Potential for 70,000 jobs through home insulation programme
June 29, 2009
The possibility of 70,000 jobs being created by a home insulation programme to cut CO2 emissions shows that the need for more energy efficient homes is "zooming up the political agenda", the Unite union said this week.
It welcomed independent research released by Friends of the Earth (FoE) this week, which demonstrated that these jobs could be created in England and Wales if local councils slashed climate-changing emissions by insulating homes and businesses and fitting green energy to buildings.
Gail Cartmail, Unite Assistant General Secretary for the Public Sector, said: "The research is ticking a number of key boxes - concern for the environment; the need for practical action to make homes and other buildings energy efficient; tackling fuel poverty; and the generation of some 70,000 badly needed skilled jobs."
A similar scheme in Germany, she pointed out, saved 200,000 construction jobs.
The FoE announcement followed close on the launch by Unite of its five-point action plan, Meeting Housing Need: Building Britain Out of Recession, which called for a social housing building programme to be kick-started to save jobs and to help the 4.5 million people on waiting lists.
A key Unite demand was for investment in a retro-fit programme for existing homes to improve energy efficiency. It highlighted the seven million homes that require solid wall insulation and said that this work could generate a further 25,000 jobs and greatly contribute to the Government's environmental targets.
Print this page