Chamber and committees

I recently compared the number of turbines in Galloway versus other parts of Scotland. It was quite interesting to see what is out there. We need to consider the cumulative impact of the turbines, which a lot of people have contacted me about. They are worried about Galloway being the place where all the turbines are put up. We need to consider that, but we absolutely need to ensure that our communities in the south are at the core of our renewables future. I look forward to the Scottish Government continuing that action, but we definitely need to ensure that the development proposals mean that all communities are involved, engaged with, listened to and included at the beginning of any development.

16:59

I welcome the opening of Finlay Carson’s motion, which recognises

“the essential role of renewables”.

As Mr Carson has described, Galloway has a long history of onshore, offshore and hydroelectric renewables. I know many people who are in the groups that Mr Carson mentioned, and they have had a fair amount of contact with me and my team over the past nine years.

In recent years, after decades of underinvestment in innovation and underappreciation of the climate emergency, we have seen Scotland blaze a trail in the move to net zero. We are innovating and developing at pace, even in agriculture; it is nothing short of a national transformation across our society. The cabinet secretary probably expects me to mention this, but we are seeing the deployment of commercial-scale and micro anaerobic digestion on our dairy farms and across the wider rural economy to help decarbonise the grid and support economic investment and new jobs, especially in the south-west of Scotland.

Renewables have to be part of the future. Remember that they are not only turbines; they include solar, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric and, now, battery storage. We have seen that nuclear generation is simply a bottomless pit of public money with no end in sight and no limit to its costs for today’s citizens and for generations to come. Hinkley Point C had its nuclear site licence granted in 2012. It was first budgeted at £18 billion in construction costs; today, that figure tops £48 billion and will, no doubt, rise.

The last time that I checked, small modular reactors were still more than 20 years away. I am talking about what we need to do now in order to challenge the climate emergency and support biodiversity.

One of the issues with nuclear is the challenge of high-level nuclear waste, which is a radioactive by-product that cannot be destroyed and which requires secure, long-term isolation. High-level waste remains hazardous for thousands of years. I am deputy convener of the cross-party group on the civil nuclear industry, at which we have seen presentations on the complexity of high-level nuclear waste storage in Scotland, the process of conditioning to make it stable and the requirements of design, monitoring and long-term storage, which are required for decades.

Moving to net zero means being serious about renewables and the infrastructure and investment that are needed to get there. The transformation of the former Chapelcross nuclear power station site in Annan into a renewable energy hub demonstrates the impact of investment as it leads the way in research, development and deployment. That transformation is bringing quality, skilled jobs and employment to the south, which is only one example of how the just transition delivers real economic benefits across our country.

However, the benefits cannot come at the expense of local communities and their right to be heard when decisions are made about where that investment goes and what it delivers. I want to see international best practice, which means not only consulting communities but involving them in the planning process from the very beginning.

As I said earlier, Mr Carson mentioned many groups and people who have contacted me, and it is something that we really—

I do not think that I have time.

When I said, in responding to an intervention, that cumulative impact is something that we need to think about, I probably should have said that we are already considering cumulative impact. Perhaps I did not think fast enough on my feet.

Okay, I will take a brief intervention.

The last time that I checked, small modular reactors were still more than 20 years away. I am talking about what we need to do now in order to challenge the climate emergency and support biodiversity.

One of the issues with nuclear is the challenge of high-level nuclear waste, which is a radioactive by-product that cannot be destroyed and which requires secure, long-term isolation. High-level waste remains hazardous for thousands of years. I am deputy convener of the cross-party group on the civil nuclear industry, at which we have seen presentations on the complexity of high-level nuclear waste storage in Scotland, the process of conditioning to make it stable and the requirements of design, monitoring and long-term storage, which are required for decades.

Moving to net zero means being serious about renewables and the infrastructure and investment that are needed to get there. The transformation of the former Chapelcross nuclear power station site in Annan into a renewable energy hub demonstrates the impact of investment as it leads the way in research, development and deployment. That transformation is bringing quality, skilled jobs and employment to the south, which is only one example of how the just transition delivers real economic benefits across our country.

However, the benefits cannot come at the expense of local communities and their right to be heard when decisions are made about where that investment goes and what it delivers. I want to see international best practice, which means not only consulting communities but involving them in the planning process from the very beginning.

As I said earlier, Mr Carson mentioned many groups and people who have contacted me, and it is something that we really—

When I said, in responding to an intervention, that cumulative impact is something that we need to think about, I probably should have said that we are already considering cumulative impact. Perhaps I did not think fast enough on my feet.

I recently compared the number of turbines in Galloway versus other parts of Scotland. It was quite interesting to see what is out there. We need to consider the cumulative impact of the turbines, which a lot of people have contacted me about. They are worried about Galloway being the place where all the turbines are put up. We need to consider that, but we absolutely need to ensure that our communities in the south are at the core of our renewables future. I look forward to the Scottish Government continuing that action, but we definitely need to ensure that the development proposals mean that all communities are involved, engaged with, listened to and included at the beginning of any development.

16:59

I welcome the opening of Finlay Carson’s motion, which recognises

“the essential role of renewables”.

As Mr Carson has described, Galloway has a long history of onshore, offshore and hydroelectric renewables. I know many people who are in the groups that Mr Carson mentioned, and they have had a fair amount of contact with me and my team over the past nine years.

In recent years, after decades of underinvestment in innovation and underappreciation of the climate emergency, we have seen Scotland blaze a trail in the move to net zero. We are innovating and developing at pace, even in agriculture; it is nothing short of a national transformation across our society. The cabinet secretary probably expects me to mention this, but we are seeing the deployment of commercial-scale and micro anaerobic digestion on our dairy farms and across the wider rural economy to help decarbonise the grid and support economic investment and new jobs, especially in the south-west of Scotland.

Renewables have to be part of the future. Remember that they are not only turbines; they include solar, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric and, now, battery storage. We have seen that nuclear generation is simply a bottomless pit of public money with no end in sight and no limit to its costs for today’s citizens and for generations to come. Hinkley Point C had its nuclear site licence granted in 2012. It was first budgeted at £18 billion in construction costs; today, that figure tops £48 billion and will, no doubt, rise.