Midland manufacturers urge UK to host Climate Technology Centre
MANUFACTURERS in the Midlands have urged the government to bid to host the United Nation’s Climate Technology Centre or risk the UK missing out on the chance to lead the low carbon revolution.
The Climate Technology Centre is being set up to help deploy low carbon technologies to developing countries and follows the UN climate talks in Durban late last year.
Making the call in a post-Durban report published today, EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation said the government’s ambition to become a market leader in the low carbon economy was beginning to lose pace. It said while the UK is strong in areas such as marine, waste and wind energy technology, countries like South Korea are much more focused on stimulating low-carbon innovation.
The organisation said that by hosting the centre, the UK government would signal to the world that the UK was a leader in the low-carbon economy.
Brazil, Germany and the United States have already signalled their intention to bid for the centre ahead of a deadline on March 13.
Richard Halstead, EEF Midlands region director, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the UK to become a global hub of expertise on the deployment of technologies that can help decarbonise electricity supplies and adapt to a low-carbon world.
“Developing new technologies must be at the forefront of the global response to climate change and UK manufacturers can play a major role in bringing them forward. This new centre will be instrumental in leading the transfer of technologies from the developed to the developing world and we must be at the heart of this.”
As well as bidding for the Climate Technology Centre, the report calls on government to set out its strategy for developing the technologies required to meet long-term emission reduction targets. A key priority is to reduce the barriers to innovation, helping manufacturers to commercialise more quickly cost-effective technological solutions to climate change.
