Meeting of the Parliament 14 March 2023
I am pleased to speak in my first committee debate as a member of the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee—I think that this is the first time since I joined the committee that we have had a debate in the chamber. I thank the clerks, my committee colleagues and all those who participated in the committee’s inquiry. Without their input, the inquiry and our recommendations would not have been possible.
All the challenges that have been highlighted during the NZET Committee’s inquiry are made even more acute during the present cost crisis. For example, the evidence that we took shows that there is no doubt—I know this as a former local councillor—that the increasing inflationary pressures that are being experienced by local authorities will have an impact on their ability to deliver on the important net zero ambitions.
Indeed, successive Scottish budgets have demonstrated this Government’s commitment to the centrality of a just transition to a net zero and climate resilient Scotland. The 2023-24 budget prioritises a just transition to a net zero climate resilient and biodiverse Scotland with more than £2.2 billion of investment in 2023-24, and this year the Scottish Government has allocated £194 million to help to reduce energy bills and climate emissions through the warmer homes Scotland area-based schemes and Home Energy Scotland.
Scotland’s ambitious climate change legislation sets a target date for net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases by 2045. Progress has been made and Scotland is more than half way to net zero, but it still has much to do. Our inquiry heard how we are now entering the most challenging part of the journey to date, with a need to halve our emissions again by 2030. It is not going to be easy.
The next full climate change plan will show the emissions reductions of the economy-wide policies in the plan, as well as detailing other benefits such as job creation and the costs of the policies. The transition to net zero will require a truly national effort from all sectors of the economy, including significant private sector investment in net zero and climate resilience to ensure the long-term strength and competitiveness of our economy. Central to that—members will not be surprised to hear me say this—is a just transition for the north-east of Scotland, including my Aberdeen Donside constituency.
However, our evidence shows that, in order to fully make that transition work, the UK Government must also take action to secure a just transition. The UK Government’s green jobs task force recommended that the Government should set out how it will match the support that is available through the European Union’s just transition fund. Unfortunately, that has still not been acted on. The UK Government has still to match the Scottish Government’s £50 million just transition fund.