The Government should increase annual public investment by £26bn to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, as well as improving productivity and economic growth a report by Professor Lord Nicholas Stern and experts at the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Cambridge have found.

It estimates that the UK needs to increase annual public investment by around one per cent of GDP. By increasing investment, the Government can deliver on the need to tackle climate change and to be economically productive and competitive in the future.

The report, Boosting growth and productivity in the United Kingdom through investments in the sustainable economy, found that a move to a sustainable economy will improve the UK’s public finances: “The direct public finance required to support this transition should not be expected to worsen public debt/GDP dynamics. Indeed, by facilitating long-term resilient growth, borrowing to invest is the only way to secure enduring public debt sustainability.”

It maintains that unsustainable investments will damage the UK economy and outlines risks “creating stranded assets, significant financial losses in polluting and emissions-intensive sectors, and an insecure, unaffordable and unsustainable energy supply.

“In contrast, a sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy would produce significant benefits for productivity growth, driven by innovation and efficiency, which would reduce harmful waste and pollution and support people’s health by planning more liveable cities and by improving access to nature.”

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