The government's proposed industrial strategy must build on the UK's strengths in low carbon technologies and smart ICT solutions to future-proof the economy and maximise potential, the Aldersgate Group said.
In a report making the case for low-carbon initiatives to be central to the planned industrial strategy, the group said that the international market in low carbon goods and services was currently worth over $5.5tn and that, in the UK, the sector supported almost 250,000 jobs, had a turnover of £46.2bn in 2014, and continued to out-perform growth in the economy as a whole.
‘The UK's competitiveness will be increasingly tied to the development of a strong low carbon goods and services sector,’ the report says, adding that the Paris Agreement and other global warming initiatives would lead to further growth.
It also notes that support for a low carbon economy would help deliver the government’s forthcoming emissions reduction plan. Renewable energy is expected to attract up to £45bn in investment by 2020, demand for ultra-low emission vehicles had grown by 49% year-on-year and support for energy efficiency could deliver up to 108,000 net jobs a year between 2020 and 2030.
The report also makes the case for further support for the smart ICT solutions that cut carbon emissions, which it says earned BT £3.6bn in revenue last year.
The publication of the report follows the launch of an inquiry by the parliamentary Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) into the government's industrial strategy and the prime minister’s commitment that her government would explicitly intervene to support industries that ‘are of strategic value to our economy’.
The report argues that the inquiry should consider how these growing industry sectors can be supported. ‘Public finance must be well targeted to leverage the private finance required to transition to a low carbon economy,’ the report says.
MPs are taking part in a general debate on industrial strategy in the House of Commons today.