The UK’s net zero economy is now worth £105bn a year and supports 1.1 million jobs, according to new CBI Economics research commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit. The finding puts a hard number on an industry that has been growing in the background while politicians argue over whether to slow it down, stop it or tear it up.
The scale is bigger than many campaigners have been able to show in one place. The research says the sector accounts for nearly 4% of UK economic output, with about 308,000 people employed directly in businesses such as solar panel installation, home insulation, wind turbine manufacturing and electric vehicles. When supply chains and related businesses are included, that rises to 1.1 million jobs, and workers in the sector earn more than £43,000 a year on average, about 11% more than the national average wage of £39,000.
Louise Hellem, chief economist at the CBI, said clean power and decarbonisation are already a significant and growing part of the UK’s industrial base, spanning energy, manufacturing, services and supply chains. She said the country has the expertise to build on that strength and capture even greater commercial opportunities, and added that the net zero economy is becoming central to Britain’s future competitiveness at a time when energy security and growth are both under pressure.
The numbers also point to a wider economic footprint than jobs alone. Each worker in the net zero economy generates nearly £120,000 a year for the wider economy, and the report identified £455bn of potential investment in energy infrastructure in the pipeline. It also said about 22,000 small businesses around the UK are involved in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and boosting renewable energy, a reminder that this is not just a London-based story or a niche corner of the market.
That is where the politics bite. The report presents net zero as a live commercial asset, but the pressure to abandon it is not coming from the margins. The Conservatives and Reform UK want to scrap or row back on the targets, while Tony Blair has called for an end to net zero and a shift back to fossil fuels. Sandra Bell, speaking for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said critics who want to dismantle climate action are ignoring the rewards on offer and risk leaving Britain behind in the race to build a green economy.
The question now is not whether the UK has a net zero economy. It does. The test is how much of the £455bn investment pipeline actually gets built before the next milestones arrive, with the government aiming to decarbonise the electricity system by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050.
