A Brief History of Labour's '400,000 Green Jobs' Scam

Based on dubious Left-wing economics, these jobs – first promised in 2009 – will never appear

“We are determined to fix the youth unemployment crisis and restore opportunity across the country,” explained Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Miatta Fahnbulleh, after her appearance on BBC Breakfast on Monday. She had been invited to the show to talk about the plight of North Sea oil and gas, and in particular to explain how the Government was going to navigate between its goal of ‘pragmatism’ versus the views of her predecessor, Ed Miliband, who before returning to government called the plans to develop Rosebank and Jackdaw fields “climate vandalism”. Perhaps to distract from the controversy and the Government’s lack of clarity, Fahnbulleh, on the show and then on X, talked past the sale. “We’re creating 400,000 extra clean energy jobs by 2030 and working with companies like @nationalgriduk to help young people seize these opportunities,” she tweeted.

The figure of “400,000” has been Labour’s shiny bauble of distraction for a long time. But the promise of green jobs and green opportunities in general have for just as long belied the reality of deindustrialisation, economic torpor and what some have called the ‘enshittification’ of the ‘Yookay’. The tactic is obvious: most people aren’t particularly moved by abstract climate goals such as emissions-reduction targets. But everyone wants young people to have good jobs to look forward to. You might think climate policies are BS, but are you going to argue against jobs for young people? Since Fahnbulleh is new to her position, perhaps she needs a refresher on the promises that were made.

Let’s think about how much good is being done for young people by the green agenda. Someone born on the eve of the 2008 Climate Change Act being made law would now be approaching their 18th birthday. That legislation required policies that would lower emissions by 80% on 1990 levels by 2050, when our climate legislation baby would be 42. Back in the late 2000s, jobs were becoming a major concern in the wake of the financial crash. The unemployment rate rose from a low of 4.8% in 2005 to 7.6% by 2009. But things were much worse for young people (16 to 24). From an unemployment rate of 12.3% in 2004, rates for the younger cohort sailed through 19.2% in 2009, through to 21.4% in 2011. That rate dropped through the years before the lockdowns, to 11.4%, has been rising since 2022, and now stands at 16.4%.

Before the hypothetical child approached his or her first birthday in 2009, the Guardian reported that a ‘New green strategy could create 400,000 jobs‘. A “low carbon summit” was convened in London, at which then-secretary of state for energy and climate change Ed Miliband stated Britain’s position in “a global race towards creating a low-carbon economy”. His boss Gordon Brown would call for a “global green new deal”. As the child began his or her 18th month, the Brown government’s final days drew near, and the Party set out its position in its manifesto for the 2010 General Election. 400,000 new green jobs would be created by 2015, it promised, again.