Green Growth
Green Growth is economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. We want to live in a world that is full of opportunity but not at the expense of nature. It’s about sparking new ways to invest and innovate that lead to more sustainable economic activity and jobs. Green Growth means exciting new possibilities and a protected planet.
The Ten Point Plan
Over 100 Midlands Engine business, local authority, university and environmental partners collaborated to produce the Ten Point Plan for Green Growth which was launched in July 2021. The Ten Point Plan is an ambitious framework to drive sustainable change and create opportunities for green growth. It is a pan regional vision and mission, supporting everyone across our Partnership to connect and collaborate, amplify initiatives, showcase areas of expertise and unlock new investment.
The Ten Point Plan for Green Growth has provided a framework for multi-disciplinary, cross-sector partnership work to deliver green growth in the Midlands. Below are a few examples:
- Through our Hydrogen Technologies Strategy, we are connecting stakeholders from across the value chain to facilitate supply chain connections, spread key messages, and amplify the hydrogen opportunities and assets in the region.
- To deliver Nature’s Recovery, our Midlands Forest Network is bringing together a whole host of environmental stakeholders – from local authorities to NGOs – to unlock pan regional investment into our region’s natural capital assets.
- In Net Zero Transport, Midlands Connect are facilitating the transition to EVs through enabling local authorities and private businesses to identify and meet the gaps in the public charging infrastructure network.
- Our Green Innovation Network – delivered by our partners at the Energy Research Accelerator – is supporting the needs of businesses in the Midlands that want to develop green technologies and services.
- New nuclear technologies like fusion, SMRs and AMRs are changing the landscape for nuclear and opening up new opportunities for the Midlands. Through our regional Nuclear Review and setting up a Midlands Nuclear Forum, we are enabling partners in the region to jump on the new opportunities arising.
Links to Government Strategy
Over the last two years, UK government has published a number of strategies outlining targets to achieve an overall objective of net zero by 2050. Strategies include the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution (Nov 2020), the Net Zero Strategy: Build Back Greener (Oct 2021), and the British Energy Security Strategy (Apr 2022). The Midlands Engine Partnership, through the Ten Point Plan for Green Growth in the Midlands Engine (Jul 2021), is helping the government achieve these objectives in the Midlands.
- 10GW hydrogen production by 2030. We launched the Midlands Engine Hydrogen Technologies Strategy (Feb 2022) to highlight our regional USP in the pioneering, commercialisation and delivery of hydrogen technologies at scale. This strategy provided a key part of the business case in the successful bid for government funding for 124 new hydrogen buses in Birmingham.
- 24GW of civil nuclear production by 2050. While previous nuclear technologies were not suitable for deployment in the Midlands, the future of nuclear energy lies in new technologies like fusion, SMRs and AMRs. The Midlands not only boasts Rolls Royce, which heads up the UK SMR consortium, but many other businesses involved in the nuclear supply chain. We are setting up a forum to coordinate Midlands nuclear activity and providing data and intelligence to support the scaling of nuclear in the region.
- Protect and improve 30% of UK land by 2030. We are bringing conservation and environmental partners together under the ‘Midlands Forest Network’ banner to unlock investment to improve and protect our region’s natural capital assets. Building on the Midlands-based National Forest’s pioneering land regeneration model, which has increased woodland cover within its area to 22% from just 6% 25 years ago, we will ensure nature’s recovery works hand-in-hand with agriculture and development to ensure the right tree is planted in the right place.
