Chamber and committees

The Acorn project, which the member referred to, is not only vital in supporting decarbonisation in Scotland; as the member has made clear, it is an opportunity for new industry, as has been outlined in project willow, among many other places. Business leaders including Sir Ian Wood have made it very clear that any further delays to Acorn would have serious economic consequences for Scotland.

The UK Government has, it must be said, acted swiftly south of the border, and it is now vital that it takes action to support Acorn and avoid a cliff edge of job losses in Scotland. It must also provide a full funding package and timeline for the Acorn project in next week’s comprehensive spending review.

On the member’s other points about the billions of pounds that will be added to the Scottish and UK economies if we get the transition right, I can only concur.

The member is right to point to the areas that are within our responsibility, which we take seriously. Not least, he has mentioned our involvement in the skills passport, the aim of which is to be a free-to-use tool, which addresses his point about the need to ensure accessibility. The Scottish Government has previously provided £3.7 million of funding from the just transition fund to support industry-led development of an energy skills passport—as the member is right to mention. We will continue to work with the UK Government and industry to develop that.

All those concerned—including, as far as I can see, the Climate Change Committee—acknowledge that carbon capture, utilisation and storage is essential to meeting the net zero aim that we all have for Scotland. I do not want to point too much to the negative scenario that the member outlines, although he is right to outline the risks. However, if we are to find alternative industries in Grangemouth and the member’s part of Scotland in the future, and if we are to develop the infrastructure that is needed for carbon capture, utilisation and storage, decisions at UK Government level are needed. I do not say that to make a political point, but they are simply needed. The decisions have been made elsewhere in the UK, and it is time for them to be made regarding Scotland now.

I could begin by saying that many of the plans that have been referred to exist in draft form. I could talk about the fact that some of the plans are dependent on court decisions at UK level. However, more relevantly, I will respond to the real and significant points that Douglas Lumsden raised about the challenges that the north-east of Scotland and his constituents face.

Douglas Lumsden mentioned the idea that the challenges that the industry faces are somehow the consequence of being demonised by Government policy. I have to push back very strongly against that, and I merely point to the fact that the north-east of Scotland faces real challenges, as he and I both acknowledge, due to the maturing of the North Sea basin and the changes that will come regardless of Government policy. All Governments—the Scottish Government and the UK Government—have to prepare for that and are devoting real resources, as I have set out today.

The member will not be too surprised to know that I do not accept every premise of that question—[Interruption.]

As I just said, some areas are within our responsibility, but some are matters for conversation between the two Governments and some are plainly reserved to the UK Government—the member is only too keen on that fact—and we must get adequate or helpful decisions from the UK Government on everything from the Acorn project to licensing and all manner of areas that are within the UK Government’s responsibility—[Interruption.]

One of the messages that come through clearly from both reports that we are talking about today is that we need to avoid a gap in the coming on stream of offshore wind jobs and in addressing the issues that have been caused by the decline of the North Sea basin, as I mentioned.

In the areas for which the Scottish Government has responsibility, everything that we are doing—from the investment in the north-east that I mentioned to working consistently with offshore wind developers—will contribute to minimising the gap and addressing the real issues to which the two reports point.

My understanding is that the college money has just recently been approved. The member makes an important point about skills and the transfer of skills. The Scottish Government certainly recognises the critical importance of providing the current and future workforce with the lifelong skills that they need.

The recently published 2024 “Green Jobs Barometer” shows that

“Scotland continues to lead the way in the creation of green jobs, with new data showing the number of”

such green jobs

“advertised has tripled since 2021.”

We will continue to work on areas such as the skills passport, which I mentioned, and on areas with the UK Government, to ensure that we have in our workforce the skills that we need for the future.

It would be ungallant to try to work out what the member’s age would be in that scenario, were I to accept the premise of the question, but I do not accept the scenario or the premise. The commitment of up to £500 million over this period has been given. Our track record in providing other investment, such as the £125 million for Aberdeen and that area, shows that our commitment is real.

The just transition to net zero is clearly a huge economic and social opportunity, not just for the north-east—which we have quite rightly been focusing on today—but for Scotland as a whole. Communities are uniquely placed to play a critical role in shaping and driving forward that transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient economy.

That is why the Scottish Government has committed up to £6 million of funding this year for our network of 24 climate action hubs. We are delighted to see the impact that the hubs are having in enabling communities to make positive changes for a more sustainable and resilient future.

Additionally, the just transition fund for the north-east and Moray has, so far, allocated £75 million to supporting projects and communities across the region to create jobs, support innovation and secure the highly skilled workforce of the future that, throughout this debate, we have rightly pointed to.