CALLS have been made to bring a global green exports and investment expo to the North-East as part of the Government’s drive to hit its net zero targets.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng and Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, have been told that the Tees Valley would be the ‘perfect place for the inaugural event’ in September 2022 to support levelling up.

Net Zero Teesside is developing the world’s first industrial scale Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage facility on the Teesworks site. Led by BP, the ground-breaking project will create over 5,000 jobs and remove 10million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, the equivalent to the annual energy use of over 3 million homes.

As well as removing a huge amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere the scheme will safeguard thousands of jobs in the regions chemicals and processing sectors, sectors that are essential to the UK’s wider manufacturing industry.

In a letter to the ministers, Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said “I would suggest that the conference could happen in September 2022, keeping the momentum going on the government’s interlinked levelling up and green agendas. I believe that we can make this a really great and productive event, not just for my region but for the UK and its government, showing the government’s continued focus on its key policy aims whilst paving the way for the major investments that we want to see.”

He added: “From carbon capture, utilisation and storage, to offshore wind and developing hydrogen as a fuel source, Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool are already at the forefront of the governments mission to cut emissions.

“But if we are to meet the ambitious target set by the government for the UK to be a net zero nation by 2050, we must roll out more ground-breaking technologies even faster, and we cannot to this without investment.

“Every day I see a range of projects and ideas in businesses and research centres across Teesside that could play a hugely important role in meeting our emissions reduction and climate change targets, they just need exposure and investment to take them to the next level. Bringing a global green investment expo to Teesside would do just that. This means more local jobs and more cutting-edge technology exported from Global Britain around the world.”