Net zero target could power real levelling up for Yorkshire - Henri Murison

While these MPs are very much in the minority, it’s still disappointing – particularly from northern MPs such as Scott Benton, who should be aware of the huge economic benefits of net zero for our regions.

Fortunately, there are others within their party ready to defend their 2019 manifesto promises.

Former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore MP, who signed zero-carbon targets into law, has warned that cutting green subsidies would be “disastrous for the transition away from fossil fuels”.

All customers pay towards subsidies for renewables, and these levies have been the driving force behind a green revolution, led by the North of England, which is increasingly able to act as an insurance against a volatile energy market, cutting bills now and for the next generation – a down-payment for greener, cheaper energy in the future.

A couple of weeks ago, fossil fuel use on the UK’s electricity grid dropped to an all-time low of just six per cent.

A decade ago, the proportion was almost 59 per cent. That hasn’t happened by accident – it’s taken years of sustained public and private investment.

More than half of England’s renewable energy is now generated here in the North.

In Selby, Drax has converted a huge power station from coal to biomass, securing thousands of high-skilled jobs.

They’ve also invested millions into carbon capture and storage technology, which provides negative emissions by taking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

In Hull, Siemens is doubling the size of its factory where they make blades for wind turbines, creating 200 more jobs.

In Sheffield, investment in hydrogen and small modular reactors for nuclear energy is translating into highly-skilled, well-paid jobs at Forgemasters.

IPPR North has made the case that 46,000 jobs could be created in the net zero transition by 2030 in the North alone.

Places like the Humber – which accounts for 40 per cent of Britain’s total industrial emissions – are most at risk of a botched green transition, with thousands of jobs on the line should we pull the plug on investment.

Done right, however, and net zero could unlock further opportunities for our economy and power a genuine levelling up agenda.

Firstly, we need to bring together our universities, businesses and innovation assets.

Net Zero North, led by the N8 Universities and our colleges, is already undertaking vital work to address gaps in innovation and skills.

Secondly, the UK needs to develop its own technology and supply chains for renewable energies, creating more high-value jobs across the so-called Red Wall such as in factories to build small modular reactors.

Let’s hope this government ignores the small number of backbenchers pushing them to sell out northern workers.

I suppose it is one way to distract from the fact that Leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, promised us that energy would be cheaper after Brexit.

The Chancellor needs to cut VAT on low carbon electricity from offshore wind and nuclear to keep bills down, as well as providing targeted support to help the most vulnerable in our society, as the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP has called for.

If the Prime Minister listens to the naysayers and breaks promises he made just a few months ago at COP26, it would be a loss of both global credibility and yet another example of this Government’s lack of ambition for the north of England.

Scaling down the green industrial revolution is simply not an option.

Henri Murison is director of Northern Powerhouse Partnership.