Growing pains: British industry and the low-carbon transition
Article
Our findings were drawn from a series of private roundtable discussions and interviews with senior executives from different sectors which shed light on the barriers to, and the opportunities presented by, the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The findings suggest that there are opportunities for UK plc to take advantage of and adapt to the challenges presented by the UK's low-carbon transition (particularly in Transport and Energy sectors). However, the findings also highlight the need for policymakers to have a more active role in addressing the barriers to low-carbon growth (which face many manufacturing and energy-intensive industries in particular).
The paper presents a series of policy interventions which would reinforce the UK's low-carbon ambitions and provide vital support to UK industries:
- Provide stable, consistent and long-term policy: industry representatives were united in their views that the policy framework should be stable; many complained about the government 'moving its goalposts'.
- Develop sectoral industrial strategies to spur low-carbon energy, transport and manufacturing.
- Ensure more nuanced policy for energy-intensive firms: in some cases energy-intensive firms face barriers and challenges that are specific to their individual sectors.
- Introduce a targeted 'green deal' for manufacturers: manufacturers need more incentives to invest in low-carbon and energy-efficient technologies.
- Collaborate with European partners on low-carbon innovation to target possible technological breakthroughs.
- Work proactively with industry to promote international sectoral agreements: although not a replacement for binding country-level emissions reduction commitments, sectoral cooperation can be a precursor to greater regulatory action at the national and global levels.
Related items
Facing the future: Progressives in a changing world
Progressive parties need a new set of defining and guiding ideas to challenge the populist radical right.Singapore on the Clyde?
Sir Tom Hunter is not happy.Scotland, he laments, is in “managed decline”. The UK and Scottish governments are “punishing the entrepreneurial community with more tax” and, inevitably, “no country has ever taxed its way to growth”. Change…Fixing the foundations: The case for investing in children's health
For decades, governments of all stripes have promised to give children a better, healthier start to life. But despite this – and some notable policy successes – the UK continues to fall short on childhood health outcomes.