Local leaders from Belfast to Brighton, Dumfries to Devon and Swansea to Sussex have co-signed a letter calling on the Chancellor to invest £1bn in the maritime sector to kick-start a world-leading maritime decarbonisation programme, creating tens of thousands of new green jobs as part of a green industrial revolution.
The letter – signed by all the UK’s major maritime hubs – comes a day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Party Conference speech in which he set out his blue print for a ‘green industrial revolution’ and to invest £160m in ports and factories to manufacture the next generation of wind turbines.
The letter urges a more ambitious £1bn investment to kick-start a programme to completely decarbonise the maritime sector. Without doing so, the Government will not be able to meet its legally-binding net-zero emissions targets. The investment would help develop zero-emission vessels and green infrastructure to install and service new windfarms announced by the Prime Minister.
The investment would turbo-charge the UK’s maritime decarbonisation programme, creating over 74,000 ‘green collar jobs’ in ex-industrial and coastal towns and cities across the UK which have been hardest hit from the coronavirus pandemic. There is no better way of levelling-up than by backing this sector; hardwired into the DNA of our island nation.
Given that the lifespan of many vessels is around twenty years, zero-emission vessels will need to be in the water by the end of this decade, and the solutions are not yet viable. The funding would be spent on research and development and green infrastructure.
The maritime sector is predicted to be worth $3trn globally by 2030. But without investment now the UK’s share of the global market will shrink as other maritime nations – in Scandinavia and the Far East – continue to move ahead. The sector has burnt through vast sums of cash keeping Britain supplied with fuel, food and medicine as passenger volumes have shrunk through the COVID-19 crisis meaning Government support is critical.
Ben Murray, Director of Maritime UK, said:
“That this letter has been signed by mayors and council leaders from across the United Kingdom demonstrates the unique role that maritime plays across the whole country. Our Spending Review bid would create 74,000 well-paid, high-quality green collar jobs. And such is the nature of maritime, the vast majority of these would be in coastal towns and cities across the UK. There are very few sectors that can match maritime for its ability to level-up these communities.
“The maritime sector supports the PM’s pledge to invest £160m into ports and factories to manufacture the next generation of wind turbines. But we want the Government to go further. The sector has been calling for £1bn of investment in the planned Spending Review to kickstart the green investment needed to decarbonise the maritime sector entirely. Without doing so, the UK cannot reach its net-zero commitments.
“The reality is that businesses have burnt through their cash reserves keeping Britain supplied with fuel, food and medicine throughout the COVID crisis. They simply don’t have the capital to invest in green technology and infrastructure on their own. As these Mayors and Council Leaders have shown, backing maritime does more than simply support a single sector: it will help transform the fortunes of coastal towns and cities around the United Kingdom. It is therefore absolutely critical the sector gets the Government investment it requires, and now.”Maritime_UK_-_Coastal_Leaders_Letter_to_Chancellor_071020_2
Full list of signatories:
Harry Theochari
Chair, Maritime UK
Councillor Douglas Lumsden and Councillor Jenny Laing
Co-Leaders, Aberdeen City Council
 
Councillor Trevor Cummings
Mayor, Ards and North Down Borough Council
 
Councillor Robin Currie
Leader, Argyll and Bute Council
 
Councillor Dr James Walsh
Leader, Arun District Council
Councillor Vikki Slade
Leader, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
 
Alderman Frank McCoubrey
Lord Mayor of Belfast
 
Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty
Leader, Brighton and Hove City Council
Councillor Emlyn Dole
Leader, Carmarthenshire County Council
 
Councillor Sam Rowlands
Leader, Conwy County Borough Council
Councillor Julian German
Leader, Cornwall Council
Councillor Stewart Young
Leader, Cumbria County Council
 
Councillor John Hart
Leader, Devon County Council
Councillor Elaine Murray
Leader, Dumfries and Galloway Council
Councillor John Alexander
Leader, Dundee City Council
Councillor Simon Henig
Leader, Durham County Council
 
Councillor Tony Buchanan
Leader, East Renfrewshire Council
Councillor Seán D T Woodward
Executive Leader, Fareham Borough Council
Councillor Altany Craik
Convener – Economy, Tourism, Strategic Planning & Transportation Committee, Fife Council
Councillor Keith Mans
Leader, Hampshire County Council
Councillor Margaret Davidson
Leader, The Highland Council
Councillor Stephen Brady
Leader, Hull City Council
Councillor Stephen McCabe
Leader, Inverclyde Council
 
Mayor Steve Rotheram
Mayor, Liverpool City Region
 
Councillor Mark Pritchard
Chair of the Mersey Dee Alliance and Leader of Wrexham County Borough Council
 
Mayor Councillor Peter Johnston
Mayor, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
Councillor Nick Forbes
Leader, Newcastle City Council
Councillor David Worden
Leader, North Devon Council
Councillor Philip Jackson
Leader, North East Lincolnshire Council
Councillor Sarah Bütikofer
Leader, North Norfolk District Council
Mayor Jamie Driscoll
Mayor, North of Tyne Combined Authority
Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE
Mayor, North Tyneside
Councillor Peter Jackson
Leader, Northumberland County Council
Councillor James Stockan
Leader, Orkney Islands Council
Councillor Murray Lyle
Leader, Perth & Kinross Council
Councillor Tudor Evans
Leader, Plymouth City Council
Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson
Leader, Portsmouth City Council
Councillor Steven Coutts
Leader, Shetland Islands Council
Councillor Christopher Hammond
Leader, Southampton City Council
Councillor Iain Malcolm
Leader, South Tyneside Council
Councillor Rob Stewart
Leader, City and County of Swansea Council
 
Councillor Gordon Hook
Leader, Teignbridge District Council
 
Councillor Rick Everitt
Leader, Thanet District Council
 
Mayor Tim Bowles
Mayor, West of England Combined Authority
 
Councillor Paul Marshall
Leader, West Sussex County Council
Councillor Pat Hackett
Leader, Wirral Council
Councillor Llinos Medi
Leader, Ynys Môn Council