Cuts to Renewable Energy Threaten Environmental Progress

With the number of jobs in the renewable energy sector in the UK dropping by nearly a third in recent years, and the amount of new green generating capacity dropping by a similar amount, more than ever we need to push to reverse the Climate Crisis and ensure that we protect our local environments.

 

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Prospect, the union which covers much of the sector, has found a significant drop of 30% in renewable energy jobs between 2014 and 2017, as government cuts to support schemes and incentives started to affect the industry. The report also found that investment in renewable energy in the UK between 2015 and 2017 more than halved.

The drastic fall in jobs comes as the government reduced incentives for low-carbon energy, shut down schemes that rewarded consumers for buying solar panels and withdrew subsidies for onshore wind. Ministers have previously argued that as the costs of renewable energy have fallen sharply in recent years, the industries should no longer rely on public subsidy. However with the recent 25 Year Environmental Plan and the findings from the Prospect report, we hope that the support for environmentally-minded developments which utilise renewable energy will not be negatively impacted. 

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At ethical partnership we have been involved in designing and building sustainable housing for over 15 years.  We have vast experience in designing and specify passive houses and low-impact eco homes, as well as offering a range of ecology and landscape services that enable us design developments and other schemes that are sensitive to the needs of wildlife, landscape and habitats.  The services that we offer are all built up from our values.  Thus, the worry is that renewable energy will be left behind by government funding, when really we should all be striving to embrace it in light of the Climate Crisis.  

We welcome any thoughts on this topic. To find out more about the work we do, contact us here or visit our Twitter and LinkedIn.

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