The coronavirus pandemic has shocked the world, exposing vulnerabilities and inequalities both in terms of health and economic outcomes.
In the UK, the essential action taken to reduce the spread of the virus has triggered the worst recession in 150 years. Millions are facing unemployment and poverty, with poorer and BAME communities harder hit. We are a country desperately in need of better job prospects.
A properly funded green recovery from COVID-19 presents the government with a huge opportunity for job creation. This briefing shows how an investment of £100bn over the lifetime of this parliament would create around 1.8m jobs, with much of this channelled towards ‘shovel-ready’ projects that would provide an immediate solution to the current recession.
Greenpeace commissioned sustainability advisors 3Keel to analyse the employment benefits of implementing the policies outlined in Greenpeace’s manifesto, A Green Recovery: How We Get There. The manifesto focuses on four policy areas: Clean Transport, Green Buildings, Smart Power, and Nature and a Circular Economy. It shows how rapidly deployed spending in these areas will help solve a key part of the economic crisis, create jobs and bring about far-reaching improvements to UK society.
This briefing focuses solely on job creation, but these investments will reap enormous benefits to the country in other ways. A green recovery could insulate homes, reduce electricity bills and cut fuel poverty, thereby reducing the thousands of deaths caused by cold housing in the UK every year. It could improve sustainable transport and address air pollution, transforming the health of our cities. It could revive natural habitats and safeguard these essential spaces for future generations, while building on the remarkable success of the UK renewables industry. This would create a robust, zero-carbon economy that is fit to tackle the climate crisis. A green recovery is essential to solve both the immediate unemployment crisis and the long-term existential threat of the escalating climate emergency.
