THE Tories have put Britain into “reverse gear” in the global race for green growth, squandering the opportunity to add 2.4 per cent to GDP and create 1.6 million jobs by 2030, a think tank has warned.

Lacking a green industrial strategy, its commitment to invest in the net-zero economy is “inadequate” and among the lowest in the G7, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said.

Collaboration between public research, strategic investment and industry co-ordination seen in other nations is also “glaringly absent,” it found.

IPPR associate director Luke Murphy said: “While other nations are forging ahead in the global green race, the UK is moving into reverse gear.

“Every further day of inaction is costing us valuable jobs, technological advancements, and a sustainable future.”

IPPR senior research fellow Josh Emden added: “With a green industrial strategy and robust public investment, the UK can not only catch up but lead the green economic frontier.” 

Last month saw Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weaken a host of pledges designed to help the UK achieve a net-zero economy by 2050.

The government has recently signed a controversial £500 million rescue package with Tata Steel to help replace its blast furnaces to facilitate greener steel production at Port Talbot.

The deal was described as “devastating” for jobs and workers by the GMB union, with Unite warning that “decarbonisation on the cheap” will cost thousands of steel industry job losses.

Today Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The government’s failure to introduce an industrial strategy that provides a just transition for workers while achieving net zero is on clear display at Port Talbot.

“That’s why Unite is campaigning to ensure that politicians of all stripes cannot wriggle free from the critical action needed to save the steel industry.”

Ami McCarthy, political campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “Rowing back on climate policies just at the time we should be speeding them up will hit our economy hard, leaving us trailing behind other countries on the green economy, undermining investor confidence for growth in key industries like renewables, clean heat and electric vehicles.”

But a spokeswoman for Just Stop Oil said growth “green or otherwise, in these circumstances is laughable.

“We need emergency measures, a wartime footing, to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.”

A government spokesman claimed the IPPR report “ignores the fact we are already over-delivering on our targets and cutting emissions faster than any other G7 country.”