A recent report by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), with analysis by CBI Economics and The Data City, has revealed that the net zero economy in the UK is worth over £70 billion. This sector is made up of nearly 20,000 businesses, which account for 3.7% of the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and support approximately 840,000 jobs, with an average wage of £42,600.

The report shows that the net zero economy is highly productive, generating £112,300 in GVA per employee, which is 1.7 times higher than the national average of £64,400. The report also identifies hotspots across the UK, including the Tyneside/Teesside coast, south Yorkshire/north Derbyshire, the Mersey river, and Cambridgeshire, where net zero businesses form a larger than average proportion of the local economy.

The report underlines the real benefit to firms across multiple sectors and throughout the UK of embracing the challenge of investing in clean technologies rather than sticking with fossil-fuel industries of the past.