IPPR: Green Energy Revolution Could Bring 46,000 Jobs to the North

The north of England could be at the centre of a clean energy revolution, but instead faces economic decline under the government’s current decarbonisation plans, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has warned.

Luke Murphy, an associate director at IPPR and co-author of the report, published Monday, described the push to a low-carbon economy as an “urgent necessity” to limit climate change. But he warned that a badly handled transition could devastate Northern communities, as they’ve been harmed following the closure of coal, steel, and shipbuilding industries since the 1980s.

The report urges the government to “learn from the mistakes of the past” and make the North a centre of green energy, a move that could add 46,000 jobs to the region by 2030. But without a careful and ambitious decarbonisation strategy that protects communities, the North could lose 28,000 jobs in the next 12 years.

The north produced nearly half (48%) of the UK’s renewable energy between 2005 and 2014, but is also home to the largest number of England’s remaining coal and gas power stations, which remain a major employer. The government has stated it intends to shutter all of the UK’s coal plants by 2025. In April, the UK was powered without coal for the three consecutive days for the first time since the Industrial Revolution, and under 1% of Britains energy demand was met by coal-fired plants in June. Coal stations are increasingly be used only overnight and to provide stability and balance to the grid. All seven remaining coal power station were offline for 812 total hours, or 37% of the time, during the second quarter of this year.

But despite the risk decarbonisation poses to the north, the government’s industrial and clean energy strategies do not include plans to protect communities that depend on these plants and retrain workers, the IPPR says.

“If the government continues to ignore these workers, there is a real risk that the transition to a low-carbon economy will result in jobs losses or the forced acceptance of low-quality jobs, an increase in people on welfare benefits and an increase in local deprivation,” the report states.

The report urges the government to ensure workers in the north can still access well-paid, skilled jobs in the changing energy sector by offering education and retraining to the labour force, addressing uncertainty about Brexit, and developing more long-term decarbonisation strategies.

Murphy said: “What the UK needs now is for Government to commit to long-term policy for decarbonisation, where communities are protected from decline and supported to thrive through mechanisms like the industrial strategy and an improved skills system, so that we can realise a new era of prosperity for the communities that quite literally power the powerhouse.”

Joel Emden, research fellow at IPPR and co-author of the report, said: “The good news is that the opportunity is there for the north of England to become a powerhouse for the UK once again, provided the government takes the critical policy action needed.”

A government spokesperson said the transition to clean energy had the potential to create 2 million jobs by 2030 and that “the move to a cleaner, greener economy is one of the greatest opportunities for our country.”

Meanwhile, the government is reassessing its target to cut carbon emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050 in light of a sobering report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this month. The IPCC’s report cautioned that urgent action was needed within the next 12 years to limit global warming to 1.5°C and that even a 0.5°C rise beyond that could have dire impacts about human society.

Lauren Smith

Lauren Smith has worked as a journalist and copywriter for most of the last decade, covering technology, energy, and consumer rights, in the US and UK.

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