The UK net-zero economy is already a "significant driver of growth, innovation and productivity" and will be vital for the Government's economic growth plans, according to a report, writes David Connett.

Green industries grew 10 per cent in the past year, adding £83bn to the UK economy, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit think-tank concluded.

It found that businesses in the UK net-zero sector - which ranges from renewable energy, electric vehicles, low carbon heating, and recycling - are already supporting the equivalent of 951,000 full-time jobs.

It also concludes it is a vital driver of growth in some of the UK's key unemployment hotspots in regions beyond London and the South East.

In Scotland alone, the sector added £9.1bn to the economy and supporting around 3.8 per cent of its jobs.

It found that jobs in green industries are typically better paid than the UK average, with employees earning an average of £43,076 a year, compared with £37,430 for full-time employees across the UK as a whole.

It noted the sector has a strong multiplier effect, with every £1 of value generated by the net-zero economy creating an additional £1.89 in the wider economy.

Peter Chalkley, director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: "The Climate Change Act and the UK's resulting relative policy stability have been a foundation for this sustained net-zero growth, but it cannot be taken for granted and political signals matter for investors.

"Nearly a million British livelihoods now depend on the net-zero economy which has at its core thousands of small businesses based all around the UK, insulating homes and manufacturing equipment.

"This net zero workforce has grown whole new British industries like offshore wind, enabling the UK to compete in the global markets' unstoppable shift to cleaner technologies."

The report comes as criticism grows of the efforts to meet a legally binding goal to cut the country's greenhouse gas emissions to zero overall by 2050.

Louise Hellem, chief economist at the Confederation of British Industry, which carried out some of the analysis, said: "It is clear, you can't have growth without green.

"At a time when the cost of doing business has squeezed appetite for capital investments and high energy prices are being cited as a drag factor across the economy, investments in clean technologies can significantly bolster competitiveness and productivity.

"2025 is the year when the rubber really hits the road - where inaction is indisputably costlier than action.

"We are approaching critical points of no return for achieving essential outcomes in energy security and emissions reduction.

"Long-term sustainable growth is unattainable without a future powered by clean, affordable, and secure energy."

UK-wide, there were 22,800 businesses classed as part of the net zero economy by the end of 2024, the majority of which were small and medium-sized businesses, the analysis found.