Made up of 60 MPs including climate change secretary Greg Barker, cabinet office minister Oliver Letwin and transport secretary Justine Greening, the group has released a document ‘2020 Vision: An Agenda for Transformation’ in which they outline their ambition to decarbonise the UK economy.
The paper says: “We will drop the word ‘renewable’ because renewable will be the norm. It is our energy sector – the renewable and decarbonisation of our electricity generation – that will determine whether we have a resilient economy designed for the future and hedged from the volatile costs of imported fossil fuel.”
Wind and marine trade body RenewableUK’s deputy chief executive, Maf Smith, praised today’s statement of intent and the ‘compelling’ case for increased investment in the green economy.
“This forward thinking group of Conservative MPs has clearly articulated a vision which many of us share. Opinion polls show that they’re in tune with the majority of public opinion on the growing importance of renewable energy” he said.
“The business case is compelling not just in terms of reducing the long term cost of energy, but also in securing economic growth as nearly 90,000 of us will be working in the wind, wave and tidal industries by 2020.”