25th October- Jack Abbott outlines how the energy transition is the defining opportunity of this century.

The energy transition is the defining economic opportunity of this century, as well as an environmental necessity. 

We are all paying the price for the previous Conservative government’s failure to invest in our energy system over the past decade and a half, leaving us reliant on foreign fossil fuels and sky-high energy bills.

Reform are threatening to rip up investment agreements with companies and put thousands of good jobs at risk. The Greens say they support the energy transition, yet seem to oppose every renewable and clean tech project which might help us achieve it. 

But the time for posturing is over, we need to deliver, recognising that this window of opportunity is vital, but finite.

That is why, since our election last year, our Labour government has overturned the de facto onshore wind ban in England, kickstarted the solar rooftop revolution, delivered a record-breaking renewables auction, and set up GB Energy, a publicly-owned national energy company. 

We have embarked on the most significant programme of clean energy, climate, and nature investment in British history. 

We have delivered more than £50billion of private sector clean energy investment announcements since July 2024 – the biggest investment in homegrown clean energy ever.  

And when it comes to winning the global race for the clean energy jobs and investment, I am determined that it should be the UK. 

The job opportunities on offer are vast, with roles available across a huge range of skill levels and occupations, from plumbers to production managers, engineers to electricians, and technicians to welders. 

Earlier this week, the government announced a historic Clean Energy Jobs Plan that will deliver over 400,000 new jobs in clean energy industries between now and 2030, 40,000 of which will be in the East of England.  

Our plans will make sure clean energy jobs are always good jobs, by ensuring companies receiving public grants and contracts must create jobs with decent pay, access to trade unions and strong rights at work. 

We will work in partnership with industry and trade unions to help workers in all parts of the country benefit, supporting our existing workforce find new opportunities, and training up the next generation by setting up five new clean energy Technical Excellence Colleges. 

Earlier this year, I was delighted to welcome the Prime Minister to Ipswich as he gave green light to Sizewell C, ending years of dithering and delay, and turbocharging the project with £14.2bn in government investment. 

Sizewell C is a crucial piece of national infrastructure, powering six million homes with consistent and reliable energy, and providing our country with greater energy security. 

For us here in Ipswich and Suffolk, the project is even more vital than that.

Thousands of skilled, secure, well-paid jobs will be created for local people, and huge levels of new investment will flow into our economy, with local businesses helping to deliver one of the country’s first nuclear stations since Sizewell B was completed three decades ago.  It is something to be really proud of. 

Last autumn, I negotiated and signed an agreement with Sizewell C which guarantees at least 500 jobs for our town, alongside the thousands being created for people across our county and our region.

It also expands Suffolk New College’s engineering, welding and fabrication courses, helping young people in our town not just access decent employment during the construction of Sizewell C, but to build a career for life, and access the security, dignity and the opportunity that comes with it.  

It is not right that so many young people have been forced to leave behind the place they grew up in, and the deep connections that come with it, just to find a decent job. 

It is not good enough to simply talk about ambition for young people, without providing them with the opportunities and pathways to meet them. 

I am determined to change all of that, and working with the government, we are investing in a new future for our town and county. I want every talented and dedicated young person growing up in our town to access a Our future are skilled, secure, well-paid job. They deserve nothing less.