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The Commission for Carbon Competitiveness

The campaign to save British industry

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The Commission for Carbon Competitiveness was founded in February 2023 as a cross-party and cross-industry effort to explore how the United Kingdom can reach net zero without undermining the competitiveness of British industry.

We all agree that countries need to reduce their carbon emissions. But if UK manufacturers are bearing high carbon costs that international competitors do not, then we are not competing on a level playing field and risk seeing economic activity moving overseas.

If that happens,  decarbonisation will become deindustrialisation, with job losses and industrial decline here, as investments and profits move offshore, potentially leading to increases in global emissions

This is called carbon leakage and is a risk we believe Britain must avoid.

We passionately believe that with the right policies, the factories, foundries and furnaces that form the backbone of our manufacturing sector can thrive as part of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

In August 2023, we published our first report, Fixing the Carbon Leak, which includes 12 core recommendations which if adopted will ensure that growth in manufacturing and delivering net zero are complementary not contradictory.

This means introducing a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), that will create a level playing field on imports and exports between the UK and our international competitors.

We welcomed the commitment by the previous Government to the introduction of a CBAM, and we were particularly pleased to see this had cross-party support. But more needs to be done.

Whilst the current CBAM proposals apply to a number of sectors, they fail to address the carbon leakage risk to other foundational sectors, with no clear pathway to their rapid inclusion.

Alongside the decision to only partially cover Britain’s energy-intensive industries, the discrepancy of timescales for introducing the changes alongside the EU’s own CBAM creates significant exposure for a number of sectors.

Current plans for a CBAM are also silent about the risk of carbon leakage in the export market as well as imports.

We are urging policymakers to bring forward a CBAM that can help deliver net zero without deindustrialising our economy, make UK exports more globally competitive, cut fuel duty and green levies, create high-skilled jobs and boost economic growth.

There is no time to lose: join our campaign to save British industry today by signing the Carbon Competitiveness Charter.

The Carbon Competitiveness Charter

We support the Commission for Carbon Competitiveness’s recommendations to enable British manufacturers to reach net zero and support British jobs and industrial communities.

We believe that:

  • The UK’s manufacturing industries are vital to its economy, communities and social fabric.
  • We can reach net zero without undermining the competitiveness of British industry, but only by ensuring our manufacturing industries compete on a level playing field with those around the world.
  • Not mitigating the risk of carbon leakage risks delivering decarbonisation by deindustrialisation.
  • The UK needs to introduce a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, tailored to our specific industrial needs, to stop carbon leakage.

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Signatories

Political

Sir Gavin Williamson MP

Former Secretary of State for Defence and Conservative MP for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge

John Penrose

Former Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare

Jo Gideon

Former Conservative MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central

Stephen Kinnock MP

Labour MP for Aberafan Maesteg and Minister for Health and Social Care

Simon Fell

Former Conservative MP for Barrow and Furness

Stephen Crabb

Former Secretary of State for Wales and former Conservative MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth

Former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Conservative Peer

George Eustice

Former Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and former Conservative MP for Redruth and Camborne

Chris McDonald MP

Labour MP for Stockton North

Joyce Watson MS

Labour MS for Mid & West Wales and Member of the Senedd Climate Change, Environment and Infrastructure Committee

Huw Irranca-Davies MS

Labour MS for Ogmore and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs

Martin Vickers MP

Conservative MP for Brigg and Immingham

Alun Cairns

Former Secretary of State for Wales and former Conservative MP for Vale of Glamorgan

Samuel Kurtz MS

Conservative MS for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire and Shadow Minister for Economy and Energy

Paul Davies MS

Conservative MS for Preseli Pembrokeshire and Shadow Minister for West Wales

Baroness Randerson

Liberal Democrat Peer and Spokesperson for Transport

Earl Russell

Liberal Democrat Peer and Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change

Sir Desmond Swayne MP

Former International Development Minister and Conservative MP for New Forest West

Craig Tracey

Former Conservative MP for North Warwickshire

Henry Tufnell MP

Labour MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire

Melanie Onn MP

Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes

Nick Timothy MP

Conservative MP for West Suffolk

Industry

Energy Intensive Users Group

Umbrella organisation representing the interests of energy intensive industrial consumers

UK Steel

Trade association for steel industry

Chemical Industries Association

Trade association representing chemical and pharmaceutical sectors

British Glass

Trade association for the glass industry

CEMEX

Global building materials company

Community Trade Union

Trade union representing workers across the economy

The Centre for Policy Studies

Independent think tank

Fuels Industry UK

Trade association representing the downstream oil sector

Tata Steel

Major steel producer

British Steel

Major steel producer

Liberty Steel UK

Major steel producer

Net Zero Industry Wales

Not-for-profit body promoting the decarbonisation of Welsh industry

Mineral Products Association

Trade association representing the mineral products sector

United Cast Bar

Manufacturer of continuous cast iron bar products

Valero

Oil refiner and fuel manufacturer

Kiveton Park Steel

Manufacturer of precision steel components

EET Fuels

Oil refiner and fuel manufacturer

GMB Union

Trade union representing workers across various sectors and industries