Low-carbon jobs fell after Cameron’s kibosh on ‘green crap’ policies – study

(The Guardian, 23 Jan 2023) Exclusive: proportion of green job openings in UK ‘declined significantly’ after 2012, analysis shows.

Job opportunities in Britain’s low-carbon economy have fallen sharply since David Cameron’s government decided to cut policies he described as “green crap”, with fewer vacancies now available as a share of the economy than in 2012, a study reveals.

Academics at the London School of Economics’ Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment found the proportion of green job openings being advertised in the UK “declined significantly” after 2012.

Analysing the structure of the low-carbon economy using online job adverts, they said the share of green employment opportunities dropped from 1.8% of all openings in 2012, to a low point of just 1.1% by 2018. It then increased to 1.6% in 2021, but remained below the level seen almost a decade earlier.

The report highlighted cuts to government support for green projects under Cameron, who was reported to have told aides in November 2013 to “get rid of all the green crap” from energy bills.

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The Guardian, 23 Jan 2023: Low-carbon jobs fell after Cameron’s kibosh on ‘green crap’ policies – study