Green Economy Council

The announcement and, indeed, the first meeting of the Green Economy Council is welcome in many senses but also prompts one or two negative, or perhaps I should say , critical comments.

First, just an observation. The press release says "The Council will uniquely bring together Ministers from three key departments......". Really? Does the author understand the meaning of "unique" or is this a massive damnation of previous UK governments' inabililty to operate "joined up thinking"?

And isn't there a very important department missing? Where on earth if the DfT? Transport is the source of a very significant proportion of UK emissions so why is DfT absent? (And having Ford UK represented is no substitute).

The cycnic in me also thought "Oh no - not another talking shop!".  Perhaps a tad mean, that, and if this body can get things moving then all power to its collective elbow. However, initiatives like this do have a history of non-delivery and, heaven knows we need real action in this area.

Another worry is whether the make-up is right. It's full of the great and the good, mainly from very large organisations. Only one of the many quotes contained within the press release mentioned SMEs who will be absolutely crucial in the proposed transformation. So well done Kate Craig-Wood who said "The Government, through the Council, need to understand the issues that SMEs in the high-tech sector face and the important role they can play in achieving sustainable growth".  And notice that she kept it sector-specific. The statistics are staggering - only 0.05% of UK companies (see the lilnk for the exact definition being used here) have over 1000 employees whereas about 68% are in the 0-4 employees bracket.

Another worry is that there seems to be a strong emphasis on the supply side with demand taking a back-seat. I'm no economist but I would have thought that a substantial proportion of green economy actiity has to be UK demand driven - that means, ultimately, you and me - and we know how large is the intention/action gap.

Enough of my whinging - let's hope this is not a "fiddling-while-Rome-burns" situation. It's just too important.