Taking control of the future: innovation, skills and the Green Industrial Revolution.
| Author | Onwurah, Chi |
| Position | GREEN FUTURES |
Before lockdown I spoke at many of the Youth Climate Strikes in Newcastle, and the passion and urgency of the young people I met was profoundly uplifting. One of the things that was interesting during the 2019 election campaign was that, when talking to voters about the Green Industrial Revolution, it was often people's children that were asking them questions. It might not be something that is at the forefront of everyone's mind, but young people are really passionate about a green future.
I love Newcastle and the North East's industrial heritage. My grandfather was a sheet metal worker on the Tyne. Growing up in the shadow of figures like Rachel Parsons, the world's first female naval engineer and the founder of the Women's Engineering Society, was part of what inspired me to become an engineer myself. I wanted to build and make things which made the world better - that is what we have done in the North East for generations.
Some argue that these two things - a green future and our proud industrial past - are incompatible; to support our industrial base we must abandon our role as guardians of the planet, or vice versa. But I believe that by being bold and ambitious, investing in sustainable manufacturing methods as part of a circular economy, and in the next generation of passionate engineers and policy-makers, we can build the green industrial economy we need.
The need for a Green Industrial Revolution
There is no price that can be put on the future - but that future must include everyone. The momentum has been building behind the climate agenda for many years. Labour introduced the Climate Change Act in 2008, making Britain one of the first industrial countries to commit to strict targets on emissions. The usual suspects complain to this day that this goes too far, but the Tories now wave it around as if it was their idea all along.
Since 2008 we have learned a great deal about the process of climate change. The warnings from the IPCC, and even bodies like the IMF, show that much more needs to be done, much faster, if we are to keep below two degrees warming by 2050.
Across the world, hundreds of millions of people already suffer from the effects of climate change as lakes shrink, rivers flood, and farmland turns to desert. There are conflicts in countries like Nigeria which are reported on as tribal conflicts but are actually a consequence of changing landscapes - a result of climate change. As always, it is the poorest and the most...
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