In September 2011, we published our first Green and Growth report. This analysed why the UK’s current approach to reaching our carbon targets
is unsustainable and put forward an alternative approach.
This second report sets out our ambitions for creating a greener and more competitive economy, looks at the barriers to realising this (many of them associated with the current policy framework but also the need to invest in our capacity) and some short-and long-term recommendations that will help to overcome these barriers.
UK manufacturers are eager to be an integral part of the emerging low-carbon economies across the world. Indeed, an EEF survey in September 2011 found two-thirds of UK manufacturing companies see an emerging low-carbon economy as an opportunity.
However, the problem is that in the same survey only one in eight viewed the UK as a favourable place to invest in this area, due to increased costs
and uncertainty caused by unilateral climate change policies.
Achievable ambitions for growing a green economy
We believe that with the right approach, we can make significant progress in growing and greening our economy by meeting the following objectives:
- Meet the UK’s challenging targets for reducing carbon emissions
- Progressively decarbonise the energy supply across the economy
- Achieve more balanced growth with tangible progress in growing sectors where we have potential strengths such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) marine renewables, low-carbon vehicles and engines and domestic heating solutions
- Generate continued investment by manufacturers in energy efficiency with the development of breakthrough technologies that will unlock
significant reductions in emissions
- Develop much more effective international action to combat climate change with industry sectors working together on a global basis.