IPPR reacts to Chancellor’s green jobs package

Responding to the Chancellor’s announcement on an ‘eco-friendly’ jobs recovery, Luke Murphy, head of the IPPR Environmental Justice Commission calls for more ambitious action. Last week IPPR published research showing that 1.6 million green and clean jobs could be created with the right level of investment. 

Luke Murphy, Head of the IPPR Environmental Justice Commission, said:

“This announcement of investment in green jobs is a welcome first step to securing the clean economic recovery we need from Covid-19. However, if this is the sum total of the government's ambition then it is well short of what is needed both for job creation and to get the UK on track for net zero.

"The level of investment falls far short of the £30 billion public investment gap that needs to be filled to get the UK on track to meet net zero and it is also considerably less than the £9.2 billion promised for energy efficiency in the Conservatives' election manifesto.

“Investing for a clean recovery could create over 1.6 million good jobs, be good for the environment and would be popular with the public. This Wednesday the government must move beyond the Roosveltian rhetoric and deliver the recession beating investment that the economy needs."

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. The IPPR paper, Transforming the Economy after Covid-19: A clean, fair and resilient recovery by Carsten Jung and Luke Murphy, was published on Thursday July 2. It is available for download at: http://www.ippr.org/research/publications/transforming-the-economy-after-covid19 
2. Previous work by IPPR has shown that there is a £30 billion annual investment gap between the government’s current planned spending and what is needed to deliver its ambitions for net zero and to restore nature. This research is available here: https://www.ippr.org/blog/budget-2020-level-up-the-economy-step-up-to-the-environmental-crisis
3. An additional £15 billion per year is needed to deliver the number of affordable homes required to meet housing need. This research is available here: https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/living-rent
4. The jobs figures are collated from a variety of third-party sources, including government statistics. Because they are based on varying assumptions they should be treated as broad estimates. The total number represents jobs that could be created up to 2035. More details are contained within the report.