Boris Johnson’s virtual speech at the Conservative Party Conference laid out the vision of a green COVID recovery, repeating and expanding on manifesto pledges and his UN summit address.

In a keynote speech that covered several aspects of the current social and political realities, he highlighted the use of green technology to drive the economic recovery. the “green industrial revolution” as Johnson described it, will be accelerated by £160m invested in ports and factories to manufacture the next generation of turbines with a target rising output from 30GW to 40GW.

Repeating his idea that the UK could be the “Saudi Arabia” of wind, he predicted that such investment will help to create 60,000 jobs within high-skilled, green-collar areas in wind, solar, nuclear, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage and retrofitting homes. He spoke of offshore wind generating enough power for every home in the UK within a decade.

True to Conservative ideals he stated that, “we must be clear that there comes a moment when the state must stand back and let the private sector get on with it”. However, the speech comes after promises on biodiversity at the UN, with a pledge to protect 30 per cent of UK land for nature, and appears to be part of a concerted effort to create a raft of green policies. The Government will also be announcing its full ten-point plan for a "green industrial revolution" with the details later this year.

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