Embrace green industries, says council leader

Regeneration bosses have been warned it would be a "dereliction of their duty" not to embrace the growing green innovation industry in the West Midlands.

City of Wolverhampton Council leader Stephen Simkins said that climate change deniers may have their views, but sectors like car manufacturing and aeronautics had already embraced green technology.

He was addressing members of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board as it approved a new Climate Change Five Year Plan as part of its aim of being carbon neutral by 2041.

It said the plan would focus on six areas including energy infrastructure planning, advising residents and businesses to try new products and jobs and supply chains.

"Whether you are a climate change denier or not, you need to look at the industry," Simkins said.

"The industry has already moved into that space so the investment is coming through there, JLR and all the other major car companies across the globe are moving into electric vehicles.

"It would be a dereliction of our duty not to provide skills for the West Midlands to actually take advantage of this new industry coming forward."

In Wolverhampton, the Green Innovation Corridor is being developed with the aim of attracting hundreds of millions in investment and creating more than 1,000 new jobs around green construction, engineering, and digital technologies.

It will connect the University of Wolverhampton's Springfield campus, Science Park, and the i54 advanced manufacturing business park.

Throwing his support behind the climate plan, Simkins said: "We've got the Green Innovation Corridor that's going to come to us very quickly so we can take advantage of that to give people the jobs and skills for the future.

"Also, to look at solutions. Is there a green solution for potholes? Is there some new materials we could use? So, let's not be negative about the opportunities that present themselves.

"You're entitled to your beliefs, if you want to believe that climate change is made up or whatever but it would be a dereliction of our duty not to provide the skills and jobs and opportunities for the future."

Two public consultations have been organised during the plan's design, alongside workshops with local authority officers and others to shape the "strategic principles and detailed actions" within it.

A report to councillors on the authority conceded that some of the ideas in the plan are not yet funded, especially after the first two years.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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