Jeremy Corbyn today announced a plan to create one million new jobs to tackle the climate emergency, reboot British industry and end inequality.

Labour said its plan will bring new wealth to the UK’s regions and nations which it said had been starved of investment following a lost decade of it described as Conservative austerity and Tory deindustrialisation in the 1980s.

Labour has already set out detailed plans to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in upgrading the nation’s homes, rolling out offshore wind at scale and kick starting an electric vehicle revolution.

Vital action

Additional jobs unveiled in the 2019 manifesto including those in researching carbon capture and storage (CCS) and delivering hydrogen, tidal energy, the expansion of port infrastructure, tree planting, flood defences and plastics recycling.

The global green economy is currently valued at $4 trillion, and is projected to grow to $9 trillion in value by 2030. Labour said its plans will put UK companies and workers in pole position to benefit from the new economy.

Labour said it will make sure people are able to access these jobs by creating 320,000 climate apprenticeships and giving everyone the right to upskill and retrain throughout their lives, including in higher level technical qualifications.

Jeremy Corbyn, speaking ahead of the manifesto launch, said: “This election is the last opportunity to take the vital action to head off runaway climate change.

Cutting edge

“The next Labour government will lead the world in tackling the climate and environmental emergency with a plan to create a low-carbon economy with well-paid jobs we can be proud of.

“Labour will bring the country together to face a common challenge and mobilise all our national resources, both financial and human, to kick-start a Green Industrial Revolution.

“Just as the original Industrial Revolution brought cutting edge industry and jobs to our towns, Labour’s world-leading Green Industrial Revolution will create rewarding, well-paid jobs and whole new industries to revive parts of our country that have been neglected for too long.”

Labour is promising to deliver the “substantial majority” of the emissions cuts needed to tackle the climate emergency by 2030.

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Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist. This article is based on information provided in a press release from the Labour Party and Press Association.