Net Zero by 2050
The North of England has the world-leading assets required to lead the UK’s transition to Net Zero.
Just as the North led the way in the Industrial Revolution, we are ready to do so again as the world shifts to a greener economy.
- The North is the UK’s clean energy powerhouse, generating 50% of the country’s renewable energy.
- 36% of jobs in the North generate a lower than UK-average carbon footprint.
- Emissions in the North are falling 13% faster than the rest of the UK.
- As a region, we have the potential to deliver a 50% reduction in carbon levels by 2032, creating 100,000 new jobs and adding £2bn to the North’s economy.
- The UK’s first two industrial decarbonisation clusters are based in the North, on both its North West and North East coasts.
The North is ideally placed to improve energy security and resilence, reduce the cost of energy for consumers and households, while creating jobs and boosting productivity.
Building on our industrial strengths, skills and innovation capacity would enable the North to ensure that the UK meets its climate commitments while also developing new sources of growth, unlocking investment and creating skilled jobs.
Our ambition
Our research shows that, through targeted investment and collaboration, the North could deliver a 50% reduction in carbon levels by 2032. By 2050 it could also create 100,000 new jobs and provide a £2 billion annual boost to the economy.
We are helping to realise these benefits by improving collaboration between industry, local and central government through a Net Zero North programme.
Our Northern Powerhouse Prospectus
In November 2019, we published our Northern Powerhouse Clean Growth Prospectus which recognises the North’s strategically important role in offshore technologies, the circular economy, new nuclear, Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS), and hydrogen.
You can download the Prospectus here
Following this report, in November 2022 we published our Net Zero North: Collaboration Powering Global Britain report, which identifies economic, environmental, and social benefits of collaboration, as well as the practical steps that are needed to realise these benefits.
Through effective and coordinated programmes of collaborative action, the North can:
- Deliver economic growth: deliver over £6bn of additional value to the Northern economy through a modest investment of £10m over 5 years for regional leadership and coordination capacity.
- Enhance energy security and drive down costs: promoting opportunities for co-location of storage and hydrogen production and supporting businesses to switch to low-carbon heat alternatives through shared infrastructure and resources, in order to help us achieve net-zero faster and at a lower cost.
- Cement the North’s position as a world leader in low carbon power generation: boosting international demand and investment through higher productivity and standards, capitalising on the North’s ‘first mover advantage’ through greater innovation and risk-taking, supporting the North to become a net energy exporter.
Read the full Net Zero North Executive Summary and Economic Analysis Delivery Plan.
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