The UK has announced a global agreement to make green technologies cheaper and more accessible around the world, while also creating green jobs for generations both at home and abroad, Grant Shapps said.

Speaking at the COP27 negotiations in Egypt, the Business Secretary announced over £65 million investment to help speed up the development of new green technologies – backed by the talent and expertise of British business.

This builds on the legacy of COP26 in Glasgow, where the UK founded a coalition of countries to scale and speed up the development and deployment of clean technologies and drive down costs this decade, known as the Breakthrough Agenda.

Mr Shapps said it will be the efforts of entrepreneurs, innovators and the international community that will help cut global emissions in the coming decade and achieve net zero by 2050 – something today’s investments will help achieve.

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These measures will help expand a whole global market in clean energy technologies, making them accessible and affordable to developing countries - and enabling UK companies to share their talent and expertise in this vital and growing industry.

MR Shapps said: "Green means growth, and with our existing talents in clean technologies, UK businesses could be world leaders in an industry that will only expand, creating jobs for generations to come while also protecting our precious planet.

"At COP27 we are leading international efforts to ensure these new innovations can be more accessible and affordable to heavy, energy-intensive industries in some of the world’s poorest countries.

"These agreements are a key part of us achieving our net zero targets and our global efforts to cut emissions – but I am also proud that they will mean more countries will benefit from the knowledge and expertise we have nurtured here on UK shores."

The UK is already a world leader in the latest green technologies, ranging from the development of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, to the manufacture of electric vehicles.