Chamber and committees

In advance of the 26th United Nations climate change conference of the parties in Glasgow, we took evidence from a panel of SMEs, and that is what we heard. It does not seem as if much has changed. There have been additional pressures, such as the cost of living crisis and problems with supply chains following the war in Ukraine. The SMEs said that it was difficult to know where to go for information and support.

I have a similar question for James Close on the appetite for green finance in Scotland. Do you see demand for your services from businesses? Do you have any insights into businesses in Scotland and in the Grangemouth area in particular that are looking to ensure that we have a just transition?

Is it fair to say that we are not yet at the stage where the scenario that you have just described is happening. Are we on the precipice of that happening? What are the barriers? What is stopping this from getting under way?

I am going to allow Graham Simpson a short supplementary question before I come to Colin Smyth.

First, I will raise an issue that is linked to your line of questioning. The Government is due to publish the draft just transition plan for Grangemouth—we expect that that will probably be in late spring. Part of our reason for doing the inquiry is to feed into that proposal. What are expectations for the draft plan? Are there things in it that you particularly want to see at this stage?

I will come to Ben Howarth first, because that follows on from Fiona’s questions around placemaking.

Thank you.

Our next item of business is the fifth evidence session for our inquiry into a just transition for the Grangemouth area. Today’s session will focus on how public policy and funding can be used to unlock private capital to finance a just transition. I welcome Heather Buchanan, co-founder of Bankers for Net Zero, James Close, head of climate change at NatWest Group, and Ben Howarth, sustainability officer at the Association of British Insurers. As always, it would be helpful if members and witnesses could keep their questions and answers as concise as possible.

I will start. You are all here to talk about the importance of green finance. I ask you to set out your views on the appetite for that in Scotland, in terms of both supply from investors and demand from individuals and businesses.

I come to Heather Buchanan first. Bankers for Net Zero, I think, published a report on mainstreaming net zero that said that there was a lack of a comprehensive strategy to support small and medium-sized enterprises to make the transition in significant numbers. It was a United Kingdom report, but did you find that the picture in Scotland is similar? Could you say a little about whether there is an appetite for green finance in Scotland?

Thank you. Diarmaid Lawlor, I will come to you next. We received your paper yesterday, and it talks about a number of projects and things that are happening in Grangemouth—in particular, greener Grangemouth, which I think more members will ask questions about. Is that largely where you play a role in delivering a just transition for Grangemouth? Do you think that the public have an understanding of the projects that you are working on and what they mean?

Adam Gillies, welcome to the committee meeting. Do you want to say a bit about what you think a just transition means for Grangemouth and what success would look like?

Will you give us a view of how the board operates? Is it effective in terms of bringing together the public partners? What do you see as being the priorities of the board members?