Climate plan captures clean energy benefits and boosts investment

Working families and businesses across the country will benefit from clean energy and climate action, as the government confirms plans to seize the opportunities of the booming clean energy economy.

The Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, published today (Wednesday 29 October) sets out how the UK will continue to reduce emissions in a way that lowers bills and secures good jobs, in line with the landmark 2008 Climate Change Act. This framework has been supported by Britain’s leading businesses, trade unions, and civil society organisations because it creates a stable environment for investment in clean energy. Since the UK introduced the Act, it has been emulated around the world with 60 other countries now adopting their own climate legislation. 

The framework created by the Act has helped to secure billions in investment, and this plan sets out how the British public and businesses stand to benefit in the years ahead with economic growth, cleaner air and protecting the nation’s natural environment for current and future generations. 

The UK is a global leader in decarbonisation and securing investment in clean energy industries, with the UK’s net zero sectors growing three times faster than the economy overall according to the Confederation of British Industry. The UK has reduced emissions by over 50% while growing the economy by over 80% since 1990. 

This is alongside over £50 billion of private investment announced into clean energy industries since last July, with the clean energy workforce set to double to more than 800,000 people by the end of the decade. 

The government is pursuing policies which deliver tangible improvements to the everyday lives of working people, harnessing clean energy technologies to cut bills and deliver warmer homes. The core of the government’s plans are:

• Investing in clean energy to deliver energy security and lower bills: Wholesale gas costs for households remain 75% higher than they were during the year before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and are the main reason energy bills remain high. In an unstable world this leaves the UK vulnerable. The government is investing in renewable and nuclear energy to get the UK off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power it controls, protecting the British people and building a system that can bring down bills for good.  
• 400,000 extra jobs by 2030: The government recently announced a national plan to recruit the workers needed for the…