July 22, 2021 -One-time climate change skeptic UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson now sees an opportunity where he once saw only a grim warning. That opportunity is the chance to attract private investment in a green economy.
“We’re confident that green technology and green investments are the roots to not just cutting emissions but to long-term job creation and economic growth,” Johnson said during a recent meeting with a parliamentary liaison committee.
Johnson said he sees “huge” investments happening in wind energy and enormous potential for investments along the British coast. Johnson rolled out a plan that includes a blueprint for private sector investments late last year. The plan targets a 78 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions by 2035 when compared to 1990 levels and net zero emissions by 2050.
Autos and Homes
Johnson pointed to the plan, as well as investments in electric vehicle purchases and production in the UK. He noted his goal for conversions of public and private sector vehicle fleets to electric vehicles by 2030.
“Much to our relief, the automotive sector has responded and they are investing,” he said. “We will work to ensure we have a scale of manufacture in this country to allow price of EVs to come down.”
Johnson also noted the investment space for retrofitting about 19 million homes nationwide to make them energy efficient. He described the investments and construction being made to provide enough wind to power homes in the UK with the “objective of being the Saudi Arabia of wind.”
Policies Needed
Meanwhile, Philip Dunne, a chairman of an environment committee, asked Johnson to spell out clear policies to make way for private sector investments. He called on Johnson to deliver the “myriad of policies required to deliver” the goal of emissions reduction. “There is enormous potential for the private sector to work with government in investing in new technologies, but they cannot do so in the absence of clarity of what the government’s demand signals will be and what strategies will be in place,” Dunne said.
Additional reporting by Patti Mohr.
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