New research and analysis from Green New Deal UK has found that investment into green infrastructure, energy, research and development, digital infrastructure and social care on the Isle of Wight could replace all jobs permanently lost due to Covid-19.
This trend is reflected in the region, with the potential for a net 7,583 jobs to be created in the South East over the next 2 years.
Across the wider UK, government and private investment in green infrastructure, energy, research and development (R&D), digital infrastructure, and social care could create over 1.2 million green jobs within just two years and over 2.7 million jobs in ten years.
In March, the Office of National Statistics found that despite the worsening climate crisis and growing pandemic-induced unemployment, the UK’s green workforce actually shrank between 2014 and 2019, falling from 235,900 in 2014 to 202,100 in 2019.
Other analysis shows that permanent Covid-19 job losses nationally are expected to reach nearly a million (992,757) in two years and nearly two million (1,985,513) job losses over ten years. According to Green New Deal UK, all of these permanent job losses could be replaced with green jobs in just two years.
The new data illustrates the vast opportunity to use green investment to drive employment, build up the low-carbon industries the UK needs, replacing those destroyed by Covid-19, and aid the economic recovery post-pandemic.
Hannah Martin, co-executive director of Green New Deal UK, said:
“Every day people are losing their jobs and struggling to find work due to Covid-19. At a time when we need to rapidly decarbonise our economy and build resilient future industries which will allow people and planet to prosper, having so many people out of work makes no sense.
Article continues below this advertisement “We have so much work to do to build the future we need, but we must see proper government investment to kick-start that green jobs revolution. Our data shows the huge potential for green jobs in the UK, providing millions of good jobs in every part of the country.”
The data and analysis from Green New Deal UK challenges pre-existing notions of what constitutes a green job, including work in sectors such as care which have a relatively low environmental impact and which the UK urgently needs to scale up to deal with the fallout from the pandemic and Britain’s ageing population.
Hannah Martin added:
“We need to broaden our understanding of what makes a job green. A truly green economy is so much more than wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles – it is an army of retrofitters, carers, bike couriers and teachers, up and down the country, all working towards transforming our economy.
“Without a doubt, it is workers that have shouldered the greatest suffering during the pandemic. So now it is crucial that we put those workers at the heart of our recovery with a Green New Deal.”
What a pity, then, that Master Economist and serial pillock the johnson has just axed it.
Not really – what happens to all those made redundant from the existing non green infrastructure
perhaps hannah could do some actual work instead of sitting behind a desk barking out orders and demanding that others do work.