Right policies could add £20bn to UK GDP by 2015
04/07/2012
By Daniel Hunter
The Government must realise it does not have to choose between going green and going for growth, if it is to make the most of green business, the head of the CBI said today (Thursday) in a speech in the City of London.
Launching a new CBI report, The colour of growth: maximising the potential of green business, John Cridland, the CBI’s Director-General, called on politicians to adopt a smarter, more consistent approach to energy and climate change policy.
New research by the UK’s leading business group shows that the UK has the ability to become a global front-runner in low carbon products and services, which could be adding £20 billion extra in annual GDP by 2015. But the CBI warns that the Government needs to take the right action to grasp this potential and avoid damaging the competitiveness of key industries.
“The so-called “choice” between going green or going for growth is a false one. We are increasingly hearing that politicians are for one or the other, when in reality, with the right policies in place, green business will be a major pillar of our future growth," John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said.
“With something like a third of all our growth accounted for by green business last year, the UK could be a global front-runner in the shift to low-carbon. In the search for growth, we’re digging for goldmines — and one of them is green.
“Get our energy and climate change policies right, and we can add £20bn extra to our economy and knock £0.8bn off the trade gap, all within the lifetime of this Parliament.”
The UK grew its share of the £3.3 trillion global green market by 2.3% in real terms in 2010/11, reaching £122 billion and accounting for around 8% of GDP, and CBI analysis suggests that green business... continued on page two >
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