Searching for growth in the Net Zero economy

2021 was undoubtedly a good year for the green economy. But what does the broader historical view show us? No wonder greens love lockdowns...

In the previous post here, I looked at two data points on charts showing that environmental taxes had fallen, and that the ‘green economy’ appeared to have experienced a boom. But it turned out that weakening green tax receipts were the consequence of lockdowns — revenue from environmental taxes is still a larger sum than the green sector’s annual turnover. And the appearance of growth may have been driven not by the green economy’s own growth, but by policies and by rising energy prices. That latter hypothesis has yet to be proven conclusively, and in this shorter article, I shall examine some more evidence that may help us get to the bottom of the question mark over ‘green growth’. Where is it?

The data we have been looking at is the ONS’s Low carbon and renewable energy economy estimates (LCREE). There are 17 sub-sectors in LCREE. Their growth 2020-21 is shown in the table below.

But, of course, one year’s growth does not give a perspective. And the economic years 2020 and 2021 were extremely turbulent. What do all these sectors’ turnover look like when the entire LCREE series is examined?