Business secretary Alok Sharma (pictured) has launched a ‘recovery round table’ bringing together businesses, business representative groups and leading academics to look at ways of capturing economic growth opportunities from the green transition.
Membership of the working group has not yet been published but the government says it will aim to be representative of UK industry, consist of approximately 20-25 participants and be chaired by the business secretary.
There will also be an opportunity for other parties and individuals interested in this initiative to share written submissions with the Business Department.
The round table is one of five themed working groups that will explore key domestic and global challenges to support a green and resilient recovery and ensure the UK is at the forefront of new and emerging industries.
The round tables will consider measures to support economic recovery and ensure the UK has the right skills and opportunities in place for its workforce over the next 18 months.
Sharma said the round tables were a “redoubling” of “our efforts to listen to and work with the business community and academic experts as we consider the measures needed to support our economic bounce-back”.
He added: “This will undoubtedly lead to a cleaner, greener, more resilient economy which will create new jobs. The output from this initiative will feed directly into the government’s work on economic recovery”.
The green recovery working group will examine “how to capture economic growth opportunities from the shift to net zero carbon emissions”.
Other working groups will look at accelerating business innovation and leveraging private sector investment in research and development, making the UK a better place for starting new businesses, “increasing opportunity” through levelling up economic performance, skills and apprenticeships across the country, and winning higher value investment for the country.