UP TO 660,000 jobs could be at risk if Britain fails to transition to net zero as fast as other nations, the TUC warned today.

The union confederation said work could disappear offshore to countries that offer superior green infrastructure and greater support for decarbonising industry if Tory ministers fail to act.

The TUC, which opened its virtual 2021 Congress today, said that 259,700 jobs were at direct risk in manufacturing, with a further 407,100 in supply chains under threat.

Workers and their families in the country’s industrial heartlands will be hit hardest, with England’s north-west set to lose 39,100 positions compared with London’s 8,100, the TUC warned. 

The analysis is based on data from the Office for National Statistics and Catapult Energy Systems, funded by the government’s innovation agency.

Jobs in British steel are in particular danger because manufacturing is currently dependent on burning coal for the high temperatures required to produce quality steel, the TUC said. 

However, new technologies are now being developed abroad that allow production without coal. Many of the projects — including that of Swedish firm Hybrit, which makes “green steel” produced with hydrogen extracted from water — are backed by taxpayer cash via government grants or direct public stakes.

Workers at the Port Talbot steelworks in Wales warn they need government support to protect their jobs and transition to greener production, but Britain is second-last among G7 economies for its investment in green jobs, TUC research shows.

It has called for £85 billion of investment to create 1.24 million green jobs and help Britain catch up. 

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “The world is moving very clearly in one direction: away from carbon and toward net zero. [We] must keep up with the pace of change.

“There’s still time to protect vital jobs in manufacturing and its supply chains. But the clock is ticking.

“Unless the government urgently scales up investment in green tech and industry, we risk losing hundreds of thousands of decent jobs to competitor nations.

“If we move quickly, then today’s workers will know that their jobs are safe, and the future can be bright with decent jobs for their children too.”

Parliamentary reporter @TrinderMatt