Category: Blog

The transition to a greener economy is worth £71bn and has brought jobs and investment to parts of the UK experiencing industrial decline. 

Those are the key findings of a new report written by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

The drive to reach net zero emissions involves more than 20,000 businesses, it calculates. 

Some 840,000 jobs are linked to sectors ranging from renewable energy to waste management, it adds.

Titled Mapping The Net Zero Economy, the report looked at the parts of the UK that have benefited most from policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions. 

Scotland and English regions, such as Tyneside, Teeside, Merseyside and the Humber, had all done better than average, with the green economy being stronger and contributing more to growth than in London and the South East. 

Green jobs also pay significantly more, the report says, with the average wage (£42,600) significantly above the national average (£33,400).

“The net zero economy is addressing levelling up and the UK’s productivity problem,” says Peter Chalkley, the director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) who commissioned the research.

“But if the UK doesn’t build on the good work that has already been done, we will lose out and lose jobs.”

The UK has long been seen as a leader in green technology, in particular offshore wind, but this position is at risk. 

“Other places (in the world) are really setting out their stalls for how they’re going to capture that investment,” says Tom Thackeray from the CBI who carried out the analysis, adding that there is now a “global competition” for green funding. 

The passing last year of landmark legislation in the United States called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has, analysts say, changed the global dynamic for green investment. The Bill puts aside $369bn (£297bn) for action related to tackling climate change and many companies now see America as the best destination for their money. 

“There’s an excitement [about the US since the IRA], so the challenge for us is to reignite the excitement back in the UK,” says Chris Stark, the chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, a public body that advises the UK government on its green policies.

The view that the UK is losing momentum was also in Tory MP Chris Skidmore’s Mission Zero report last month in which he said the UK was falling behind in the net zero race.

Restrictive planning regulations for onshore wind and solar, and a lack of consistency in policy were among many issues Mr Skidmore cited as holding back investment from the private sector.

“We need to really speed up planning and consent for renewables and for network connections and for vehicle charging,” says Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of trade association Energy UK. 

“It takes 12 years to build a wind farm in this country, when it should take one.”

Responding to the report and the criticism of policy, a government spokesman said the UK was leading the world on tackling climate change.

“Our plans will support up to 480,000 jobs by 2030,” they said. “We are driving an unprecedented £100bn of private sector investment by 2030, backed by around £30bn in funding from the government since March 2021 to achieve 

Profits hit $39.9bn (£32.2bn) in 2022, double last year’s total and the highest in its 115-year history.

Energy firms have seen record earnings since oil and gas prices jumped following the invasion of Ukraine.

It has heaped pressure on firms to pay more tax as households struggle with rising bills.

Opposition parties said Shell’s profits were “outrageous” and the government was letting energy firms “off the hook”. They also called for the planned increase in the energy price cap due in April to be scrapped. 

Energy prices had begun to climb after the end of Covid lockdowns but rose sharply in March last year after the events in Ukraine led to worries over supplies.

The price of Brent crude oil reached nearly $128 a barrel following the invasion but has since fallen back to about $83. Gas prices also spiked but have come down from their highs.

It has led to bumper profits for energy companies, but also fuelled a rise in energy bills for households and businesses. 

Last year, the UK government introduced a windfall tax – called the Energy Profits Levy – on the “extraordinary” earnings of firms to help fund its scheme to lower gas and electricity bills.

Despite the move, Shell had said it did not expect to pay any UK tax this year as it is allowed to offset decommissioning costs and investments in UK projects against any UK profits.

However, on Thursday it said was due to pay $134m in UK windfall tax for 2022, and expected to pay more than $500m in 2023.

This may look small compared to its profits but Shell only derives around 5% of its revenue from the UK – the rest is made and taxed in other jurisdictions.

However, critics point out that Shell is a UK-headquartered company and has been paying more to its shareholders than it spends on renewable investments.

The government is currently limiting gas and electricity bills so a household using a typical amount of energy will pay £2,500 a year.

However, that is still more than twice what it was before Russia’s invasion, and the threshold is due to rise to £3,000 in April. 

The government’s windfall tax only applies to profits made from extracting UK oil and gas. The rate was originally set at 25%, but has now been increased to 35%.

Oil and gas firms also pay 30% corporation tax on their profits as well as a supplementary 10% rate. Along with the new windfall tax, that takes their total tax rate to 75%.

However, companies are able to reduce the amount of tax they pay by factoring in losses or spending on things like decommissioning North Sea oil platforms. It has meant that in recent years, energy giants such as BP and Shell have paid little or no tax in the UK.

Tech geniuses, nation builders, and famous artists have praised the benefits of a Montessori education – but does it hold up to scientific scrutiny? David Robson and Alessia Franco investigate.

When considering the lives of the rich and famous, it is always tempting to look for the secrets of their successes. So here’s a brain teaser: what do the cook Julia Child, the novelist Gabriel García Márquez, the singer Taylor Swift, and Google’s founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin all have in common?

The answer is that they all attended Montessori schools as young children. In the US, the schools’ influence in the art and tech world has long been noted. But the reach of the educational method goes far beyond that. Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was a fan, and described how children taught with it “felt no burden of learning as they learned everything as they played”. Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize-winning poet, set up a network of Montessori schools to free children’s creative self-expression. 

But does the method actually work?

It is more than a century since the Italian doctor and educator Maria Montessori designed her famous principles, which encouraged children to develop autonomy from a young age. Her life offers an inspiring story of an early feminist who dared to defy the Fascist regime in the pursuit of her dream. And according to some estimates, there are now at least 60,000 schools across the world using the Montessori method.

Clive Myrie will be putting some of the nation’s favourite faces through their paces in the current series of Celebrity Mastermind.

This Saturday 4 February (5.35pm), the four celebrities stepping into the spotlight will be actor and comedian Bobby Davro; TV cook Suzie Lee; former Olympic skier Graham Bell; and BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ Remi Burgz.

They will be braving the famous black chair to answer questions on their respective specialist subjects including: Gilbert O’Sullivan, Bridget Jones, Stevie Ray Vaughan and salmon.

Presenter Clive Myrie says: “Our fantastic celebrity line-ups are always a brave bunch. All in the name of charity, they willingly step out of their comfort zones in order to face the icy embrace of the famous black chair. Will they crack under the pressure? Viewers will have to tune in to find out.”

Jimmy Mulville, Managing Director Hat Trick Productions, added: “Given how popular Celebrity Mastermind is proving with audiences it’s clear that watching them squirm answering difficult questions in a leather chair is providing a real public service in these difficult times!”