Labour manifesto promises 1m green jobs to tackle climate crisis

Labour is promising to create 1m green jobs in the energy sector and through nationwide home refurbishments in a bid to tackle the climate crisis.

Environmental protection is expected to be a central theme of Jeremy Corbyn’s general election manifesto, launched in Birmingham today, with new jobs promised through insulation upgrades, offshore wind and carbon capture developments.

The focus on tackling climate change while also supporting mass job creation is likely to be a resolution of tension between ambitious de-carbonisation targets set by Labour activists at the autumn party conference and union concerns about job losses.

Tim Roache, GMB’s general secretary, had previously warned that heading for a 2030 net zero target could threaten jobs across the country.

Speaking ahead of the manifesto launch, leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn said: “This election is the last opportunity to take the vital action to head off runaway climate change.

“The next Labour government will lead the world in tackling the climate and environmental emergency with a plan to create a low-carbon economy with well-paid jobs we can be proud of.”

The new jobs – billed as an essential part of Labour’s green industrial revolution - will also come from hydrogen and tidal energy expansion, port infrastructure, tree planting, flood defences and plastics recycling.

The global green economy is currently valued at $4tn and Labour say they want British workers to be at the forefront of new opportunities.

They estimate creating 98,000 jobs by building an additional 7,000 offshore and 2,000 onshore wind turbines. A further 450,000 jobs would be generated by upgrading every home in Britain by 2030 with measures to reduce emissions. Hydrogen production focused in Yorkshire and the Humber and the north-east would create 265,000 jobs and 195,000 jobs from electric car production.

Nine new recycling sites could see the hiring of 25,000 people.

He said: “Labour will bring the country together to face a common challenge and mobilise all our national resources, both financial and human, to kickstart a green industrial revolution.

“Just as the original industrial revolution brought cutting edge industry and jobs to our towns, Labour’s world-leading green industrial revolution will create rewarding, well-paid jobs and whole new industries to revive parts of our country that have been neglected for too long.”

Labour said the shift to a greener economy would involve the set up of a £250bn green transformation fund dedicated to renewable and low-carbon energy and transport, biodiversity and environmental restoration. Their National Investment Bank is planned to provide £250 billion of lending over a 10 year period for businesses showing a willingness to decarbonise the economy.

Earlier this week Labour announced plans for 800,000 climate apprenticeships, that will in turn help people access the one million new full time jobs.

Labour has been under pressure to abide by a motion passed at party conference in Brighton to follow “a pathway” to becoming a carbon neutral country by 2030. It is one of the most ambitious decarbonisation targets in Europe and many activists hoped it would be fully adopted as party policy.

The expectation is now that the party has softened its stance on strictly abiding by 2030, and would instead attempt to show progress towards this, after representations from unions. Instead the date is likely to be a key target for a range of environmental policies.

Shadow business secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said earlier this week: “We are a constitutional democratic party with its roots in the labour movement. Energy workers are understandably fearful and distrusting about the transition because they have been abandoned through past industrial transitions.

“We will only succeed by working with those workers and communities to develop a credible industrial strategy that ensures they will not be left behind by the transition.”