How can we make green growth good?
By Sophie Rogers, Account Executive
Against mounting political headwinds, Labour has remained committed to its ambitions for a world-leading low carbon economy. However, the clean power target that helps build the economy of the future requires significant scaling up of technologies and processes that are still heavily reliant on global supply chains and exposed to the risks that come with them.
With China currently supplying 45% of UK solar panels, growing awareness of Uyghur exploitation in these supply chains has understandably raised considerable concern about the trade-offs the Government is willing to make to achieve its goal. However, what we’ve seen play out with Scunthorpe Steelworks shows how crucial foreign investment has been in our industrial heartlands and raised questions about our own ability to transform them into the homegrown clean energy hubs that can deliver it.
The challenge for this Government is to reconcile these two realities while ensuring supply chains don’t become the latest platform on which the weaponisation of net zero can thrive.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s decision to respond to parliamentary pressure and amend the GB Energy Bill to block Chinese slave labour in its supply chains, just weeks after visiting Beijing to discuss future relations on energy, showed an important commitment to growth that isn’t just green, but good. During periods of political and economic instability, this is crucial to maintain the investor confidence needed to finance the transition to low-carbon technologies.
However, reconciling accelerated green growth with perfect integrity in supply chains is a significant challenge. As globalisation intensifies countries’ reliance on each other, supply chains and the varying obligations on actors within them grow increasingly complex. Equally, developing stable domestic supply chains that reduce industry reliance on imports will take time.
The GB Energy intervention is an important reminder for businesses involved in the transition that they must listen and respond to growing political and public concern for how net zero will be achieved. The B Corp standard’s latest requirement for a shown commitment to human rights in supply chains is an indicator of the additional value for a business’ reputation if it does.
Instead of shying away from the conversation or making overstated claims – when the limitations of understanding the full supply chain are abundantly clear – companies can still demonstrate meaningful action to recognise and address gaps or expect to be held accountable when they don’t. This involves undertaking rigorous due diligence when onboarding new suppliers, working with third-party auditors that can assess processes and performance, and building strong contractual provisions with suppliers that help understand, trace, and mitigate risks.
As the Government grapples with how what it takes to be a clean energy superpower, it is clear that its role goes far beyond loosening planning rules and announcing community benefits. Parliamentarians have shown they will hold GB Energy to account as a responsible leader for green growth. As businesses continue to navigate the economic challenges of the transition, it's right that they to do the same.