{"id":143,"date":"2021-03-10T15:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T15:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodenergy.co.uk\/businesses\/?p=143"},"modified":"2022-10-24T15:57:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T14:57:55","slug":"what-the-budget-means-for-the-green-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodenergy.co.uk\/business\/insights\/what-the-budget-means-for-the-green-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"The budget was a missed opportunity for the green economy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thirty-six minutes. That is how long it took Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reference the first policies relating to the green economy in his budget speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the year the UK hosts COP26, and with promises of a \u2018green industrial revolution\u2019, what was in the budget?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was always going to be clear that the Government\u2019s priorities would be focused on helping businesses and people recover from the economic shock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the threat posed by climate change has not diminished over this last year and our need to take decisive action is more important than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we give our thoughts on where we go next and look at some of the announcements in the budget (good and not so good).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking forward – where do we go from here?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the UK hosting the UN’s climate summit this year, this was a great opportunity to show bigger ambition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government could have put the green agenda right at the centre of the nation\u2019s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had hoped for an overarching green stimulus that supports new green jobs and green infrastructure right across the economy, not a new coal mine in Cumbria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We wanted to see reduced VAT on a range of clean technology sectors (including renewable energy), more funding for the Green Homes Grant and long-term incentives to boost the electric vehicle market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Policies like these were absent from the budget, as was clarity on the long-term funding for the net zero transition. As the Public Accounts Committee has recently noted, the government has \u2018no plan for achieving net zero\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need to see more long-term ambition from government. We need clarity on the funding for the net zero transition and we need a budget that places the climate emergency front and centre, not a sidenote relegated to thirty-six minutes into the budget speech. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope that the Treasury\u2019s net zero review, later this year, will provide further details on implementation of the Government\u2019s \u2018Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good bits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Net zero mandate for the Bank of England<\/strong> \u2013 a new remit for the Bank of England which will mean for the first time ever that the UK\u2019s net zero goal and environmental sustainability will form a core part of the Government\u2019s monetary policy decision making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National Infrastructure Bank \u2013 <\/strong>this is a welcome step in financing key net zero projects. The new infrastructure bank will be based in Leeds and will have a total of \u00a322bn to finance green projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Green finance<\/strong> \u2013 the Government will be introducing the first sovereign green bond this year worth up to \u00a315 billion. This will help finance projects to tackle climate change, fund infrastructure investment and create green jobs. In addition, the government has announced the launch of green retail saving product through the National Savings & Investments bank in the summer of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Net zero innovation projects<\/strong> \u2013 \u00a31bn has been allocated for net zero innovation, including \u00a320 million to fund a competition to develop floating offshore wind technology, \u00a368 million for a competition to deliver long duration energy storage prototypes and \u00a34 million for a biomass feedstocks programme to increase production of green energy crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Infrastructure<\/strong> \u2013 Teesside and Humberside have been chosen as the location for the new port infrastructure to build the next generation of offshore wind projects. Aberdeen Energy Transition Zone has been awarded \u00a327 million to support northeast Scotland transition into a hub for offshore wind and hydrogen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The not so good bits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Green Homes Grant<\/strong> \u2013 despite no mention in the Chancellor\u2019s speech, the Treasury has subsequently confirmed that the Government\u2019s flagship energy efficiency scheme has been renewed but with a significant reduction in funding to \u00a3320 million for 2021\/22. The Government has confirmed the unspent funds from last year\u2019s budget (over \u00a31bn) will not be carried over to this year. This is a major setback in the vital goal to make the UK\u2019s housing stock more energy efficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carbon pricing<\/strong> \u2013 the Government has decided to freeze the Carbon Price Support at \u00a318 per tonne of CO2 in 2022-23 (it was originally set to increase to \u00a330 by 2020). We are still waiting for government proposals to expand the UK Emissions Trading Scheme in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fuel Duty frozen<\/strong> \u2013 this is now the eleventh year in a row that fuel duty has been frozen. Whilst the Government says that “future fuel duty rates will be considered in the context of the UK\u2019s commitment to reach net-zero emissions by 2050”, this does not help address the urgent need to decarbonise the transport sector in the UK.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notable omissions <\/strong>\u2013 there was hardly any mention of key sectors that are fundamental to national decarbonisation efforts. They include onshore renewables, electric vehicles, batteries, biomass, agriculture, geothermal and building and transport emissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty-six minutes. That is how long it took Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reference the first policies relating to the green…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":144,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,11],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-large-business","category-small-business"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat the budget means for the green economy | Good Energy for Business<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The recent budget was a missed opportunity for the green economy. 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