Meeting of the Parliament 24 January 2024
The transition to net zero will transform the global economy. For us, in Scotland, it presents enormous economic opportunities together with benefits for our people, businesses and communities. Economic transformation is also essential to delivering on our wider net zero ambitions, and we must manage it in a way that is fair and just. To realise those opportunities and to avoid the terrible harms that will come if we fail to make the necessary just transition, we must invest. We must invest in our future today or bear the consequences in harms and higher costs later. That is what the motion that we are debating is about.
I will start by looking at how things stand today. Scotland’s green economy already has momentum. The latest PWC “Green Jobs Barometer” report shows that Scotland is leading the way in delivering a green jobs revolution and unlocking the tremendous potential that our energy transition and wider net zero journey holds. According to the Fraser of Allander Institute, more than 42,000 full-time equivalent jobs were already supported by Scotland’s renewable energy sector in 2021, and we have businesses that are competing globally in growing markets, creating high-value jobs, innovating, and repurposing supply chain strengths and capability. In other words, we are already building the foundations for a thriving green economy. Scottish firms have the chance to sell to the world and create good, well-paid jobs as part of a fair, green and growing wellbeing economy.
An example is the ScotWind project, where it is projected that developers will invest an average of £1.5 billion per project into the Scottish supply chain. The recent climate emergency skills action plan report by Skills Development Scotland identifies almost £90 billion-worth of green investments that are under way or planned to commence in the next three years.
We know that the scale of change that is needed is significant. Delivering on our net zero target by 2045 will require the transformation of our economy and society, underpinned by sustained public and private investment in physical infrastructure. If we do not invest now, we will pay for it later.