UK Working Towards Global Low Carbon Economy

The global low-carbon and environmental sector was worth £3 trillion ($4.1 trillion) last year, according to research commissioned by the UK government.  The UK government also believes the value of the global low carbon energy sector alone could be as high as $3 trillion a year by 2050, employing more than 25 million people.

Currently, the UK is the sixth-largest economy for low-carbon and environmental goods and services (LCEGS), such as renewable energy, nuclear power and recycling, analysts Innovas found, in market research carried out for the country’s Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

The sector’s turnover was £107 billion in the UK in 2007/8, midway between the size of the country’s healthcare and construction sectors, and was responsible for 880,000 jobs. Innovas predicts it will grow by another £45 billion in the next decade. The total UK economy was worth £1,600 billion in 2007/8.

The report breaks down the LCEGS sector into three parts: traditional environmental services, such as recycling, and water and waste management; renewables, such as wind, hydropower and biomass; and ‘emerging low carbon’, including nuclear power, carbon finance and building technologies.

Worldwide, Innovas found that low-carbon businesses account for nearly half of the market value of the LCEGS sector, or £1,449 billion. Renewable energy accounts for another 31%, or £940 billion, with traditional environmental activities making up the final 21%, or £657 billion.

The transition to a low carbon world will transform our whole economy. Lord Stern’s landmark Review in 2006 set out the economic case for action on climate change and for investment in a low carbon economy. Recognising that economic necessity, the UK has through the Climate Change Act become the first country in the world to adopt a legally binding target to reduce carbon emissions – by at least 26% by 2020 and by 80% by 2050.

Speaking at the launch of the governments proposed Low-Carbon Business Strategy, UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said: “Low carbon is not a sector of our economy, it is, or will be, our whole economy, and a global market.”