Green economy goes into slump

The UK’s green economy suffered a slump in 2019, erasing most of the gains made over the preceding years, new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed.

The ONS estimated the number of full-time equivalent jobs in the low-carbon and renewable energy sectors at 202,100 – a 6 per cent reduction on the previous year’s estimate of 215,800.

The figure is also down almost 14 per cent on its 2014 estimate of 235,900. The number plummeted to 200,500 in 2015 but had recovered somewhat in the meantime, rising to 210,200 in 2016 and 217,200 in 2017.

Source: ONS

There was a similar story with regards to turnover which plunged from £43.7 billion in 2014 to £40.2 billion in 2015. The figure subsequently rose over the following years to £45.8 billion in 2018 but again fell in 2019 to £42.6 billion.

There was also a significant drop in the number of businesses from 89,000 in 2018 to 66,500 in 2019. The number had risen slightly from the 83,500 estimated in 2017 but remained down on the 2015 figure of 105,500.

Energy efficiency (excluding lighting) – the green economy’s largest sub-sector – was also one of the worst affected by the latest turndown, with the number of full-time equivalent jobs falling by more than 24 per cent between 2018 and 2019 from 107,400 to 81,300. The latter represents a 32 per cent reduction when compared to the 2014 figure of 119,200 and is even below the previous trough of 88,900 in 2016.

Onshore wind saw a smaller reduction in jobs which declined by 11 per cent year-on-year to 4,400. This marks a more than 46 per cent decrease on the 2016 estimate of 8,200 – the highest number seen in recent years.

Some sectors fared better, with the number jobs in offshore wind rising by more than 7 per cent to 7,200. However, this is still only a 14 per cent increase when compared to the 6,300 jobs estimated back in 2014. Solar jobs grew also by around 6 per cent to 6,800 but remained 31 per cent lower than the 2014 estimate of 9,800.

Commenting on the latest figures, the TUC noted that they pre-date the coronavirus pandemic and do not account for the jobs lost during the crisis.

“Climate action can bring major benefits to us all,” said general secretary Frances O’Grady. “New jobs in green industries can help us recover from the pandemic. And it will mean clean air, food security, and the restoration of Britain’s forests and wildlife.

“But progress is far too slow. Lots of towns and communities were promised the chance to level up with new jobs in green industries. But Boris Johnson’s government is not delivering.

“There should be a good news story to tell. Our research has shown how over a million green jobs can be created in the next two years if the government fast tracks green investment.

“We all know now this is the future we need. The government must come forward with ambitious plans to show strong leadership when the UK chairs the COP26 global conference on climate change this year.”

On Saturday (27 March), the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed that the Green Homes Grant scheme offering vouchers to households to help fund energy efficiency upgrades would close to applications at the end of March as originally planned. This was despite widespread calls to extend scheme due to administrative problems.

As of Saturday, only 39,000 vouchers had been issued against a target of 600,000. BEIS said all valid applications received by the end of March would be processed and that it had so far received 96,000. The department said it expected to issue vouchers worth £300 million – just a fifth of the £1.5 billion allocated.

Labour shadow energy minister Alan Whitehead recently branded the scheme as a “catastrophic failure” after the government’s own figures revealed that the vouchers had been used to pay for just 20 installations last month.