Green economy:

a UK success story

Recession resilience
How does the green economy compare?
Indexed growth rate since the financial crisis1
40%

Indexed to 2007

30%
20%

Green economy turnover

10%
0
-10%

GDP
2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

Projected growth

Size of UK economy 2011 1

Green economy
122bn

General economy
1,315bn

Over a third of the

UKs economic
growth in 2011-12
is likely to have
come from green
business
CBI, 20122

Low carbon and environmental jobs compared

to other sectors 2010-113

Low carbon and environmental

939,600

Financial services
1,061,900

Motor trade manufacture and retail

518,400
Telecoms
212,900

Market certainty
Clear CO2 reduction objectives...4

ENGLAND
202,451
KILOTONNES
CO2

UK
261,100
KILOTONNES
CO2
SCOTLAND
29,075 Kt
CO2

WALES
22,229 Kt
CO2

N IRELAND
7,345 Kt
CO2

Our calculation of
what Englands
share of the UKs
CO2 reduction
target should be,
assuming other
nations reach theirs

2020
targets
33%

42%

34%

40%

30%

...leading to investment
Spending on the top 20 infrastructure projects
(by cost) started or confirmed 2012-135
Low carbon
projects
23 billion

14.5bn
private

High carbon
projects
3.1 billion

1.2bn
private

1.9bn
public

7bn

public/private

1.4bn
public

...low carbon outcomes6

Renewable electricity consumed per
capita across the UK 2011-12

22%

6%
11%

5%

85.38

325.54

147.35

100.03

England

Scotland

Wales

N Ireland

Investment in renewables per capita

April 2011 March 2012

...and jobs3
Low carbon and environmental jobs across the UK 2010-11
England

Low carbon and environmental

788,700

Financial services
929,600

Motor trade manufacture and retail

440,200
Telecoms
184,500
N Ireland

Wales

Scotland

41,500

77,700

27,800

86,800
46,000
18,700

21,500
6,600

Green employment is spread evenly across the country and

correlates exactly with the population of each nation, eg England
has 84% of the population and 84% of the green jobs

31,700
17,700
10,700
3,100

Global leadership
Where are the UKs green export markets?7

Germ
29

USA
331m

The UK exported
low carbon and
environmental goods
and services to 52
countries in 2010-11,
totalling 11.8bn

Brazil
232m

In 2014-15, [green

business] is expected
to roughly halve the
UKs trade deficit
CBI, 20122

China
794m

many
91m

Japan
358m

India
412m

How do UK green exports compare with competitors?7

140m

232m

Brazil
412m

229m
189m

331m

India

USA

UK
170m
211m

291m

Germany

358m

Japan
794m

464m
Green imports 2010-11

Green exports 2010-11

The UK is the green financing capital of the world8

One third of all global asset finance
investment in new energy deals
between 2007 and 2012 received both
legal and financial advice from the UK

China

A UK success story

Data sources

We are often told of the benefits that come

from creating a greener economy and the
advantage that will come from being a first
mover. It is now clear that we dont need to
wait for these benefits. The UK has moved
and we are seeing the advantage.
Our low carbon and environmental
sector has shown that its not just for the
good times, but that it has continued to
grow steadily even whilst broader economic
activity slows.
This is the outcome of setting ambitious
environmental targets and creating long
term market incentives for green goods and
services. It has given the private sector
confidence to invest billions of pounds in
these markets. In contrast, the UKs high
carbon infrastructure projects now have
much lower leverage on private capital and
are being propped up by greater
proportions of public spending.
The return on our investment in
greening the economy is being felt across
the country, with nearly a million people
now employed in providing low carbon and
environmental goods and services,
outstripping employment in other sectors
such as telecoms.
Quietly and without fanfare, green
business has become a UK success story, at
home and abroad. We now export more
green products and services to our
competitors than we import from them, and
we have become the green financing capital
of the world.
This success should be celebrated. With
greater public recognition and stronger
confidence green businesses can help
secure a faster and more resilient
economic recovery.

 epartment for Business, Innovation &

D
Skills (BIS), 2012, Low carbon
environmental goods and services: report
for 2010-11; Office for National Statistics
(ONS), 2012, Quarterly national accounts
Q4 2011; Office for Budget Responsibility
(OBR), 2012, Economic and fiscal outlook
2
CBI, 2012, The colour of growth:
maximising the potential of green business
3
Green jobs: BIS, 2012, Low carbon
environmental goods and services: report
for 2010-11; other jobs: ONS, 2011,
Business register employment survey 2010
4
Emissions levels: AEA, 2011, Greenhouse
gas inventories for England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland: 1990 2009;
emissions targets: HM Government, 2008,
Climate Change Act; Scottish Government,
2009, Climate Change (Scotland) Act;
Welsh Assembly Government, 2010,
Climate change strategy for Wales;
Northern Ireland Executive, 2012,
Programme for government 2011-15
5
HM Treasury, 2011, Infrastructure
investment pipeline data
6
Renewables consumption: Department for
Energy & Climate Change (DECC), 2011,
Electricity generation and supply figures for
Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and
England, 2007 to 2010; investment: DECC,
2012, Renewables investment and jobs;
ONS, 2011, Population estimates for UK,
England and Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland, mid-2010
7
BIS, 2012, Low carbon environmental
goods and services: report for 2010-11
8
Data courtesy of Bloomberg New Energy
Finance
9
BIS, 2012, Low carbon environmental
goods and services: report for 2010-11; UN,
2011, World population prospects: the 2010
revision

More detailed references are available at
www.green-alliance.org.uk/UKsuccess

Green Alliance
36 Buckingham Palace Road
London, SW1W 0RE
020 7233 7433
ga@green-alliance.org.uk
www.green-alliance.org.uk
blog: greenallianceblog.org.uk
twitter: @GreenAllianceUK
The Green Alliance Trust is a registered
charity 1045395 and company limited by
guarantee (England & Wales) 3037633,
registered at the above address

Cover image
The UK has higher per capita green turnover than Germany,
Brazil and China.9
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Alex Belsham-Harris, Green Alliance intern, Paul Benjamin
at Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Ricardo Bowman at the Department
for Business, Innovation & Skills for their help in producing this publication.
With thanks to the following organisations for supporting this project:

Green Alliance, August 2012

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