Meeting of the Parliament 14 March 2023
I very much agree with that. One action that we have been taking, as I mentioned, is through climate action hubs, which are about helping to lever in public and private finance and to co-ordinate and bring together communities to direct support and assistance in local areas.
To date, we have supported two pathfinder hubs to do exactly that. Both hubs are community-led organisations that were launched back in September 2021—one covers Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and the other covers Highland, Orkney and Shetland. The hubs have provided a strategic approach to enabling community-led climate action. They have focused on building awareness of the climate emergency and building community capacity through training and events. The hubs have widened participation, with an impressive 40 per cent of the groups that have engaged in the Highlands being new to climate action.
The hubs have directly supported community organisations in developing projects, including on community energy, retrofitting, reducing flooding risks and green skills, while helping to secure funding from public and private investments. The hubs offer an opportunity to build on existing support and ensure co-ordinated action. I have been encouraged by the positive feedback from a number of local authority colleagues who are looking to support the programme.
I want to build on that progress and the interest that local authorities have expressed in that work. That is why I am delighted to announce that we will expand the programme to provide a national network of hubs. The Scottish Government will commit £4.3 million in the 2023-24 budget to support the expansion. On the basis of conversations with communities to date, we anticipate that in the region of 20 hubs will be developed. A national network will drive a place-based approach, putting communities very much at the heart of the transition to net zero.
The inquiry specifically highlighted the need to promote community engagement on local heat and energy efficiency strategies.