Professor Anderson’s grand plan

TO make the necessary changes, Anderson says, will require a kind of Marshall Plan of zero-carbon industrial strategy. This, he continues, will require the creation of many highlyskilled jobs. Here are the changes that he proposes Scotland needs to make:

1 Phase out the oil and gas industry in the North sea as a matter of urgency. “If we’re going to solve climate change, when we have rich countries like Scotland and Norway still relying on their oil and gas industries and yet saying they’re concerned about climate change, that’s incompatible,” he says. This suggestion may not seem compatible with the vision some have of an independent Scotland, reliant on its oil and gas revenues. However, Anderson asks: “Why do people want independence? They want that because they want a good healthy future for their children in a prosperous independent Scotland. If the MSPs do actually care about the future of Scotland, about the future of Scottish children and they are not climate sceptics then they have no choice but to phase out the oil and gas industry.”

2 Use the skills already in the oil and gas industry to make the massive engineering change we need to move to a zero carbon society. “Everything from electrification to improving the quality of old buildings, to creating a lot more renewable energy, requires really good engineering and fabrication skills, which are the skills of the people working in the oil and gas industry.”

3 Retrofit housing to reduce emissions and ensure all new housing is “passive house standard”. “A lot of people in Scotland live in properties that they can’t heat properly. And solving climate change means we will have to make those buildings much more efficient. That would also help eliminate fuel poverty.” The passive houses he describes are buildings designed to require no heating, and are relatively common in Sweden where he sometimes works. He estimates that this would add an extra 10-20 per cent on to the build cost of housing.

4 Phase out petrol and diesel vehicles and curtail aviation. “The most difficult part of what we need to do with transport,” he says, “is aviation. Governments are very enthusiastic about expanding their aviation, but aviation is something that’s enjoyed by the top 20 per cent. We’ve done some survey data in the UK that shows this. Most people are not regular fliers. There’s a small group of people that drive that agenda – the frequent fliers, the mobile elite – and then they, or we, blame other people for it. We need to to significantly curtail aviation. One idea is a frequent flier levy, where if you fly more regularly you pay more per flight.”

5 Fully exploit Scotland’s huge renewables potential.