MSP calls for thought-through regional industrial strategy

Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell has called for a regional industrial strategy for Fife as part of attempts to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy.

Questioning minister Paul Wheelhouse in the Scottish Parliament, the Mid Scotland and Fife MSP highlighted the case of the Mossmorran plant, which has seen £140 million investment to improve its efficiency.

He pointed out the investment by ExxonMobil had come after “regulatory and political pressure” but that “not a penny of the investment will enable us to meet the net zero climate targets currently in the climate change bill”.

Mossmorran is the second biggest industrial producer of carbon emissions in Scotland, behind Ineos at Grangemouth.

“Tackling the climate emergency must not be about the loss of jobs, it is about creating new ones in low carbon alternatives,” he said.

“A local industrial strategy would help to plan for investment and jobs in clean industries and technologies that have a genuine future.

“That’s why our Scottish Green New Deal proposes regional industrial strategies, with targeted support for those who most need it.

“Only with a reinvigorated public sector can we channel procurement, investment and training into providing people with a future.

“We have seen what happens when governments don’t plan for the future of communities, and the climate emergency makes this even more urgent.

“Fife is a perfect example of that, where a vital renewables construction yard has faced closure, yet a dying oil and gas plant is seeing investment.”