The recent heatwave has been a salient reminder that the world’s temperature is heating up. Those that say ‘Oh it’s just weather, it’s always been like that’ should listen to climate scientists whose graphs are all predicting further temperature increases. And if they won’t listen to them, maybe they’ll listen to the words of warning from Sir David Attenborough. I recently wrote to Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport asking her to support the national broadcasting of Chris Packham’s Climate Emergency Briefing which I have watched with constituents at several public briefings. The Government’s role in the climate crisis is obvious, and last week the Government announced the Seventh Carbon Budget.
In the Carbon Budget, the Government has set out a science-led target of 87% emissions reduction in the period 2038 to 2042 – endorsed by the Environmental Audit Committee and the Climate Change Committee. The level for the Seventh Carbon Budget has been chosen because: moving at pace to clean energy and emission reduction is the best choice to reduce exposure to more fossil fuel shocks, such as those we have seen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Iran War; it maximises the benefits of clean energy and fossil fuel transition; and it is consistent with the Paris Agreement aim to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees, to avoid climate disaster for future generations.
Half of the UK’s recessions since 1970 have been caused by fossil fuel shocks. The Labour Government is investing in renewable and nuclear energy to get the UK off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices, delivering a record-breaking renewables auction that secured enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 23 million homes. By 2050, the UK could cut its reliance on fossil fuels from around three quarters of our energy today to around 15%, while avoiding around £445 billion in fossil fuel spending over the next 25 years.
We are driving a major clean energy jobs push, supporting over 400,000 additional jobs by 2030 across the UK. According to the London Stock Exchange Group, the global green economy is now worth more than US$10 trillion, despite energy shocks, market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. Green revenues grew by 5.3% in 2025, their fastest rate since 2022. It comes as a recent independent report from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, supported by analysis from the Confederation of British Industries Economics, shows that the net zero economy supports over one million jobs in the UK, adding £105 billion in gross value added (GVA) to the UK economy in 2025 alone, as it continues to thrive as one of the UK’s fastest- growing economic sectors.
In Cornwall we couldn’t be better placed to take advantage of the vast opportunities. Onshore and offshore wind, solar, tidal, geothermal and, of course, our tin and lithium deposits mean that Cornwall is destined to be one of the UK’s most strategically important economic frontiers, contributing billions to UK plc and regenerating our local communities. These are exciting times in the green industrial revolution.
