Facts behind the UK’s ‘green’ recovery | Letter

Our investment in the transport and energy sectors falls far short of our neighbours', write Dr Robin Russell-Jones and Dave Faulkner - and we are supporting airlines with no requirements to improve fuel efficiency

The investments made by the UK government in the transport and energy sectors as a result of the pandemic can usefully be compared with France and Germany using data from energypolicytracker.org (The Guardian view on the green recovery: Britain is being left behind, 28 July).

Overall subsidies are 11bn in the UK, 38.1bn in France, and 44.6bn in Germany, which includes their 9bn hydrogen strategy. All three countries are supporting airlines, but in the UK there is no requirement to improve fuel efficiency. The total investment in green" energy and transport is 8.5bn in the UK, 19.1bn in France and 21.5bn in Germany. So the UK contribution is smaller and only 25% is targeted, compared with 97% in France and 92% in Germany.