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Memorandum submitted by Greenpeace (GJS17)
1. Greenpeace is a global campaigning organisation which has as its main object the protection of the natural environment. Greenpeace has regional offices in 40 countries, 2.8 million supporters worldwide and around 150,000 in the UK. It is independent of governments and businesses, being funded entirely by individual subscriptions. Greenpeace was one of the first organisations to campaign for action to be taken to halt anthropogenic climate change. It has built up considerable expertise and has access to independent expertise on the links between energy use and climate change including scientific and economic analysis and the dynamics of energy and electricity markets.
2. A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) and Greenpeace (attached) highlighted the huge potential for job creation from offshore wind. Despite ambitious plans to expand offshore wind farms over the next decade, only 700 people are currently employed in the sector and there is only one UK-based factory that manufactures parts for wind turbine parts. However, the IPPR identified that the expected major expansion of offshore wind to meet our legally binding target of 15% renewable energy by 2020 could create between 23,000 and 70,000 jobs in UK, with much of the variation being a function of Government policy and political support. It did however warn that without greater government support, the opportunity to create up to 70,000 long-term jobs in parts of the country where they are needed, and its associated export potential, will be lost.
3. In summary, the report concluded that to be a leading player and to secure green jobs in the UK we need to:
· secure the domestic market through ensuring sufficient financial support, straightforward planning and ensuring grid connections. · engage in 'industrial activism' in support of industry by providing tax and financial incentives, infrastructure like ports and test facilities, financial guarantees and preferences for local sourcing. · Create a skills strategy following a proper analysis of the skills 'gap' for the proposed expansion, which should include attracting a new workforce into the sector.
4. The starting point for a low carbon world has to be energy efficiency. In the current economic climate there is considerable opportunity to kick-start building efficiency. The report from Impetus Consulting (attached), commissioned by Greenpeace, shows that an annual £5 billion investment in domestic energy efficiency would create around 55,000 jobs directly with hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created indirectly. For example, the evidence suggests that 8-14 person-years of employment would be created in UK for every €1million invested, with a further 9-40 person years created indirectly. And every year it would reduce emissions of carbon dioxide by about 1.6 million tonnes while also addressing fuel poverty. An investment of £5 billion per year would deliver 55,000 jobs. This is the level of investment required every year over the next 40 years to bring UK housing stock up to the level compatible with meeting our emissions reduction targets, as estimated by Oxford University for Federation of Master Builders[1].
5. To summarise, the advantages of energy efficiency investment are that:
· it creates jobs in the UK as efficiency work has to be done locally · low levels of employment in the building sector mean the market is not tight · Jobs can be created relatively quickly · Reducing fuel bills of people and companies effectively provides a 'fiscal stimulus' every year. · As the UK imports more of its gas it contributes positively to balance of payments.
6. Further, Britain has a unique potential role in the development of marine renewables such as wave and tidal stream with the jobs that would accompany an export industry in the UK. Currently we lead the world in both these technologies but notably the first commercial wave farm was sited in Portuguese waters. Our leadership in full commercialisation cannot be guaranteed at present and it is almost certain that a strategy for marine renewables generally would look similar to that outlined above for offshore wind. Although there are some encouraging signs, we are not yet delivering enough on both the skills and 'activism' side.
22 May 2009 [1] Oxford University Environmental Change Institute for Federation of Master Builders "Building a Greener Britain" July 2008. http://www.fmb.org.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=2358&type=full&servicetype=attachment |