Policy trade-offs in delivering and maximising the benefits of CCS: a focus on the economic and labour market challenges

Transitioning the UK economy to meet net zero emission targets could deliver substantial wider economy benefits. However, it will require significant changes across many sectors and, crucially, in the UK labour market. UK Government publications, such as the Prime Ministers Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, highlight the significant potential to create jobs in new or growing sectors such as offshore wind, nuclear and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), with near term opportunities for possibly extended transitory employment gains at infrastructure development stages across the broad and ongoing net zero transition space. However, the impacts of recent labour shortages bring into sharp focus crucial questions around whether workers, with appropriate skills and expertise, will be available in suitable numbers to service both net zero needs and the economic opportunities the transition offers. Here we consider this challenge in the context of CCS, which is broadly identified as a necessary element of our net zero transition mix, and where the UK Government has already initiated early investment and deployment activity.