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UK Private Firms Pledge Over £100bn for Clean Energy as Government Halves Public Low-Carbon Budget
Ed Miliband will cite the figure in a speech Tuesday to London Climate Action Week. Offshore wind, solar and grid upgrades account for most of the planned spending through 2031.
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Ed Miliband is scheduled to tell London Climate Action Week on Tuesday afternoon that private companies have pledged more than £100bn in clean energy investment since the current government took office. The Guardian reported the milestone covers projects across all regions of the UK, with the bulk directed at offshore wind, solar power and electricity grid upgrades scheduled between 2024 and 2031.
Miliband will state that the total includes nearly £14bn for Scotland, £40bn from National Grid for upgrades, £7.5bn from Japan’s Sumitomo conglomerate and £1.7bn from Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and Rothesay for social housing retrofits.
He will describe the pledges as only the start, extending from nuclear and renewables to electrification and carbon capture. The Guardian reported that the Confederation of British Industry previously found the net zero economy has grown faster than the rest of the economy and generates higher-paying jobs.
Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute, said the figures show the scale of green investment that clear policies can mobilise.
The speech occurs amid speculation over Miliband’s role and the future of net zero targets. The government earlier halved a planned £28bn public investment programme in low-carbon plans.
