Net Zero Time Frame ‘Unrealistic’ and Green Investments Could Cost 5 Percent of GDP: Report

A former World Bank economist has said that the time frame for the UK’s energy transition to net zero is “unrealistic” and “threatens to be economically and socially unsustainable.” A Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF) paper published on Tuesday said that the UK’s transition to green energy will require “large investments in capital-intensive technologies for producing and consuming non-carbon energy.” Report author Professor Gordon Hughes estimates the cost to be at a minimum of 5 percent of GDP for the next two decades, which might “easily exceed” 7.5 percent. Mr. Hughes, a former World Bank adviser, said in a statement: “There is no chance of borrowing an additional 5% or more of GDP annually for two decades to finance the energy transition. The only viable way of financing the UK’s energy transition is a drastic reduction in consumption to free up resources for the huge level of new capital investment required....