Meeting of the Parliament 26 June 2024
We cannot do anything, because the SNP Government will not allow anything. However, if we look at where we have had nuclear power plants in the past, we will see that those communities have been in favour of them.
Let me turn to the oil and gas sector. We have had so many debates about that important topic in the past six months. We remember that thousands of jobs are associated with the industry in the north-east and beyond.
We know that oil and gas will remain a key part of our energy mix for some time to come. We all agree that we should be moving away from carbon-based fuels and towards renewables, but we cannot turn our back on the oil and gas industry and leave it with a cliff edge, as proposed by the devolved SNP Government.
Importing oil and gas from abroad is more expensive and more detrimental to the environment. Production of natural gas from the UK continental shelf creates less than half as much greenhouse gases as imported liquefied natural gas does. While there is still a need for oil and gas, we should be working with the industry in the north-east to produce them here and to support those businesses and jobs moving forward. There should be no presumption against new licences, but that is the damaging policy of the SNP.
The SNP Government has a brass neck coming to the chamber today to talk about climate change. It is standing on a funeral pyre of failed promises when it comes to climate targets—nine out of 13 have been missed so far. There is no clear plan to meet targets, no published climate change plan, no indication of when that plan might be published, no plan on EV infrastructure roll-out, and no clear plan on decarbonising our railway. The Scottish Conservatives are the only party that is offering Scotland a just transition and a clear plan towards our climate change goals.
I am pleased to move the amendment in my name.
I move amendment S6M-13759.3, to insert at end:
“; urges the Scottish Government, in light of this, to reverse its anti-science approach to new nuclear technology; notes that the Scottish Government has missed nine of the past 13 climate change targets, and that its decision to scrap the 2030 target reflected concerns raised by the Climate Change Committee that the Scottish Government’s approach to climate change was no longer feasible and had no clear delivery plan; urges the Scottish Government to be transparent with its approach to climate change and to publish the Climate Change Plan as soon as possible, and recognises that the proposed new Climate Change Bill should be appropriately scrutinised and contain realistic targets to help Scotland reach net zero.”
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