UK government is wasting 'green recovery' opportunity

A new Institute for Government report says the government is badly off course to deliver on its promise of a “green recovery” and calls on Rishi Sunak to better align his Covid economic recovery plans with the government’s net zero target.

Building a Green Recovery: How the UK can meet its climate targets as it recovers from Covid-19 is published with just four months to go until the UK hosts COP 26. Analysing and comparing the UK’s polices with other countries, the IfG paper warns that the UK is wasting a vital opportunity to show leadership in combining the Covid recovery with efforts to tackle climate change.

The UK’s green recovery package has been less ambitious than many other countries, including in key areas such as housing, electric vehicles and green R&D. Where countries like Germany have used interventions to signal a major shift towards net zero, the UK Treasury has failed to prioritise green measures at either of the budgets or the spending review since the pandemic began.

Where the government has brought forward policies, they have often been badly designed and implemented. The flagship Green Homes Grant was scrapped after just six months, with Whitehall policy makers failing to ensure there were enough builders capable of upgrading people’s homes. Still it lacks any plan for boosting the green skills needed for net zero.

Failing to place green policies at the heart of its economic agenda not only leaves the government off track on climate targets, but will also increase the costs of transition in the long run – for example, each new home not built to net zero standards adds to the number that will have to be retrofitted.

Further green measures in areas including housing and industry have the potential to help the government’s ambition to “level up”, but a change of approach is needed to secure the UK’s credibility ahead of the COP26 conference.

The report calls on the government to:

• Ensure the Treasury and business department have clear responsibility for building a green recovery and coordinate policies with other departments.
• Assess where to target further green recovery measures in the next budget.
• Improve the design of green recovery policies and ensure they are deliverable, learning from the failure of the Green Homes Grant.
• Develop a plan for green skills, setting out the quantity and distribution of skills needed across the country and steps to support this.
• Include local authorities and other bodies more actively in the design and delivery of green recovery policies.
• Ensure the new UK Infrastructure Bank supports the green recovery and assess how to further support private investment.

Rosa Hodgkin, IfG researcher, said: ‘The UK's green recovery is in danger of stalling before it has properly begun. The government should urgently set out its plan for delivering net zero and then work out which green policies could realistically be brought forward to support the economic recovery.’

Notes to editors

1. The Institute for Government is an independent think tank that works to make government more effective.
2. For more information, including data to reproduce any charts, please contact press@instituteforgovernment.org.uk / 0785 031 3791.