- PM co-chairs
first international climate finance meeting
- New international climate action plan published
- Co-funding the delivery of up to 2,500 apprenticeships in the
wind energy sector, in line with the sector’s ambition for the
size of its workforce in 2017
- Further £4.75m for renewables development
The UK has today kick-started a renewed push for a global climate
deal as the Prime Minister co-chairs the most significant climate
meeting since Copenhagen.
The UN Secretary-General’s High Level Advisory Group on Climate
Finance to be held in Downing Street, will involve three heads of
government, two finance ministers, Barack Obama’s chief economic
adviser Larry Summers, and other key figures such as George Soros
and Nick Stern. The group will look at how the world will deliver
on its commitment to provide $100bn of public and private finance
a year by 2020.
The Government has also outlined more support for the UK’s own
low carbon transition with funding for renewables development and
a consultation to ensure workers and businesses are prepared to
take advantage of the growing need for green skills.
The Government is also setting out its plans to breathe new life
into efforts to get a legally binding global treaty.
Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband said:
“We’ve got to dust ourselves down and kick-start efforts to get a
global deal, get the climate finance flowing and make sure the
cuts promised by countries happen.
“We need to do this, not just for environmental reasons, but also
for economic ones. In the UK, strategic intervention by the
Government is unlocking green investment and generating jobs for
the future. Low carbon growth will be stronger, and businesses
will have greater certainty, when the world agrees to a legally
binding deal.”
Today’s announcements include:
A new action plan on international climate change (‘Beyond
Copenhagen: The UK Government’s International Climate Change
Action Plan’), which shows what must be done to build on the
progress made at Copenhagen. The plan sets out the Government’s
belief that the low carbon transformation can be a major driver of
economic growth and job creation – in the UK, in Europe and
globally. In it the UK Government makes clear that:
- It wants to build on the strengths of the Kyoto Protocol, and
is open to extending that agreement as a way of getting the legal
deal we need.
- It is in favour of strengthening the UN
decision making process that was so frustrating at
Copenhagen.
- It is pushing for the EU to increase its plans
to cut emissions in line with comparable moves elsewhere, which is
why we are supporting the European Commission’s work to identify
the practical steps that would be required to implement a 30%
target.
The Action Plan builds on the Copenhagen Accord, in which
countries have put forward actions that, if delivered in full,
would see global emissions peak before 2020, a key step towards
achieving our 2 degrees goal.
A consultation on a new low carbon skills strategy which includes
co-funding the delivery of up to 2,500 apprenticeships in the
emerging wind energy sector, in line with the sector’s ambition
for the size of its workforce in 2017. The joint consultation
document produced with the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills sets out what we know about the scale and nature of the
low-carbon skills challenge, what we’re already doing to tackle
it, and seeks views on what more needs to happen.
This follows the Government’s commitment to co-fund the delivery
of up to 1,000 apprenticeships per year in the nuclear energy
sector in the light of a report by Cogent, the Sector Skills
Council for Nuclear Energy.
Further Education and Skills Minister Kevin Brennan said:
"One year on from our New Industry New Jobs commitment
to drive growth in new sectors, we are continuing to invest in the
skills and markets that are so vital to the UK's economy:
especially low carbon.
"This is why we are talking to employers to understand
their needs and why, with them, we are co-funding 2,500
apprenticeships in wind energy.
"We have listened to specialists and to the public and
we will continue to listen through today's consultation
on low carbon skills. We remain, as ever, dedicated to a
low-carbon economy and to giving people the chance to get into a
new career in a new industries."
Further measures to support the development of the renewables
industry in the UK. This includes £4 million as part of a landmark
partnership between DECC, Ministry of Defence, The Crown Estate
and four wind farm developers, to fund a new radar for the Greater
Wash that will address interference that can be associated with
older types of radar.
This will allow the construction of one wind farm (Sheringham
Shoal) and remove one of the barriers in considering the consent
applications of other wind farms, as well as potentially a further
4-6GW offshore wind under Round 3 of the Crown Estate’s leasing
for offshore wind development. A grant of £750,000 is also awarded
for test facilities for micro wind turbines.
Last week Siemens, Mitsubishi and General Electric decided to
locate manufacturing facilities in the UK, confirming the UK as
the world’s top destination for offshore wind energy investment.
This followed the Budget announcement of £60 million to develop
sites close to ports suitable for turbine manufacturing, and the
new £2 billion Green Investment Bank. Strategic intervention by
the Government is unlocking this investment, generating a new
industrial sector in the UK that could employ a high skilled
workforce of 70,000 by 2020.
Government has also today became the first in the world to
publish plans that will set out how every major department will
address the challenge of climate change in the UK. The Carbon
Reduction Delivery and Adaptation Plans detail each department’s
commitment to minimise the damage of climate change, by reducing
emissions and by preparing for inevitable change in the UK climate.
Notes to Editors
1. ‘Beyond Copenhagen: The UK Government’s International Climate
Change Action Plan’ is available at: http://www.decc.gov.uk
2. The joint Decc and BIS skills consultation document - Skills
for a Low Carbon and Resource Efficient Economy – is available at
http://www.decc.gov.uk and
http://www.bis.gov.uk/lowcarbonskills.
Within this the Government has committed to:
• Co-fund the delivery of up to 1,000 apprenticeships per year to
support decommissioning and new-build in the nuclear energy
sector;
• Co-fund the delivery of up to 2,500 apprenticeships
in the emerging wind energy sector, in line with the sector’s
ambition for the size of its workforce in 2017.
3. The support for apprentices is subject to employers coming
forward with Apprenticeship places in sufficient numbers, and are
part of our plans to deliver an additional 35,000 advanced and
higher Apprenticeships to young adults aged 19 to 30 over 2 years
from September 2010.
4. Cogent’s report – also published today – outlines for the
first time the employment opportunities that new nuclear reactors
could bring, helping to build a clear picture of skills
requirements in the sector.The report Next Generation – Skills for
New Build Nuclear – is available at http://www.cogent-ssc.com/research/nuclearresearch.php
The £4.75 million for renewables development includes:
£750k
for TUV NEL (a leading international technology services
organisation). This includes £550,000 to develop 10 new test pads
at the Myres Hill test site for public use by industry,
certification and test organisations and £200,000 to carry out a
research and development project which will examine how the
testing process for micro wind turbines can be applied more
efficiently with cost reductions, without taking away from the
robustness of the MCS standards.
£4 million contributes to funding a Lockheed Martin TPS-77 air
defence radar for installation at RAF Trimingham. The Crown Estate
and several wind farm developers are also contributing to funding
the new radar. The radar will remove military radar obstacles to
the construction of 3.2GW of offshore wind in the Greater Wash and
potentially a future 4-6GW in the Norfolk Round 3 zone. The
project will deal with concerns on impacts on the existing air
defence radar at RAF Trimingham.
5. ‘Climate Change: Taking Action – Delivering the Low Carbon
Transition Plan and preparing for a changing climate’ can be
downloaded at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/climate/programme/across-government.htm
or http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/carbonbudgets/departments/departments.aspx
6. The Department of Energy and Climate Change is central to the
UK Government’s leadership on climate change. We are pushing hard
internationally for ambitious effective and fair action to avert
the most dangerous impacts. Through our UK Low Carbon Transition
Plan we are giving householders and businesses the incentives and
advice they need to cut their emissions, we are enabling the
energy sector’s shift to the trinity of renewables, new nuclear
and clean coal, and we are stepping up the fight against fuel poverty.
Contacts:
Department of Energy and Climate Change
Phone: 0300 068 5219
nds.decc@coi.gsi.gov.uk
Shruti Dudhia
Phone: 0300 068 6491
shruti.dudhia@decc.gsi.gov.uk