Britain is falling far behind other big economies in launching a Green New Deal, despite Government promises to "lead the world" on this path out of the economic slump, a report reveals.
The most comprehensive study yet of "green stimuli" being introduced around the world – puts Britain near the bottom of the international league. China, for example, has devoted well over a hundred times as much money to recession-beating environmental measures, despite being castigated as an international laggard in tackling pollution.
The study will embarrass Gordon Brown as he prepares to host next month's G20 summit, which he says should spark "a low carbon recovery". And it contradicts his repeated insistence that green measures are "imperative" as a "key driver" of future economic growth. He returned to the theme yesterday in his speech to the Labour Party's National Policy Forum in Bristol. And a policy document published to complement his address calls for Britain "to lead the world in building the low carbon society with a low carbon economy".
But the report, A Climate for Recovery published by the HSBC Bank, reveals that Britain has, so far, devoted only $2.1bn (£1.5bn) to a green stimulus, less than a third of France's $7.2bn and less than a sixth of Germany's $13.8bn. China's spending, at $221.3bn, is more than 110 times that of the UK.
In addition, only 6 per cent of Britain's stimulus packages is devoted to green measures such as energy efficiency, renewable sources and public transport. This is less than a third of the proportion given as a "benchmark" by the London School of Economics' Grantham Institute. It constrasts with 13 per cent in Germany, 21 per cent in France, 38 per cent in China and 81 per cent in South Korea. Britain's is one of only three out of 16 green financial initiatives analysed by the study to be classed as "pending". Worldwide, says the report, some $430bn has been allocated to Green New Deals, although President Barack Obama's initiative has received most attention.
Such measures, the report says, raise the prospect of "killing a flock of birds with one or two stones" by tackling the economic, energy and climate issues simultaneously, creating many more jobs than conventional financial stimuli and ushering in a green technology revolution to provide "the next wave of productivity and innovation".
Source - The Independent
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