Tougher efficiency measures through 2030 could cut the United Kingdom’s energy consumption by 40%, boost its GDP by £62 billion, and create 40,000 new jobs, according to unpublished figures from the European Union.
The study, conducted by Cambridge Econometrics, was obtained by the World Wildlife Fund under an access to information request. “The benefits of energy efficiency are impressive, and we need to be ambitious,” said Brook Riley of Friends of the Earth. “GDP gains are three times higher with a 40% reduction target than with 30%. It is significant that the countries which were hardest hit by the financial crisis—Greece, Portugal, Ireland—are among the strongest advocates of going as far as we can.”
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Last month, Jeff Spross of Climate Progress reported on another Cambridge study that pointed to the economic gains the UK could achieve by cutting its greenhouse gas emissions.
