Green and growth policies have the potential to add £20 billion to the UK’s GDP by 2015.

That’s according to a new CBI report, ‘The colour of growth: maximising the potential of green business’, which suggests that politicians need to adopt a smarter, more consistent approach to energy and climate change policy, freshbusinessthinking.com reports.

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Global front-runner

The UK has the ability to become a ‘global front-runner’ in low carbon products and energy efficient services, the CBI claims, which could be adding an extra £20 billion to annual GDP by 2015.

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Solar panelling, wall cladding and other energy-efficient services are proving to be key components in the UK’s efforts to become a global efficiency leader. The Green Deal, which offers installation of green services at no upfront cost, could be especially pertinent.

Green business will be a major pillar of our future growth

John Cridland, CBI director-general, commented on the report on bdaily.co.uk:

“The so-called “choice” between going green or going for growth is a false one. We are increasingly hearing that politicians are for one or the other, when in reality, with the right policies in place, green business will be a major pillar of our future growth.”

“With something like a third of all our growth accounted for by green business last year, the UK could be a global front-runner in the shift to low-carbon. In the search for growth, we’re digging for goldmines – and one of them is green.”