The Prime Minister has today set out a 10-point plan to drive a green industrial revolution in the UK—an innovative and ambitious programme of job creation that will support levelling up, and up to 250,000 jobs across the UK.
As we rebuild, we must build back better, greener, and faster. Our 10-point plan sets out ambitious policies and significant new public investment to allow the UK to forge ahead with eradicating its contribution to climate change by 2050. It presents a vision for the UK that is greener, more prosperous and at the forefront of industries for the future. Covering clean energy, buildings, transport, nature and innovative technologies, the plan will mobilise £12 billion of Government investment to create and support up to 250,000 highly skilled green jobs in the UK, and unlock three times as much private sector investment by 2030.
In doing so, we will position the UK to take advantage of export opportunities in new, global emerging markets in low-carbon technologies and services, providing jobs and reinvigorating our industrial heartlands, including in the north-east, north-west, Yorkshire and the Humber, the midlands, Scotland and Wales.
The plan builds on the UK’s strengths and covers the following 10 areas:
1. Offshore wind: Generating more power with offshore wind by 2030 than households in the UK are currently using, quadrupling how much we produce to 40 GW by 2030, supporting up to 60,000 jobs. We have also committed to invest £160 million into modern, integrated portside offshore wind infrastructure, providing high-quality employment in coastal regions.
2. Hydrogen: Working with industry, aiming to generate 5 GW of low-carbon hydrogen production capacity by 2030 for industry, transport, power and homes. This will be supported by investment of up to £500 million for low-carbon hydrogen production across the decade, with £240 million committed to 2024-25. We will also support trialling homes using hydrogen for heating and cooking, starting with a hydrogen neighbourhood in 2023, moving to a hydrogen village by 2025, with an aim for a hydrogen town—equivalent to tens of thousands of homes —before the end of the decade.
3. Nuclear: Advancing nuclear as a clean energy source through large scale nuclear and developing the next generation of small and advanced reactors. We have committed £525 million to help develop large and smaller-scale nuclear plants, and research and develop new advanced modular reactors, all of which could support 10,000 jobs.
4. Electric vehicles: Backing our world-leading car manufacturing bases, including in the west midlands, the north-east and Wales, to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, and transforming our national infrastructure to better support electric vehicles. Following extensive consultation with car manufacturers and sellers, the Government confirm that the UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, 10 years earlier than planned. However, we will allow the sale of hybrid cars that can drive a significant distance without emitting carbon until 2035. To support this acceleration, the Government have announced: £1.3 billion to accelerate the rollout of chargepoints for electric vehicles in homes, streets and on motorways across England; £582 million in grants for those buying zero or ultra-low emission vehicles to make them cheaper to buy and incentivise more people to make the transition; and nearly £500 million to be spent in the next four years for the development and mass-scale production of electric vehicle batteries, as part of our commitment to provide up to £1 billion, boosting international investment into our strong manufacturing bases including in the midlands and north-east.