Net Zero and Just Transition
The next item of business is portfolio questions on net zero and just transition. I invite any member who wishes to ask a supplementary question to press their request-to-speak button during the relevant question.
Just Transition Plan for Energy
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made towards developing a just transition plan for energy. (S6O-02373)
The draft energy strategy and just transition plan was published for consultation on 1 January this year, setting out our vision for an energy transition that responds to the climate emergency but is fair. A very high number of responses to the consultation have been received, and an independent analysis of those responses is currently being carried out. We will fully consider stakeholders’ views as we develop the final strategy and plan.
Does the cabinet secretary agree that the £7 million of Scottish Government funding for projects such as a study into treating water from the River Clyde to produce cheap hydrogen and the creation of a hydrogen hub at Glasgow airport for storage and distribution will greatly help to create renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030?
The £7 million of funding that was recently offered by the Scottish Government’s hydrogen innovation scheme to 32 innovative projects such as those that were mentioned by James Dornan will help to drive technological progress and advance innovation, supporting our ambition of 5GW of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030. The projects will progress innovative solutions to address and overcome key challenges related to scaling up hydrogen production, storage and distribution in Scotland.
There are a number of requests for supplementary questions. I hope that we will get through them all. They will need to be brief.
There has been a £25 million allocation to the Scottish Government’s just transition fund, but, unlike with previous funding rounds, the money is being assessed and distributed by the Scottish National Investment Bank instead of being provided directly to support projects. For what reason did the Government abandon the initial process, and what does it say to companies that missed out the first time round and now see that the goalposts have shifted?
I reassure Liam Kerr that the Scottish Government has not abandoned the process. The £75 million that has been made available so far is part of a £500 million fund over a decade. I hope that Liam Kerr is not casting doubt on the Scottish National Investment Bank’s ability to invest the £25 million well. Indeed, I challenge him on his colleagues’ contribution to the just transition in Scotland, which has been left sorely wanting to date.
Offshore trade unions, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and Unite the union are working with the Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organisation, environmental organisations and others on the introduction of a much-needed offshore training passport to provide a clear pathway for oil and gas workers to transition into renewables. The Minister for Energy and the Environment was unable to confirm whether the offshore training passport will align offshore safety standards, so will the cabinet secretary take action to ensure that all developers of wind farms that are leased through the ScotWind process recognise the digital offshore training passport when it comes online in the autumn?
The raison d’être of the skills passport is interreliability and interrecognition. I absolutely agree with the principle behind Mercedes Villalba’s question that we want the passports to make the process a great deal easier for workers. I am looking into that matter and into the delivery of the skills passport in general.
I assure Mercedes Villalba and other members that the involvement of our trade unions in our just transition—in this case, the oil and gas transition—is critical. That is why we have trade union representatives on the just transition commission, and we are funding two posts in the Scottish Trades Union Congress to ensure that the Scottish Government is cognisant of workers’ views and needs in this important transition.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that, having received a significant amount of public money, the Wood Group, which is based in Aberdeen, is now increasing its fossil fuel extraction processes and reducing its shift to renewables. How can we ensure that our public money does not, even indirectly, support increasing use of fossil fuels during a climate emergency?
I understand that the Wood Group was awarded a United Kingdom Government-backed £430 million green transition loan in August 2021. However, to be clear, no funding has been provided directly to the Wood Group through the just transition fund.
Through the fund, we will, of course, support the wider energy transition, which could involve companies that are diversifying away from fossil fuel activities. That approach—an inclusive approach in which everybody gets round the table, recognising the scale of the challenge—is critical to a transition that is truly fair and, equally, rises to the imperative of addressing the climate emergency.
Net Zero Transition (Economic Benefits)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the net zero secretary has had with ministerial colleagues in relation to maximising any benefits of the transition to net zero across the economy, including the manufacturing sector. (S6O-02374)
The Scottish Government sees the just transition to net zero not just as an environmental imperative—although it certainly is that—but as a massive economic opportunity. I engage regularly with my ministerial colleagues on the issue and have established a monthly meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy, which covers how we maximise opportunities.
In relation to the manufacturing sector, ministerial colleagues are supporting several initiatives. In particular, the First Minister will formally open the flagship building for the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland on 21 June, which will be a significant milestone for the project and the sector.
It is great that the NMIS will be formally opening in the coming days. Scotland is well placed to benefit economically from the transition to net zero, but to realise those benefits, the Scottish Government needs to lead on ensuring that the policies on decarbonising heat and transport are aligned with industrial strategies to help to build Scotland’s manufacturing capabilities—for example, through the Government supply chain development programme.
What specific work has been done to ensure that that alignment happens? Is the work on the supply chain development programme continuing? And what are the priority areas to deliver that industrial development?
The Government’s national strategy for economic transformation, which Ivan McKee played a key role in, sets out our commitment to realising the opportunities that, as he rightly identified, lie in front of Scotland in the green energy transition. As he mentioned, our supply chain development programme aims to align economy and innovation policy interventions with public sector spend by using both more strategically to improve the capacity and capability of Scottish manufacturing supply chains.
By way of example, I point to the recently launched low-carbon manufacturing challenge fund, which is a £26 million fund over five years that is available for innovative proposals to reduce the carbon output of manufacturing in Scotland.
Given the scale and urgency needed to decarbonise our homes in an affordable way, what work is the Scottish Government doing with local authorities to set targets and to work with suppliers so that we get retrofitting and renewables into our communities? In particular, I am thinking of solar technology, heat pumps, wind turbines and the infrastructure for heat networks. We need those jobs in our communities now.
I absolutely agree that local authorities have a critical role to play in the delivery of the enormous change agenda that is in front of us as a country. The Scottish Government, local authorities and the public sector generally have a critical role to play, and I was really pleased to speak recently at a public sector forum in Scotland, in which we explored all the ways that we need to work together, the synergies that we need to make sure are in place and, equally, ensuring that there is scope for different regional and local authority priorities to arise out of that. For example, I have no doubt that the approaches required in the decarbonisation of transport will be different across urban, rural and island Scotland.
Water Scarcity (Peatland Restoration)
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent water scarcity updates from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, which state that the majority of Scotland is now affected by water scarcity, what assessment it has made of the impact of water scarcity conditions on peatland restoration and the ability to sequester carbon. (S6O-02375)
Water scarcity is a very serious issue, and I would be glad to touch more specifically on that should Mr Whittle wish me to. On peatland restoration, there are currently plans for the James Hutton Institute to model the potential for water scarcity to impact peatland and for spatial analysis to identify areas of peatland that are, or might become, vulnerable to drought and fire risk. Those projects are scheduled to report in 2024 and 2025 respectively, and they are funded as part of the Scottish Government’s £250 million environment, natural resource and agriculture strategic research programme.
Research has shown that drier conditions not only reduce the amount of carbon that peatland can sequester but can negatively impact biodiversity in the wider range of teal carbon habitats across Scotland, including riparian woodlands, wetlands and ponds. What progress has been made since the water shortages in summer 2022 to improve management of biodiversity in wetland habitats, especially given that 90 per cent of freshwater ponds have disappeared over the past 100 years?
I thank Mr Whittle for raising an important point. We know that peatlands, when wet, are capable of sequestering carbon and supporting biodiversity. Therefore, it figures that, in drought conditions and when peatlands are dried out, those benefits are lost. The Scottish Government’s £250 million of funding in peatland restoration is, in part, seeking to alleviate that.
On preparedness for droughts and water scarcity conditions over the summer, I work very closely with SEPA on that matter. Just this afternoon, I have written to MSPs, inviting them to a factual briefing session next week on the range of matters that might come to our constituents’ attention as these dry conditions are due to persist.
Restoration of Scotland’s peatlands is vital for our biodiversity, so I welcome the £250 million investment that the Scottish Government has made to restore 250,000 hectares of peatland by 2030. What work is being undertaken to ensure that our peatland restoration is responsive to the risks caused by global warming and climate change, including the risk of water scarcity?
As I said in my response to Brian Whittle, water scarcity, which is linked to climate change, clearly puts wetland ecosystems, including peatlands, at risk of drying and degradation. Jackie Dunbar is absolutely right to mention the Scottish Government’s investment in peatland restoration, with full public sector funding being available for projects.
As we take action to mitigate emissions, as peatland restoration does, we must also adapt to the climate change that is already embedded. Changing weather patterns and water scarcity are causing increasingly significant adaptation issues, and the Government is committed to keeping abreast of that.
20mph Speed Limit
To ask the Scottish Government how it is encouraging local authorities across the country to follow the lead of Highland Council in rolling out the 20mph speed limit in built-up areas. (S6O-02376)
The Scottish Government is committed to developing a national strategy for 20mph speed limits, which supports commitments in the 2021 Bute house agreement and the 2022 programme for government.
We welcome Highland Council’s enthusiasm as an early adopter of the strategy and we want to see more areas of Scotland benefiting. In addition to the £1.4 million that was allocated to road authorities in the most recent financial year to help them to identify the number of roads affected and to assess the financial implications, we will also be providing funding to all road authorities to fully implement 20mph speed limits by 2025.
That is an encouraging response. There are 118 communities that will benefit from Highland Council’s roll-out of 20mph speed limits. Will the minister share how the working group is progressing to ensure that more councils roll out those schemes, alongside investment in high-quality active travel routes such as those that were recently completed at the Inverness campus and at Raigmore?
Having 20mph speed limits in cities, towns and villages—particularly in places where vulnerable road users and vehicles mix—is internationally recognised as a key element in reducing road casualties and creating safe conditions for people to walk, wheel and cycle.
The multipartner task group, which includes members of the Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, as well as various active travel and sustainable travel partners, agreed that the wider policy objectives should be considered alongside road assessments being conducted.
River Water Quality Testing (North-east Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any increase in water quality testing that is proposed for rivers in the north-east. (S6O-02377)
I refer members to my entry regarding the River Dee in the register of members’ interests.
Although I was not the minister at the time, it is my understanding that, in November 2022, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency provided Alexander Burnett with detailed information about, and summarised sample numbers for, water quality testing from 2017 to 2022. SEPA’s projections of the 2023 sample numbers, which the member has asked for, indicate an increase of approximately 50 per cent on 2022 levels for total samples across all of Scotland, including in the north-east.
There are 42 waste-water treatment works and 99 sewage discharge points on the River Don, and 26 waste-water treatment works and 69 sewage discharge points on the River Dee, but there is no requirement or licensing condition from SEPA for Scottish Water to report discharge data at any of those locations. Why not? When will Scottish Water be required to report sewage discharge data for those rivers?
As I have previously reported to Parliament, Scottish Water’s improving urban waters route map, which was published in December 2021, sets out a programme of continued action to reduce waste-water pollution and sewage litter over the coming decade, and is backed by £0.5 billion of investment. The first annual update to the route map was published in December 2022.
The scheme includes commitments to upgrades to deal with combined sewer overflows and targets some of the most problematic of them, which is the right thing to do. I want us never to lose sight of the fact that, as we strive for improvement, we are starting from a very high base: as I have said before, SEPA’s recent results show that 66 per cent of Scotland’s water bodies are in good condition or better, compared to just 16 per cent in England.
As a reminder, I note that the question is about water quality in the north-east. I call Foysol Choudhury.
A recent Marine Conservation Society report noted that only 4 per cent of Scotland’s sewage discharge points are monitored. The overspilling of sewage and recent heavy rainfall have left water in Leith being potentially dangerous. Residents have no idea what impact that is having on their health or their environment. Will the cabinet secretary commit to having the water in Leith tested by a public body so that the residents can know the condition of their water?
While confirming that Leith is not in the north-east, I invite the cabinet secretary to provide a response if she so wishes.
Leith is in the north-east of Edinburgh. [Laughter.]
I am happy to answer the question, Presiding Officer, because it is an important one. I understand that monitoring is regarded as very important for our sewer network and I understand why. However, Scottish Water was able to make a decision some years ago on whether to monitor every outlet or to invest that money in making improvements, and Scotland has done the latter.
Foysol Choudhury has asked me to make sure that a public body monitors water quality. That is exactly what the independent Scottish Environment Protection Agency does, and—as I narrated in response to the previous question—the results of that survey are really rather good for Scotland.
Question 6 has not been lodged.
Environmental Quality and Protection (Community Initiatives)
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it will make available for community-led initiatives in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency that promote environmental quality and protection. (S6O-02379)
A range of funding is available to support community-led initiatives to promote environmental quality. For example, the vacant and derelict land investment programme awarded North Lanarkshire Council £230,000 in 2022-23 for the Glenmanor greenspace project. That has supported the adjacent communities in Moodiesburn and Chryston by creating a green space for outdoor education, play, active travel and biodiversity. The fund is currently open again for applications from all local authorities to support community-led regeneration. I encourage them to bid.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I welcome her mention of the Glenmanor greenspace project, which is an absolutely fantastic example.
My constituency is home to many community-led environmental initiatives, including the friends of Monklands canal, which won the most improved walking place award at the recent Scottish walking awards. Does the cabinet secretary agree that the Scottish Government should encourage community participation in such initiatives via increased funding, promotion and other avenues?
I take the opportunity to congratulate the friends of Monklands canal on the award. I very much agree with Fulton MacGregor that involving communities in shaping their neighbourhoods should be strongly encouraged. In fact, I think that there is no other way of going about it. That is very much in line with our planning policies, which aim to encourage more people to live well locally, as well as our funding programmes, which help local people to improve their places.
Partnership working with community groups is key to promoting increased use and enjoyment of our outdoor spaces. We have committed to increasing funding to £320 million in 2024-25 to increase active travel opportunities for community groups and local authorities alike. My colleague Patrick Harvie is ably overseeing that work.
Just Transition (Grangemouth Community)
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to make the community central to its plans for a just transition for Grangemouth. (S6O-02380)
Our commitment to develop a just transition for the Grangemouth industrial complex acknowledges the critical role that we think Grangemouth plays in Scotland’s journey to net zero, which involves utilising existing industrial heritage, infrastructure and manufacturing excellence.
A strong partnership between industry, unions, the workforce and local communities will be a critical success factor for Grangemouth, given the long-standing and interwoven relationships between the cluster and the wider town. That is something that the Scottish Government whole-heartedly supports.
I thank the minister for that answer. I know that there are a multitude of bodies that aim to give voice to the community. Despite that, however, the Economy and Fair Work Committee has heard clear evidence that, at this stage, the community feels excluded from what a just transition could mean for it, especially when it knows that it hosts Scotland’s largest industrial site, which accounts for about 4 per cent of Scotland’s gross domestic product.
Will the cabinet secretary commit to ensuring the development of a co-design process with not just regular input from the community, but feedback to highlight where its input has influenced decision making? Further, will she ensure that specific measures of success from a community perspective are put in place up front?
I am very happy to answer the various parts of that question. First, baselining and monitoring thereafter are a critical part of how we measure a just transition generally.
In my view, Grangemouth is a symbol of the need for a just transition to net zero. It has unique economic importance. It is home to a cluster of strategic manufacturing assets in energy—petrochemicals—and it is our largest logistics hub. It also employs thousands of people. However, equally, it contributes significantly to industrial emissions, which must be driven down rapidly.
One example of our commitment to a community-led just transition is our decision to fund a community just transition participation officer for Grangemouth, employed from within the community to liaise with the just transition process to make sure that it always responds to community need.
That concludes portfolio questions. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business, to allow front benches to change.