Recovery should have green focus, say lobbyists

Policies to reduce carbon emissions have been proposed as Scotland’s economy moves out of lockdown.

The Climate Emergency Response Group (CERG), made up of leaders from industry, charities and unions, has set out a range of policies and “strategies” it wants the Scottish Government to implement in order to reach net-zero carbon emissions.

The CERG report says the Covid-19pandemichascreated a “massive opportunity to catapult and prioritise a just transition to a netzero economy”, but cautioned it requires “significant public investment”.

Proposals include schemes for “reskilling and retraining” people working in the oil and gas sector to become “frontline workers for the climate emergency”, as well as apprenticeships in the renewable energy industry.

A programme should also be set up for school leavers to volunteer on environmental projects, which the report suggests could be “somewhere between gap-year and national service models”.

Under the proposals, university funding would also become dependent on developing “climate skills action plans”. The report says Holyrood should spend more on capital investment projects aimed at tackling the climate emergency, including a green scrappage scheme.