The UK has been ranked worst out of the top five Western European economies on green spending according to analysis carried out by Greenpeace.
Comparing France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK, Greenpeace used the International Energy Agency’s government energy spending tracker to explore how each had fared on green investment between 2020 and 2023. From this, the UK government was found to spend the least in total and stack up poorly when looking at per capita green energy spending.
For low carbon and efficient transport, the UK was ranked worst for total spending out of each of the five countries. This is despite it being the UK’s worst emitting sector. It was found to have spent $13.1bn in total, compared to Italy’s $47.8bn and Germany’s $38.1bn.
The UK was ranked worst out of all five countries on fuels and technology innovation too, while coming second to last for energy efficient buildings, spending $14.5bn compared to France’s $28.5bn. When homing in on energy efficiency in homes, the UK was ranked second to last once more, spending $11.3bn despite having the worst housing in Europe for energy efficiency.
Ahead of the Budget, Greenpeace UK’s Climate Campaigner, Georgia Whittaker called for a “bold green industrial strategy” to boost a “flailing economy” and help people with the cost of living, while also tackling the climate crisis. Whittaker continued: “Green infrastructure investment, with a focus on renewable energy, insulating our homes and making transport greener would do just that.”
