mid-2020s, with another two set to be created by 2030. This increases the total invested to £1 billion.
Hydrogen: Up to £500 million, including for trialling homes using hydrogen for heating and cooking, starting with a Hydrogen Neighbourhood in 2023, moving to a Hydrogen Village by 2025, with an aim for a Hydrogen Town – equivalent to tens of thousands of homes – before the end of the decade.
Nuclear: £525 million to help develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants, and research and develop new advanced modular reactors.
Electric vehicles: Following extensive consultation with car manufacturers and sellers, the Prime Minister has confirmed that the UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, ten years earlier than planned, with hybrid cars to follow in 2035 subject to strict standards on zero emissions – transforming this great British industry into a sustainable, green future.
The UK car industry already manufactures a significant proportion of electric vehicles in Europe, including one of the most popular models in the world.
To support this acceleration, the Prime Minister has announced:
- £1.3 billion to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints for electric vehicles in homes, streets and on motorways across England, so people can more easily and conveniently charge their cars.
- £582 million in grants for those buying zero or ultra-low emission vehicles to make them cheaper to buy and incentivise more people to make the transition.
- Nearly £500 million to be spent in the next four years for the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries.
Homes and public buildings: £1 billion next year into making new and existing homes and public buildings more efficient and comfortable, extending the Green Homes Grant voucher scheme by a year and making public sector buildings greener and cutting bills for hospitals and schools, as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
Greener maritime: £20 million for a competition to develop clean maritime technology, such as feasibility studies on key sites, including Orkney and Teesside.
This marks the beginning of the UK’s path to net zero, with further plans to reduce emissions whilst creating jobs to follow over the next year in the run up to the international COP26 climate summit in Glasgow next year.
