Investing in 16,000 jobs
INVESTING in a green recovery could create thousands of jobs in the Red Wall constituencies that helped sweep Boris Johnson into No 10 – and help save the planet.
A report for the Green Alliance think tank today predicts that coastal restoration, tree planting and creating more urban green spaces could provide work for 16,000.
Many of the jobs are likely to be in those areas that present the greatest employment challenges.
Red Wall industrial heartland seats, which the Tories took from Labour at the last general election, are tipped to be a key battleground in this week’s local polls.
The boost to employment would also help Britain to meet its 2050 target of Net Zero – the elimination or offsetting of all greenhouse gas emissions – and improve access to nature which helped millions during the pandemic.
When the Prime Minister launched his Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution last year, he predicted that it would create and support up to 250,000 jobs by 2030.
But the Green Alliance Report by consultants WPI Economics has focused on the 126 constituencies which have the most significant post-Covid work problems.
Many are to be found in former Labour strongholds such as Co Durham, Copeland in Cumbria, Wolverhampton and Ashfield, Notts.
The study found that just improving and increasing the number of urban parks would create 11,000 such locations.
It also discovered potential for jobs in planting seagrass, which absorbs carbon 35 times faster than tropical rainforest does and provides nurseries for fish, supporting sustainable fishing and tourism.
This would see jobs spring up in areas such as the
Isle of Wight and in Welsh coastal communities including Anglesey and Newport.
Meanwhile the restoration of peatlands – which soak up carbon from the atmosphere – is said to offer
jobs
in
job opportunities the Pennines.
There is still more new job potential in tree planting, with the Government seeking to increase this to cover 75,000 acres every year. Two-thirds of the best land for tree planting is said to be in constituencies with higher than average labour market challenges – with 280,000 acres in Red Wall areas.
The report says that the jobs created will range from manual up to graduate level because of the need for services such as digital mapping and research.
But the true jobs potential nationwide is even greater and will have spinoff benefits for tourism and fishing.
Sam Alvis, from Green Alliance, said: “The opportunity is there for the Chancellor to create a legacy of new high-quality jobs across Britain.
“Supporting innovation in green jobs will put nature at the heart of the Government’s levelling up agenda and help local communities build back better and greener.”
The think tank wants Chancellor Rishi Sunak to include environmental projects alongside other infrastructure in the Government’s flagship £4.8billion levellingup fund.
It is also calling for the new UK infrastructure bank to include natural capital in its scope, providing funding that can enhance projects and lay the foundations for future private investment.
The report was backed by the National Trust.
Patrick Begg, the length of its