\n<\/p>\n
Rachel Reeves has been urged to put the north of England at the heart of the UK\u2019s net zero strategy as research shows the sector contributes a larger share of the region\u2019s economy than it does nationally.<\/p>\n
The Labour peer Julie Elliott said the north must be \u201cfront and centre\u201d of the Treasury\u2019s growth strategy for clean energy.<\/p>\n
Analysis published by the business group Northern Powerhouse Partnership shows net zero accounts for a higher share of regional output in the north of England than it does across Britain, and the north accounts for just over a fifth of the country\u2019s net zero output.<\/p>\n
In Sunderland, where the strategy accounts for a higher share of economic output than anywhere else in the north, Labour leaders have warned that Reform UK would dismantle the industry if it wins power at the next general election.<\/p>\n
Nigel Farage\u2019s party is expected to take control of hundreds of council seats across the north of England in May\u2019s local elections, and could break Labour\u2019s decades-long grip on Sunderland city council.<\/p>\n
Reform UK has pledged to ditch \u201cnet stupid zero\u201d policies that it claims are destroying jobs in the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n
<\/span>Frodsham windfarm in Cheshire. <\/span> Photograph: Mark Waugh\/Alamy<\/p>\n Reeves, the chancellor, has described clean energy as \u201cthe industrial opportunity of the 21st century\u201d and said the UK\u2019s net zero sector is growing three times faster than the economy overall.<\/p>\n By 2030, ministers expect the UK\u2019s clean energy workforce to more than double to 800,000 jobs.<\/p>\n A report by The Data City, an analytics firm, shows that net zero supports 140,000 jobs in the north of England, which \u2013 at just under 2% of the total \u2013 is in line with the UK average.<\/p>\n Yet net zero accounts for a higher share of the region\u2019s economic output, with Sunderland, Tyneside, Warrington, Darlington and Cumberland growing at pace in this relatively new industry.<\/p>\n In those areas, net zero contributes 6-7% of gross value added (GVA), a measure of how much value companies add through the goods and services they produce. It includes high-paid jobs producing electric vehicles and batteries, retrofitting buildings and work on wind turbines and solar energy.<\/p>\n Lady Elliott, the former Labour MP for Sunderland Central who now chairs the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said it was vital for Reeves to build the clean energy strategy around the north of England.<\/p>\n <\/span>The Nissan production plant in Sunderland which produces electric vehicles.<\/span> Photograph: Ian Forsyth\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n She said: \u201cIf making the north a leader in energy transition isn\u2019t front and centre in growth strategy, how can we expect the national wealth fund or GB Energy to deploy more of their investment up north if the Treasury hasn\u2019t clearly instructed them to do so \u2013 as the evidence proves they should.\u201d<\/p>\n Experts said the transition to net zero presented both an opportunity and a risk for the north of England. With Treasury backing, it would support reindustrialisation, raise productivity and anchor long-term investment in regions that have struggled to recover from the loss of heavy industry. However, if net zero jobs are prioritised elsewhere it would \u201creinforce current disparities\u201d and leave cities and towns like Sunderland and Warrington behind.<\/p>\n Last week, northern leaders welcomed the government\u2019s long-promised commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail, an improved east-west link to replace the region\u2019s creaking Victorian railways. But many commuters will not see these revamps until the early 2030s, leading many to urge the Treasury to commit to clean energy in the north to deliver an earlier economic boost.<\/p>\n Michael Mordey, the Labour leader of Sunderland city council, said he feared Reform UK would \u201cintroduce Trump-like climate change denial policies\u201d that would harm the economy if the party was elected.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe will only continue to attract more of these well-paid jobs for local people in our city if we keep a Labour council in Sunderland in May.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Rachel Reeves has been urged to put the north of England at the heart of the UK\u2019s net zero strategy as research shows the sector contributes a larger share of the region\u2019s economy than it does nationally. The Labour peer Julie Elliott said the north must be \u201cfront and centre\u201d of the Treasury\u2019s growth strategy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[3696,311,5233,728,3036,242,124,356,2656,1670,322],"class_list":{"0":"post-42553","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-centre","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-front","11":"tag-green","12":"tag-net","13":"tag-north","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-put","16":"tag-reeves","17":"tag-strategy","18":"tag-urged"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}