Research Seminar: 'Net zero as an economic shock in England and Wales – and what this means for future policy interventions'

Achieving net zero by 2050 is a national process with local and regional implications. Its impacts on people’s work and livelihoods will be complex: personal circumstances, geographic location, and the sectors affected all create different opportunities, risks and needs for individuals and their families navigating economic change. In this presentation, I reflect on efforts to develop a net zero vulnerability index to identify key sites that are not only vulnerable to net zero as an economic shock but require support to boost local resilience. In doing so, it highlights the importance of economic histories, skills bases, and devolution in future green industrial policies: highlighting old industrial towns, coastal communities, and areas beyond recognised green industrial clusters as requiring further exploration and study. I then move to discuss how proactive policies are needed to diversify local economies, boost ‘green skills’, and ensure future resilience: reflecting on both my time working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and emergent projects in Bristol and the broader south-west region.

Speaker

Ed Atkins

Ed Atkins is an Associate Professor in Political Geography at the University of Bristol. His work moves in two ways. First, he explores the green backlash to understand how right-wing populist movements are seeking to slow decarbonisation and climate action. Second, he works with communities and policymakers to ensure that energy transitions and inclusive and just. This work currently focuses on climate action as a process of economic restructuring, affecting work and workers across industries and geographies in the UK. His book A Just Energy Transition: Getting Decarbonisation Right in a Time of Crisis was published in 2023.