Green Economy
Why Businesses should go green
- Being a 'green' business should mean you are an efficient business and therefore, a profitable one.
- Fuel costs are a drain on any business and ways to save energy will save money and help your cost base.
- Many customers including public sector organisations are looking for green solutions and suppliers to help reduce their carbon footprint. Can your business help them do this?
- Not meeting 'green' legislation such as the 2008 UK Climate Change Act could bring cost penalties and eventually as environmental league tables become common place your business's reputation may suffer if its 'green' credentials are thought to be lacking.
Liverpool City Council has produced a directory of support to help local businesses improve their green performance.
click here to see the little green booklet
What does the 'green economy' mean for Merseyside?
What do we mean by 'green economy'? Jobs in the Environmental goods and services sector and environmental technologies sectors, but also the ways in which climate change concerns will affect jobs in all different areas of the economy.
Who works in the 'green economy'?
Nationally it is estimated that 881,000 people work in the 'green economy' – about 2.5% of the working age population. The North West has 86,000 people employed in 5,100 businesses – many in the generation of alternative fuels. It has been estimated that there are 8,700 people employed on Merseyside in the 'green economy', with 3,700 within the City of Liverpool. However, some reports suggest it the numbers employed may be as many as 17,000 across Merseyside. Waste Management employs 3,800; water and waste treatment (about) 1,000 and renewable energy (about) 800. In addition, Liverpool has specialisms in Insulation work, sanitation, technical testing, industrial process control and recycling.
'Green assets'
It maybe a City region but Merseyside has many 'green assets' – in particular it's coastal position, creating opportunities in renewable energy from wind and wave power.
The skills the 'green economy' needs
It is thought that jobs in the 'green economy' require much higher skills – including a greater proportion of degree educated people – than the rest of the local economy. Fortunately Liverpool has a diverse Further and Higher Education sector offering a wide range of over 200 courses relevant to the 'green economy'. In particular the 'green economy' requires generic STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) qualified people. In addition, there are likely to be specialist skills required such as carbon foot-printing, environmental impact assessment and knowledge of sustainability issues. General business skills such as communication, leadership and management will also be needed.
Future Growth
It is predicted that the UK's 'green economy' is going to grow from around £106 billion in 2007/8 to £156 billion by 2014/15. Growth of over 5% per annum is predicted in the North West. At the UK level, the green economy is forecast to grow by 45% between 2008 and 2015. The renewable energy sector is, itself, predicted to grow by 63%. In the same period the numbers employed nationally in the sector are expected to grow from 881,000 to 1.27 million. Of these Merseyside is expected to see an increase of approximately 3,000 jobs.
Locally the greatest growth in employment is expected to be in waste management and recycling, renewable energy and environmental consultancy.
There is likely to be the following broad changes to the economy:
- More jobs in environmental goods and services sectors
- Job substitution may take place in some sectors e.g. a move from land-filling and waste incineration to recycling; from car production to rail production, Remember the new jobs may not be in the same location as the old jobs!
- Some jobs may be eliminated because of, for example, new environmental legislation e.g. the production of certain packaging materials that become banned
- Many existing jobs may be altered due to the need to be 'green' e.g. plumbers, construction workers, electricians
More concerning is the estimate by Liverpool City Council that 90,000 jobs on Merseyside could be under threat from future environmental legislation.
All figures and statistics from 'Impact of the growth in the Green Economy on future jobs and skills in the Liverpool City Region' (DTZ for Liverpool City Council, 25/9/2009)
