GREEN JOBS DAY OF ACTION IN CHESTER

Today twelve Cheshire residents met outside the office of Chester MP Chris Matheson, in support of Green Jobs observing current guidelines and later performed a Banner Drop by the Eastgate Clock.

The group included people from different walks of life: a Teacher, an NHS keyworker, a Disability Advice Worker, a Chemical Engineer, a Chartered Accountant, and a Leadership Coach.  They held up signs asking for Green Jobs for Chester.

New research compiled by Green New Deal UK shows that over 1,553 jobs could be created in Chester across green infrastructure and care work in the next two years. 

The data includes jobs in sectors like solar energy, offshore wind, social care and energy efficiency - all of which are essential to the UK meeting its national and international climate targets.

As we know from recent flooding, Chester is not immune from climate impacts so there is a real need to decarbonise, but that needs Government led investment. Many local homes are not energy efficient so there is clearly a need for the housing stock to be brought up to standard through the fitting of insulation and energy efficient heating, which could include heat pumps.  

In May 2019 Cheshire West & Chester was one of the first Councils in the country to declare a Climate Emergency and have worked with climate experts and various partners to plan to achieve carbon neutrality.  

Previous research from Green New Deal UK found that 1.2m green jobs could be created throughout Britain in the next two years at a cost of around £68bn - far less than the £100bn infrastructure investment commitment made last year. 

This news comes at the same time that the Government has just cut air passenger duty on domestic flights, frozen fuel duty, invested £27 billion in a roads programme, tried to open a new coal mine and cut £1.5 billion from the flagship home energy efficiency programme. 

Anne, one of the local organisers said: “Our research shows that you can tackle unemployment and create jobs whilst tackling climate change at the same time. 

We know that we can’t afford not to do this. There’s an unemployment crisis and a climate crisis and a Green New Deal can create thousands of good green jobs right here across Cheshire West & Chester. We all know that climate change is going to have a huge impact everywhere and we can’t let people just fall by the wayside.”

Vicky, the secretary of Unite Community added: “The Government could invest in these green jobs right now to boost our economic recovery, but they are refusing to commit the level of investment needed. If you compare what we are spending to France and Germany and the US we are falling behind what is really needed to tackle unemployment and the recession, let alone sort out climate change.”

Rafal, a school governor and parent is passionate because, “I care about the world my children will grow up in. Green Jobs will benefit everyone and will help in the fightback from COVID-19.

• The following job creation figures per constituency contribute to this figure:

The level of unemployment facing the UK is likely to be at least 2.2 million (6.4%) by December 2021, without further support for the economy

• Nationally, £48.75bn across two years would create nearly 600,000 green infrastructure jobs straight away while helping us transition towards a green economy. 
• £20 bn across two years invested in the care sector would create 600,000 jobs over the next two years, and nearly 2 million permanent jobs into the future.  
• With government support elsewhere and wider induced employment impacts from government investment, we believe unemployment numbers could be offset, with jobs outside of the green and care sectors being created to replace them. 
• Schemes to introduce shorter working weeks and reduced hours will help to create additional employment.
• The report indicates the scale of the ongoing challenge for government, even with a significant boost to investment spending in the short-term, and the likely future consequences of a pandemic-constrained world.