Green Shame: Britain Is No Longer In The World's Top 10

The UK was once considered to be one of the world-leaders with regards to being completely reliant on non-renewable energy and in 2014 the UK exceeded previous records, generating enough wind energy to power more than 6.7 UK households so it appeared as though the sector was going from strength to strength.

Britain invested heavily in renewable energy between 2010-2015, with over £40bn going towards onshore and offshore wind farms, solar PV and biomass projects. However without the influence of the Liberal Democrats, the now untethered Conservatives look set to deliver on their promises to rapidly cut the amount of money invested in renewable energy sources.

The decision to reduce the amount of money invested in the renewable energy sector has unsurprisingly seen the UK lose its place in the top 10 renewable energy rankings for the first time since its inauguration 12 years ago. This has led to confusion within the industry and the confidence of investors in the sector has diminished substantially since the policy changes were announced over the summer. The UK has since found itself coming in for stinging criticism after it emerged that it had spent more on fossil fuel aid projects than on renewables. This follows on from complaints concerning the UK’s environmental policies from the USA, where Al Gore expressed his confusion as to why the UK would reduce its solar and wind energy subsidies.

The Conservatives’ decision to substantially reduce the amount of money invested in this essential sector is both concerning and bewildering. After having experienced the forward-thinking recycling policies of the northern Italian region of Trentino, it was refreshing to see the majority of the UK develop a deeper awareness of environmental issues and why they are so important.

This shift in thinking has also been highlighted in commercial environments where due to public opinion, a whole host of industries have been falling over themselves to demonstrate their green credentials. This has been particularly evident in industries which were once considered to be sources of high levels of pollution such as the marine engineering industry where the process of oil analysis has become a lot more thorough in recent years.

Despite the efforts of the coalition government to ensure that Britain was considered to be a world leader for green energy, it appears that the Conservatives are more eager than ever to erode all the recognition for our much celebrated strides towards being self-reliant on green energy and for the high level of investment the country has made in the renewable energy sector.