Decarbonising homes could create 1.2m ‘green’ jobs

The transition to net-zero could create 1.2 million jobs in the manufacturing and construction industry alone, according to new analysis published by UK100, a group of over 100 mayors and local government leaders. 

The construction industry has been one of the hardest hit in the pandemic with 90% of all construction businesses applying for the furlough scheme.

However, according to the data, the transition to net-zero could help this industry to recover.

Homes are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 15% of all CO2 emissions in the UK in 2018, therefore according to the UK Green Building Council, in order to achieve net-zero carbon by 2050, we will need to improve almost all of the UK’s 29 million homes, meaning we need to retrofit more than 1.8 homes every minute between now and 2050.

Although the UK100 jobs data is not time-specific, a recent report published by the New Economics Foundation found that ‘a period of three to four years was thought to be required to train up the supply chain to full capacity.’

However, there are reports that the government plans to abolish its Green Homes Grant scheme which provides funding of up to £10,000 to homeowners to make their homes more sustainable and energy-efficient.

The report has highlighted that if the government harnesses this green recovery, 1,211,158 jobs could be created.

These include:

• Retrofit surveyors and advisers.
• Retrofit builders and insulation specialists.
• Retrofit heating specialists.
• Retrofit roofers, carpenters and electricians.
• Retrofit co-ordinators.

Polly Billington, Director of UK100, said: ‘Across the UK, the move to a greener economy will create thousands of new jobs in every local community. It’s really important we don’t lose sight of this critical long term goal – so the Prime Minister can meet his explicit goal of building back better.’

In related news, Claire Brown, PhD climate change researcher at the University of Manchester, explains how technology to make homes more self-sufficient could help the UK to decarbonise while also making homes cheaper to run.

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