Ariane Burgess (Highlands
and Islands) (Green)
Scotland’s history of heavy industry means that we have a
significant responsibility to tackle climate change, which is the
greatest challenge that we face this century. We have also shown
how we can lead from the front in transforming our energy supply
for a clean, green, renewables future. Does the First Minister
agree with me that this decade is one of crucial choices—for
example, on homes and buildings standards, on transport patterns,
and on what we farm and how we use land—and that it is in those
areas that our future lies, not in squeezing more fossil fuels
out of new oil fields such as Rosebank and Jackdaw?
The First
Minister
Yes, I agree that this decade is a critical one if the world is
to avert what will otherwise be the catastrophic impacts of
climate change. Indeed, the issues that the member highlights,
such as how we decarbonise the heating of our homes and further
decarbonise transport, are exactly the issues that we were
discussing at the Cabinet sub-committee that I referred to. The
Scottish Government is focused on making sure that we take the
action that is needed.
The member is right to point out that countries such as ours,
which have done the most to cause climate change and have
benefited from emissions down the generations, now have a
particular responsibility to take action to combat climate
change. That action undoubtedly includes the transition away from
fossil fuels to clean, renewable sources of energy. That is
important for Scotland in the context of the climate emergency,
but, as the North Sea is a declining basin, it is important for
other reasons as well. That transition also needs to be a just
one, which is why our work on just transition is so important as
well.
