UK net zero sector has grown 10% in the past year

The UK’s net zero sector generated £83.1 billion in value added in 2024 – and experienced record growth of more than 10% compared to 2023.

This is according to a report commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) with analysis provided by the independent consultancy CBI Economics and The Data City, which suggests that the green economy is a crucial driver of growth for the UK.

The UK is the only country with a 1.5ºC-aligned 2035 climate goal so far.

Net zero jobs are more productive than average

Businesses within the net zero supply chain – which includes renewables and energy storage, energy efficiency, waste management, electric vehicles and their infrastructure, technology for sustainable agriculture, carbon capture and storage, as well as green finance – employed 951,000 people full time in 2024 – up 10.2% year on year.

The report notes that these jobs are typically better paid than the UK average (at more than £43,000 per year), but that they are also highly productive: each full-time role generates £105,500 in economic value, 38% above the UK average.

“Nearly a million British livelihoods now depend on the net zero economy which has at its core thousands of small businesses based all around the UK, from Grimsby to Gateshead to Glasgow, insulating homes and manufacturing equipment,” said Peter Chalkley, Director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU). “This net zero workforce has grown whole new British industries like offshore wind, enabling the UK to compete in the global markets’ unstoppable shift to cleaner technologies. In effect, the UK pump-primed offshore wind which has enabled other countries to use the technology to cut emissions globally,” he added.

UK net zero economy: ‘No growth without green’

The net zero economy is found to be made up largely of SMEs, with 94% of the 15,600 companies identified having fewer than 250 employees. It is also well distributed between UK regions, with the largest hubs located in the West Midlands, Yorkshire & the Humber, and South West England – collectively accounting for 16.3% of the sector.

Another 4.9% of net zero value added is generated in Scotland, with 100,700 green jobs, according to the report.

The sector also appears particularly attractive to investors, who provided £25.9 billion of private funding to UK net zero businesses over the past 20 years.

Louise Hellem, Chief Economist at the CBI, commented: “The net zero economy continues to demonstrate that there are huge emerging markets for green technologies that the UK must capitalise on. It is clear, you can’t have growth without green. At a time when the cost of doing business has squeezed appetite for capital investments and high energy prices are being cited as a drag factor across the economy, investments in clean technologies can significantly bolster competitiveness and productivity.”

She also predicts that 2025 will be the year when inaction becomes “indisputably costlier” than action on climate change.