Trade Association Update: June 2021

I hope you enjoyed the gloriously sunny half-term. As we race through the year, the progress on the UK’s successful vaccine rollout has been enormously encouraging, the rise of the new delta variant has delivered a stark reminder that we are not out of the woods yet. Cases are rising once again in many parts of the country, giving rise to renewed uncertainty over the final stages of the government’s planned roadmap later this month. Fresh changes to international travel rules highlight how quickly the picture can shift, while reminding us that the UK is not alone in battling to stem further Covid increases.

However, the Seize The Moment launch, G7 summit and the CBI Road to Net Zero Conference keep us focussed on the bigger, longer term picture and the role of business in addressing global and societal challenges.

The UK is uniquely placed to play a leading role in climate change

On climate change the world will be looking to the G7 to signpost the way forward in the run up to COP26. The UK, as host of both events in 2021, is uniquely placed to play a leading role and business input will be key. Progress on decarbonising power generation must be a priority, and setting a public target of 2040 to phase out unabated coal would be an important statement of policy intent. Such a move would, however, require detailed plans and incentives to support industry, workers and communities impacted by the transition.

Business has other ideas too, and the B7 has already recommended that the G7 create policies to support the development of markets which value biodiversity and natural environments, and nature-positive business activity. We have also called for increased international alignment of sustainable finance initiatives to enable growth.

Meeting – and overcoming – these challenges will not be easy. Siloed thinking, or unilateral action from individual nations or industries, simply will not be enough. It will take true partnership from governments and business to deliver the results we need.

Now is the time to do it. There has never been a more important – or more opportune – moment for the international community to come together. The world will this week look to the G7 to lead the way as we look to rebuild from the ravages of Covid and embark upon a sustainable and equitable economic future.

As ever, please share this article with colleagues who may be interested in engaging across the CBI.

Latest sector updates

Policy Briefing: Brexit and EU Negotiations

Financial Services policy briefing

Director's update: people and Skills

Education policy briefing

Trade Association Council meeting takeaways

Thank you to all those who were able to join our Trade Association Council meeting with Matthew Fell, UK Chief Policy Director, which focused on the launch of our economic vision for the UK economy, ‘Seize the Moment’.

First on the agenda Louise Hellem, Director of Economic Policy, provided us with an update on the economic outlook with better-than-expected data pushing up the latest consensus forecast for UK GDP growth in 2021 to 5.2% (vs 9.8% in 2020). Matthew Fell, UK Chief Policy Director, then provided an update on the CBI’s influence and impact over the past months which focused on influencing government thinking on Covid-19 reviews, the B7 Communique ahead of the G7, and the levelling-up agenda. Matthew, then proceeded to discuss our ‘Seize the Moment’ plans and how our Trade Associations members will be able to feed into the work.

For a full readout of the session please reach out to myself or Talisha Manku.

Seize the moment

I hope you were able to join our ‘Seize the Moment’ session on 24 May where we launched our report to transform the UK economy, and re-establish the CBI’s focus for the next five years. The key themes are:

• A decarbonised economy, winning the global race to net-zero.
• An innovation economy, breakthrough ideas and technologies, adopted by all.
• A globalised economy, making the UK a trading powerhouse.
• A regionally thriving economy, ensuring every region and nation has distinctive, global strengths.
• An inclusive economy, where work enables all talent to progress.
• A healthier nation, with health the foundation of wellbeing and economic growth.

We will be working closely with our Trade Association members in the upcoming months to help turn this plan into a reality. Watch this space!

If you missed the launch event, you can read our business executive summary, full report and catch Tony’s welcome address, introduction into the strategy and it’s aims.

Regional scorecards

Within the CBI’s 2020 report Reviving Regions we set out a series of recommendations to close productivity gaps, and level up the country. These recommendations focused on how to build vibrant local labour markets, how to transform local physical and digital infrastructure to facilitate new ways of working, and how to inspire world-class, innovative businesses to invest in all regions.

These recommendations were underpinned by the idea that interventions must reflect local needs, and that regions should be further empowered if we are to level up the country. This becomes increasingly important given the impacts of the pandemic could affect regions differently.

Read the scorecards.

Useful resources

• The CBI's Coronavirus Hub has all the information regarding COVID-19, including advice, guidance, and what your business can do to help.
• The CBI's UK Transition Hub has the most up to date developments regarding the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and provides guidance on specific issues.

Both these hubs are accessible on our public site, so do feel free to signpost them to your members.

Have you had any changes in your team?

We are keen to hear your news about staffing changes so that we can update how we communicate with you accordingly. Please let myself or Talisha know.

Access to MyCBI is also open to any staff member in your organisation. With a wealth of resources and access to informative webinars do let your team know to use this valuable resource and check which opportunities and policy publications you can access.