Miliband: UK private firms pledge £100bn in green
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- Ed Miliband announced private sector firms have pledged more than £100bn in clean energy investment so far this parliament, with offshore wind, solar and the electricity grid making up the bulk of the planned 2024–2031 investment from UK, EU and Japanese sources.
- Miliband is tipped as a possible chancellor to succeed Rachel Reeves, who may follow Keir Starmer in stepping down; net zero targets he championed have been cited as a reason for government unpopularity.
- Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said Miliband would be a 'noose around the neck' of job creation if he became chancellor in an Andy Burnham-led government, reflecting trade union skepticism of green policy.
- Starmer's former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney and other core advisers were cool on net zero and forced a halving of a planned £28bn public sector investment in low-carbon plans.
- Likely successor Andy Burnham, once a champion of offshore wind and renewables, has tempered his tone and said he is 'open-minded' on expanding North Sea oil and gas drilling.
- Bob Ward of the Grantham Research Institute said the £100bn figures 'demonstrate the potential scale of green investment' and that 'private investment is mobilised by clear and consistent policies, and a firm political commitment.'
- E3G's Ed Matthew countered critics by noting fossil fuels have cost Britain £183bn since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and called clean energy 'the growth engine of the economy.'
- Specific investments include nearly £14bn in Scotland, £7.5bn from Japan's Sumitomo, £40bn from National Grid for upgrades, and £1.7bn in social housing retrofitting from Barclays, NatWest, Lloyds and Rothesay.
Why it matters: The £100bn figure gives Miliband hard data to counter critics who blame net zero for economic drag, but the announcement lands as Starmer's own team has already halved public low-carbon investment from £28bn and potential successor Burnham has cooled on green policy — meaning the next PM's stance on the £100bn pipeline is far from settled and the political battle over net zero is moving into the leadership race itself.
