The UK Net Zero economy is worth £83.1bn and 16% larger than the regional economy of the north-east, according to a new Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit report.
The growing sector accounts for 951,000 full time jobs across 22,800 businesses, representing 2.9% of total UK employment. For every job supported by Net Zero businesses, a further 2.5 are supported in the wider economy, the report notes.
The three largest sectors are renewable energy planning database, renewables and waste management and recycling followed by low carbon energy generation, diversion of biodegradable waste from landfill and low carbon consultancy, advisory and offsetting services. Carbon capture is the smallest segment, with 279 companies.
West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside and south-west region are the largest contributors to the Net Zero economy while Tyne & Teesside is identified as a ‘hotspot’ with its industrial production, shipping links and major projects underway.
The report’s positive outlook contrasts with a white paper from the Tony Institute For Global Change last week, which warned the UK green economy is on track to be worth less than 2% of GDP by 2050.
“Betting everything on green growth would therefore be a mistake and it must be a pillar of the UK’s growth strategy, but it cannot be the whole strategy,” it notes.
“To succeed, the UK must cultivate multiple engines of growth and not skew its strategy too heavily towards ‘green’.”
Read more: UK warned not to ‘bet everything on green industrial growth’
Another recent report, DNV’s 2025 UK Energy Transition Outlook, said the UK is making progress on industrial decarbonisation but ‘falling short’ of Net Zero at current rates.
CO2 emissions need to fall from 405 million tonnes annually to 155 million tonnes in 10 years, a fall of around 62%, and to put that in perspective, in the last 35 years we’ve achieved about 50% reduction.
Read more: UK making progress but ‘falling short’ of Net Zero
The cost of Net Zero could be cut by £298bn ($371bn) compared to official projections, saving every British household more than £400 ($500) per year, according to analysis drawing on an AI-assisted computer model used by Whitehall.
By increasing the use of so-called home-grown renewable ‘green gas’ (biogas and biomethane), households could save £415 ($518) over the period to 2050 in addition to £22bn ($27.5bn) in capital and operating costs in the next six years.
Read more: Green gas could slash UK’s Net Zero costs by £300bn
In a recent 1895 podcast, Dimitri Zenghelis, of the London School of Economics, considered the relationship between economic growth and Net Zero targets, and current investment climate amid policy uncertainty.
Listen: Is economic growth at the expense of Net Zero targets?
