The Renewable Energy Association has branded the £3bn of ‘green recovery’ funding announced by the UK Government today as a “drop in the ocean” as Chancellor Rishi Sunak promised the plans would create 140,000 green jobs.
REA chief executive Nina Skorupska criticised the plans, which focused on energy efficiency with no mention of renewables, as “severely lacking”, and called for Sunak to work with the industry on a “comprehensive and far reaching plan” in the run up to the Autumn Budget.
She said the announcement “confirmed a lot of what we already knew, £3bn funding for energy efficiency improvements and a drive on green job creation”.
She added that it was a good first step but short of what the economy and net zero required.
“The foundations for a successful green recovery are there; recognition of the need to upskill and train a new generation of green employees, an area we have often advocated for, and an understanding that energy efficiency and homes need to be prioritised on the road to Net Zero.”
She added that more clarity was needed about whether the Green Homes Grant would cover domestic solar and energy storage.
Sunak said the £3bn package of measures primarily focused on energy-efficiency had “concern for our environment at its heart” during the summer statement in the House of Commons.
From September homeowners and landlords will be able to apply for grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 to make energy-saving improvements to their homes as part of the £2bn energy-efficiency scheme.
A further £1bn will be spent on improving energy saving at public sector buildings such as hospitals and schools.
Claire Petricca-Riding, Head of Environment at law firm Irwin Mitchell, said: “This is all positive and a move in the right direction, but when viewed against the German government’s £36bn spend into climate change-cutting, economy-boosting measures and France’ £13.5bn at tackling the climate emergency; £3bn doesn’t seem to be in the right ballpark for our ‘world leading’ green recovery.”
She said it would have been nice to see some of the measures announced to have focused on renewable energy projects but says she still hopes to see them included in the Autumn Statement.
Trade bodyScottish Renewables welcomed measures to support adoption of low-carbon heating technology.
Chief executive Claire Mack said:”We look forward to further announcements from the UK Government to build on the initiatives announced today, and to understand how they will work with the Scottish Government to support a green economic recovery.”
The chairman of the Commons’ Environmental Audit Committee, Philip Dunne, added that while he welcomed the committee to a green recovery he was concerned the package seemed to only last for a single year.
He said: “The £2bn allocated to improving energy efficiency in homes does appear to just be a one-year funding commitment that the Government has said can make 650,000 homes more energy efficient. There needs to be a long-term, sustainable approach that can help improve the energy efficiency of the 19m UK homes EPC rated D or worse.”