SIGN THE OPEN LETTER: A DECLARATION ON YOUNG PEOPLE, CLIMATE AND JOBS
To the candidates for West of England Combined Authority Metro Mayor 2021:
The UK is experiencing a youth unemployment emergency. People aged between 16 and 24 have suffered enormous job losses during the pandemic. Over 7,000 young people in this age group are out of work in the West of England. As well as damaging young peoples’ wellbeing, being out of a job for just one year leads to economic “scarring” - loss of earnings that may persist for decades. If all currently unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds stayed out of work for 1 year it could lead to up to half a billion pounds in lost income across the West of England Combined Authority area. At the same time, there is a yawning gap in the skills needed to transform the West of England’s homes, businesses and transport to meet our zero carbon ambitions. The West of England Combined Authority and each of the councils in the area have all set a goal of reaching net carbon zero by 2030. That means no more gas boilers or petrol and diesel vehicles, and every home insulated to the highest standards of energy saving within a decade. We can’t hope to achieve change on this scale without thousands of people trained in new skills and technologies.
We believe therefore that one of the first vital steps on our zero-carbon journey also offers a way out of the crisis of youth employment. We need to see a large-scale and comprehensive programme of training and apprenticeships to get young people into good jobs in the low carbon sectors of the economy and to accelerate and support a just transition to low carbon in other sectors.
This goal can be achieved only with a truly integrated approach where all the elements are in place. These include:
- Local government’s leadership in developing a common vision, plans and stimulus (e.g., through funding and/or regulation) as well as engaging all local stakeholders;
- Business support so that employers and traders can provide apprenticeships and skills development;
- Putting regional organisations at the heart of the zero carbon transition to deliver change in the most effective and timely way, and to maximise co-benefits including to the regional economy;
- Close collaboration with all stakeholders including trades unions, education and skills bodies, businesses, youth, community and environmental organisations to develop ambitious green transformation policies;
- Ensuring that the carbon net zero ambition is a key factor in all spending and investment decisions in the Combined Authority area ;
- Strategic planning and housing policies that mandate the highest standards of energy efficiency and incentivise low-carbon travel;
- Introducing stronger measures to promote diversity amongst apprentices and other workers delivering the zero carbon transition.
We believe that the new Metro Mayor will be uniquely well placed to realise such an ambitious programme. Using budgets, strategic planning and borrowing powers that they control directly, and the influence that they wield, the new Mayor can respond to the urgent needs to rebuild from the pandemic and to tackle climate breakdown through a comprehensive green skills and employment programme.
We call on all Metro Mayor candidates to commit to making this a priority in their term of office. An immediate first step would be to meet key stakeholders, including signatories to this statement, to get planning and practical actions underway.
SIGNATORIES:
Friends of the Earth
Southwest Trade Union Congress
Business West
Unite The Union (Southwest Region)
Public & Commercial Services Union (Southwest Region)
Triodos Bank
Bristol Green Capital Partnership
Bath and North East Somerset Third Sector Group
Teach The Future
Bristol Energy Network
EnergyREV
Green New Deal UK Bristol Hub
Families Acting on the Climate Emergency
Bristol Clean Air Alliance
Hazael Homes Ltd.
Scoop Wholefoods Ltd.
Midsomer Norton Radstock Area Zero Waste Group
House of Imagination
Changemakers UK
Pockocks Assets Ltd
Schools Climate Network
Foorpath Press
City To Sea
Bristol Clean Air Alliance
Moving Bristol Forward
And individual citizens across the West of England.
