To launch the Aldersgate Group’s latest report, Setting the pace: Northern England’s low carbon economy, business and civil society experts gathered in Manchester to consider how the growing low carbon economy in the North can be better supported by local authorities and national policies and key priorities moving forward, particularly opportunities for collaboration.

The debate included senior representatives from Siemens, WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff, Tees Valley Unlimited, as well as Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddisbury and Alan Simpson, MP for Nottingham South (1992 – 2010).

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Joan Walley, Chair of the Aldersgate Group opened the event highlighting the “significant untapped potential for the low carbon economy” in the North of England.

The new Aldersgate Group report ‘Setting the pace: Northern England’s low carbon economy’ looks at how the low carbon sector can drive greater economic growth in the region. Joan highlighted how 136,000 people are already working in the low carbon economy in the North and the myriad adaptation opportunities from investing in the North’s natural resources, ranging from flood plains to the Lake District. She further reflected that the North drove the UK’s industrial revolution and can become a key player in making the UK a world leading low carbon economy.

Matthew Knight, Director of Energy Strategy and Government Affairs at Siemens, called on politicians to “recognise that the world is changing and we need to make sure the UK is at the forefront of this.”

Reflecting on his own transition to working in the low carbon sector, Matthew noted that the sector has experienced significant growth in the past decade and there are innumerable “vital” jobs that exist today at Siemens and beyond thanks to the low carbon economy.

He called for green growth to be at the heart of the new industrial strategy, saying “green growth is the best kind of growth because it is genuinely sustainable, it goes right across the country and the people who get involved in it love what they do.” His ask to government is “a bit of help, a little bit of clarity, a fair playing field” to allow businesses to make that transition.

Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddisbury and member of the former Energy and Climate Change Committee confirmed that “there are real opportunities” for the North’s low carbon sectors.

Antoinette cited the energy expertise in the North, along with recycling and waste-to-energy trends in Cheshire, and in particular the Delamere Forest in her constituency. The Forest attracts 750,000 visitors each year, bringing a huge amount of money into the local economy, whilst providing ecosystem services and a research site for the Forestry Commission.  

However, she pointed out that in one of the barriers to low carbon growth in her constituency can be public perception around green infrastructure. Therefore, getting bottom up support and greater understanding for low carbon initiatives will be key for developing the Northern low carbon economy.

Simon Clouston, Director of Energy Services & Commercial Property at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff highlighted that the Northern region “undoubtedly has appetite” for the low carbon economy.

Simon discussed the strong skill base in engineering and science alongside Manchester’s own greenhouse gas emission reduction target. Turning to policy asks, Simon pointed to creating new policy that is fit for purpose in energy efficiency – an area that is “hugely ignored and undervalued in terms of the potential it could deliver”. Current building regulations are approaching the end of their usefulness and are “too prescriptive” to drive today’s agenda.

One further area for potential is for Local Authorities to have more flexibility over what they can ask of developers on energy and carbon performance. Simon suggested “the opportunity to design and develop what they think is right for their regions would be very valuable and very important.”

Neil Kenley, Director of Business Investment at Tees Valley Unlimited emphasised the need to move from a “high value, high carbon economy to a high value, low carbon economy” through the use of a carbon capture and storage network.

The low carbon economy is “extremely important for the whole of the North and the whole of the UK”. 80% of large companies in the Tees Valley are now foreign owned. International investors seeking new opportunities will avoid barriers and instead “look at areas where there’s a solution”. If low carbon is the end game, then we need to nurture that and provide certainty. “No one will invest in policy that changes overnight.”

One of the major drivers behind the North’s shift into the low carbon economy is the customer base. Businesses making up the Teesside Collective saw many customers demanding low carbon feedstocks and products. Local authorities and companies competing for funding must recognise that wherever particular funds are awarded, “there are opportunities over the whole Northern region and working in collaboration will be key."

Alan Simpson, former MP for Nottingham South, reminded the audience that we only have a 10 year window to engage with the challenges set by the Paris Agreement.

Alan called for a “seismic shift” in government policy that moves beyond the “piecemeal changes and tinkering” to ensure that the UK leads the energy transition. He noted there is much to learn from the localised energy revolutions in Germany, Denmark, and parts of the United States.

This seismic shift will require “the whole framework of energy thinking to move from dirty to clean; from more to less; and from opaque to transparent and accountable." To make that transition, “partnership building is key to not just to change the process but to take the public along with us” in the window of opportunity we still have.