UK's coronavirus recovery should have green focus, Johnson urged

(The Guardian, 6 May 2020) Climate advisers call for work and training in low-carbon heating, water efficiency and flood-protection.

Restarting the economy and getting people back to work after the coronavirus lockdown should focus on low-carbon work programmes, the UK government’s climate advisers have urged.

They said this would generate new jobs, protect the climate and ensure a fairer economy for everyone.

People’s homes could be made ready for winter and new jobs created through schemes to insulate houses, while tree-planting could begin and flood barriers be constructed, the Committee on Climate Change advised Boris Johnson.

Fulfilling the UK’s need for low-carbon infrastructure, from electricity networks to cycle lanes, and restoring peatlands, would create jobs in the short term, while government money could also be used to encourage advances in science and innovation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future, the committee found.

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The Guardian, 6 May 2020: UK's coronavirus recovery should have green focus, Johnson urged