Britain is falling behind global competitors in green investment growth, the CBI business lobby will warn on Monday, urging action to soften the blow of recession.

CBI head Tony Danker will in a speech call on UK finance minister Jeremy Hunt to make "big decisions" on green investment to "get growth going".

"Our international competitors in Europe, Asia and the United States are going hell for leather on green growth and getting firms investing," Danker will say in the London speech, extracts of which were released to media. "We are behind them now and seem to be hoping for the best."

Danker will add: "It's time for us to take those hard decisions, generating the forward momentum not only to limit recession this year but also get us really growing next."

According to the business chief, Britain lags "Germans on heat-pumps, insulation and building retrofits, the French on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the US on operational carbon capture and storage projects.

Britain lags "Germans on heat-pumps, insulation and building retrofits, the French on electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and the US on operational carbon capture and storage projects- CBI head Tony Danker

"We're lagging all three on hydrogen funding," he will add.

Britain is on course to lose an estimated £4.3 billion (€4.9 billion) in European green technology growth value by 2030, according to the CBI.

Danker will call on the government to relax planning and regulation to help stimulate demand for greener technologies.

He will urge it to replace a tax break on capital investment that will otherwise expire at the start of April.

And he will seek clarity over what will replace European Union laws, which were retained following Brexit, but will expire at the end of this year.

The government has long promised to make Britain carbon net zero by 2050.

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