LONDON, ENGLAND — Over 100,000 jobs could be created in the green sector across the United Kingdom with the right support from the government, according to a renewable energy non-profit organisation.
RenewableUK created an extensive report that identified several regions where green jobs could exceed 20,000 with appropriate development. In their report, it made a number of recommendations to the government with respect to how the UK could better enable the renewable energy sector to thrive.
RenewableUK’s recommendations come on the heels of the United States passing its Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in August. Thanks to that Act, which aims to help ease the way for green sector investment, among other initiatives, hundreds of thousands of sustainable jobs are expected to be created in the USA in the coming months.
But if the UK government were to take steps such as introducing policies to facilitate increased investment in green energy, the region could very well catch up to that potential, RenewableUK said.
Benefits of Green Jobs Touted
Aside from the enormous amount of jobs that could be created in renewable energy in the sector, more investment in the sector could also improve local economies and decrease household bills, RenewableUK asserted.
“Renewable energy and green technology investment is transforming local economies across the UK,” the report summarised.
Going into specific detail, it also noted, “By 2030, the UK could see at least 97,000 jobs in offshore wind and over 27,000 in onshore wind…[with] the average wage of jobs in green industries (£42,600) significantly above the national average (£33,400).”
These figures included an estimated 26,776 jobs each in Scotland Central Belt and Greater Manchester, and another 25,692 jobs in Thames Valley.
Several other areas were also identified as potential sources of tens of thousands of jobs, according to the report, with millions in gross added value being contributed to each respective local economy.
Further, RenewableUK said, “The wind and solar farms agreed with the government in 2022 alone will reduce average household energy bills by over £100 each year.” However, achieving such targets would require £155 billion of private investment in the UK.
Investment in Renewables Is Worthwhile
But RenewableUK CEO Dan McGrail maintained that this level of investment would be well worth it as “renewables are able to offer countries around the world lower bills, green jobs, economic revitalisation and energy security, all whilst tackling the shared challenge of climate change”.
