Policy certainty key to become leading low-carbon economy
Uncertainty in UK policy will harm the country's ability to compete with Germany to become a world-leading low-carbon economy, according to environmental think-tank the Green Alliance.
In a comparison of the two countries’ approach to green growth, the alliance reveals that Germany has invested almost three times more than the UK in renewable energy technologies over the past four years, and its more consistent regulatory approach has allowed it to create a renewables sector that is stronger than the UK’s, despite the UK’s geographical advantages in wind and wave power.
More positively, the analysis also reveals that a higher proportion of the UK’s GDP comes from low-carbon goods and services than is the case in Germany, and the UK exports £100 million more of these goods to Germany than it imports.
However, the report concludes: “Without a clear strategy on green growth it will be difficult to maintain [the UK’s] strong position in areas of current advantage, or regain ground on renewable energy.”