Meeting of the Parliament 05 June 2024
Apologies.
Those indisputable facts combined mean that a serious, responsible Government—one that cares deeply about Scotland’s offshore energy industries, as the SNP has always done—must now plan and deliver a managed and fair progression to a dynamic and internationally competitive system of energy of the future, which we are so well placed to deliver.
That means a just transition, and there is much talk of that across the political spectrum. The difference is that the SNP is not only talking about a just transition but working to deliver it. I will come back to that in a moment, but I will first address two other matters on which there has been much discussion recently.
The first is licensing. Regrettably, licensing—and therefore control—of Scotland’s oil and gas resource remains the domain of Westminster. Although my party is working to change that, while it remains the case, Scotland has the energy but lacks the power. We have seen in today’s prices how £400 billion-worth of our oil and gas revenues have flowed from the North Sea to the UK Treasury coffers.
Licensing decisions do not rest with the Scottish Government, but we are clear that the UK Government must approach licensing on a rigorously evidence-based, case-by-case basis, with robust climate compatibility and energy security being key considerations.