Low-carbon future requires 'industrial activism'

UK Business Secretary Peter Mandelson is calling on firms to demonstrate a “new industrial activism” to help Britain achieve low-carbon competitiveness.

In a speech at the Cumbria Economic Forum last week, Mandelson addressed the need to not only stabilise the economy but to have Britain “fight back” to create a new type of economic future.

“We’re on the edge of a new low-carbon industrial revolution,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re making industrial composites. Or running a small business in Keswick and keeping an eye on your energy costs. Or managing venture capital or carbon trading in the City of London. The shift to low-carbon technologies and production will transform how we live and work.”

Mandelson pointed out that the UK government will begin setting its vision for how to achieve a more sustainable future at the Low Carbon Summit in London in the first week of March.

“We need a strategic lead and vision from government that commits this country to change and in doing so sets the right frameworks for the private sector and uses public investment strategically,” he said. “This is a prime example of the ‘new industrial activism’ that I am advocating in my new job.”