Hansard

The zero carbon islands programme sets a high level of ambition for all our islands to aspire to in the decades ahead. Islands are the perfect setting to lead on innovation and developing new technologies, which is why they are often dubbed “island laboratories”. I am glad to see that the Scottish Government has recognised that by selecting six Scottish islands to lead the way in becoming carbon neutral.

It is right that we consider the unique problems and the challenging context that our island communities face from the climate emergency. Support to ensure their long-term prosperity is crucial. As the just transition progresses and the scale of change quickens, they will need more support than ever.

I give credit to the innovative and ambitious work already being done by island local authorities and community development trusts. By taking matters into their own hands, they have looked to the future and embraced renewable energy. For example, the Shapinsay Development Trust on one of the inner isles of Orkney has harnessed revenue and electricity from the community wind turbine and reinvested the income in local housing built to Passivhaus standard. In partnership with local, national and international partners, the trust has also demonstrated the research and development opportunities that islands present. By installing a hydrogen electrolyser, the trust has not only advanced our understanding of local mixed energy systems, but has taken practical steps to reduce the carbon footprint of the local school, which is now run overnight on locally produced hydrogen, thanks to a new dual boiler system. That is island innovation at its finest. With Greens now in council in Shetland for the first time, and more Greens in Orkney Council, too, I am excited to see the community-led transition in our northern isles go from strength to strength.

The progress made on islands such as Shapinsay is not surprising. The community on Eigg, which Rhoda Grant mentioned, has demonstrated for decades the wealth of opportunities and benefits that come with community-driven decarbonisation and community ownership. The carbon neutral islands project must harness that potential for research and development, employment in high-quality green jobs and sustained population growth, because big challenges remain ahead if we are to reach net zero in our islands.

Fuel poverty is rife across Scottish island communities, which disproportionately suffer extreme fuel poverty. Even before the current cost of living crisis, islanders spent extortionate amounts on heating, while receiving below average wages. As Existing Homes Alliance Scotland highlights, islanders are also most likely to have homes rated below energy performance certificate rating C. Our islands have the highest proportion of unhealthily cold homes in Scotland. However, there is an opportunity to create jobs while tackling the crisis. Investment to bring homes across the Highlands and Islands up to EPC C and install low-emissions heating could support up to 24,000 jobs over the next decade.

We must also provide affordable homes to attract and retain those working in the area. That is why, as part of the Bute house agreement, the Greens will work with the Scottish Government to develop a remote, rural and islands housing action plan. The best way to reduce carbon is to make better use of the homes that are already there, bringing into productive use second homes, holiday homes and empty homes, and buying back former council housing. We also need to bring new-build construction closer to home, using local materials such as timber and wool-based insulation, as part of a circular economy approach that will strengthen island economies.

The roll-out of the Scottish Government’s heat network fund is also vital, and I strongly urge the Government to consider our island communities as a top priority in the delivery of local heat networks. With excellent renewable energy sources, our islands can demonstrate a new model of local energy system where communities are “prosumers”—both producing and consuming energy.

Challenges in national infrastructure also pose a barrier to island decarbonisation. The Scottish Government must make much stronger progress on grid development and supporting the national grid where it can, while also exploring island smart-grid systems to provide communities with greater resilience, ownership and independence.

Our islands’ renewable energy resources are some of our most valued assets in the drive to net zero, so it beggars belief that the UK Government is not doing more to unlock those abundant resources and supply low-cost renewable energy to households across Scotland and the rest of Britain. Instead, as we have heard, energy generation projects on islands face very high transmission costs, due to their distance from large population centres. Islands can help the rest of us to decarbonise, if only the UK Government could sort out the vital transmission links from Orkney and the Western Isles. A new approach is needed to support projects to expand, as well as ensuring that some of the profit is directed back into the local community. I urge the Scottish Government to press the UK to sharpen up its approach in that area of reserved policy.

We must not overlook the carbon footprint of ferries. In Orkney alone, an estimated 36,000 tonnes of carbon is emitted each year from the burning of oil and bunker fuel by ferries servicing the island. The challenge of reaching carbon neutrality is nearly insurmountable if that barrier is not tackled, and the Scottish Government must play a leading role on that within the next two years.