Missed opportunity to address meaningful environmental or social reforms.
The Spring Budget was missing “serious consideration” of how Britain plans to make its mark in the global clean energy ‘arms race’, the chief executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF) has said.
James Alexander, CEO at UKSIF, welcomed Budget measures including support for carbon capture and storage technologies, and clarity on the UK’s ‘green taxonomy’, which will include nuclear as environmentally sustainable. However, he added the Budget “should have begun serious consideration of a positive UK response to the global clean energy ‘arms race’”, alongside measure from US and EU.
Richard Lum, co-CIO at Victory Hill Capital Partners, called today’s £20bn move by the chancellor to support carbon capture “a healthy step in the right direction, that will help ensure the UK continues to lead the world in applying this technology”. He added: “The government has recognised the need to do more to promote the reuse of the captured emissions, rather than only backing sequestration. “Reusing these emissions could boost the economy by supplying certain sectors such as the food and beverage and agriculture industries with valuable and much needed carbon dioxide gas.”
Energy Access
Opening-up energy access to cater for increasing demand and population growth