The government has pledged to create 500,000 new jobs in renewable energy by 2020.
As part of the ‘Low Carbon Industrial Strategy’, climate and energy secretary Ed Miliband said 200,000 new green-collar jobs would be created by 2015, and a further 300,000 by 2020.
The strategy sets out a series of government interventions to help create jobs by supporting industries critical to tackling climate change – including offshore wind and marine power. The government aims to cut emissions by 34% by 2020 – with employers forced to cut their 2008 carbon emissions by 13%.
The government has pledged £10m to make the South West the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area, with a world centre for wave and tidal energy and support for the development of green business opportunities and skills in the area.
Further jobs in the green sector will be created through a £120m boost to advance the offshore wind industry across the UK, while £60m will be used to bolster the wave and tidal energy sector.
The report added that skills for the renewable energy sector will be developed through the establishment of a National Skills Academy for Power, and low-carbon skills will “feature prominently” in the skills strategy to be published later in the year.
In the last Budget, chancellor Alistair Darling said the government would create 400,000 green jobs by 2018.
