Boris Johnson has launched a lobbying offensive to persuade big business to spend more than £40billion on green projects over the next decade, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The Prime Minister and Business Secretary Alok Sharma held a private meeting with more than 20 powerful British and multinational corporations just hours after the Government published its ‘green industrial strategy’ last Wednesday. Sources said the meeting was called to drum up billions of pounds of private sector investment in solar, wind, hydrogen power and nuclear projects. Firms on the conference call included FTSE giants BP, Airbus, National Grid, Unilever, Scottish Power and Severn Trent. French energy group EDF – which has committed to spending billions on wind, nuclear and solar over the next 50 years and is waiting for Ministers to greenlight its Sizewell C reactor in Suffolk – was also at the virtual roundtable. Also present were City investment giants BlackRock, Macquarie and Legal & General – a sign the Government wants pension funds to help fund its ten-point plan for a greener economy.
Mail on Sunday 23rd Nov 2020 read more »