The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) has today launched a new
inquiry looking at green jobs.
The current coronavirus pandemic has led to rising unemployment
levels and record numbers of redundancies as businesses around
the country are affected by the pandemic. In the three months to
September 2020, the UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.8%,
and during the same period redundancies reached a record high of
314,000.
The UK’s move to meet net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 could
provide a significant opportunity to address unemployment. The
Committee on Climate Change, Local Government Association and the
National Grid have all spoken of the high number of new jobs and
skills required to achieve the net-zero transition.
As part of this inquiry, the EAC will explore how many jobs are
needed in low carbon and sustainable industries, what skills and
training will be needed to support the technologies of the future
and whether there are any associated risks.
Environmental Audit Committee Chairman, Rt Hon MP, said:
“The ability for the UK to reach net-zero by 2050 hinges
on having the workforce and skills equipped for new opportunities
in low-carbon industries. Although the current economic outlook
and rising unemployment rates are worrying, there is a real
opportunity to upskill people in the industries of tomorrow. This
could include areas such as renewable energy, low-carbon
vehicles, establishing nature-based solutions, as well as renewed
focus on repairing and recycling items to give them a new lease
of life.
“My Committee will be considering if the conditions can
be created to facilitate a new wave of green jobs to help more
people in to sustainable jobs for the future, while building back
greener from coronavirus.”
This inquiry launch follows recent Government announcements of a
new Green Jobs Taskforce, supporting the creation of 2 million
jobs in the private and public sectors by 2030, and additional
investment to the Green Recovery Challenge Fund which will go
towards retraining thousands of people to take up the new jobs
being created.
Terms of reference
The Committee is inviting written submissions on the below areas:
- What estimates are there for the jobs required to meet the
pathway to net zero emissions, by sector, and other environmental
and biodiversity commitments?
- Does the UK workforce have the skills and capacity needed to
deliver the green jobs required to meet our net zero target and
other environmental ambitions (including in the 25-year
environment plan)?
- What needs to be done to ensure that these skills and
capacity are developed in time to meet our environmental targets?
- What measures should the Government take to ensure that its
proposals to meet environmental targets do not by default lead to
jobs in affected industries being exported?
- What risks are there to meeting the government’s ambitions
for green job creation in both the public and private sectors?
What should the government do to create the conditions to ensure
its commitments are met by both sectors?
- Are the government’s ambitions for green job creation in the
public and private sectors sufficient for the scale of the
challenges? What changes should be made?
- How can the UK ensure jobs are created in areas most impacted
by the transition to a low-carbon economy?
- What additional interventions should be undertaken to aid in
a ‘just transition’?
- What impact can green jobs have on the wider UK economy?
- What contribution can green jobs make to the UK’s economic
recovery from Covid-19?
- How can the UK ensure high emissions are not locked-in when
tackling unemployment?
