Scottish Net Zero Secretary has pledged to maximise
the use of public funding to accelerate the delivery of plans to
tackle climate change.
The Resource Spending Review, published this week, commits to
increased spending on heat in buildings, active travel and
peatland and woodland restoration.
Capital spending on programmes will also increase by over half a
billion pounds over the next three years, to speed up the
reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and build climate
resilience across Scotland.
The Scottish Government has also committed to increasing its
efforts to leverage private sector investment in the just
transition to net zero, to make better use of limited public
funds.
Key commitments in the Resource Spending Review include:
- up to £75 million per year to deliver the Heat in Building
Strategy, enabling £1.8 billion investment towards targets to
decarbonise over a million homes and 50,000 non-domestic
buildings by 2030;
- up to £95 million towards meeting woodland creation targets
of 18,000 by 2024/25;
- £46 million to introduce the community bus fund and an
increase in funding for concessionary travel schemes as well as
investing up to £150 million of resource and capital across the
spending review period in active travel, as part of a shift of
transport funding to walking, wheeling and cycling – supporting
our commitment to cut car kilometres by 20 per cent by 2030;
- investment of over £12 million in peatland restoration to
double current restoration rate and put us on track to hit
our target of 20,000 in 2025/26;
- £4 million of resource spending alongside £150 million
capital and financial investment for the North East and Moray
Just Transition Fund;
- Rollout of the agriculture National Test Programme to enhance
farmers and crofters’ awareness of their climate performance.
Net Zero Secretary said: “This spending
review comes at a critical point in the global challenge to
address the climate crisis. Tangible global action is becoming
ever more urgent, and Scotland is committed to playing its part
with some of the most ambitious, legally-binding targets in the
world.
“That is why our future spending plans prioritise investment in
the package of measures to tackle climate change and deliver a
just transition - as set out in our updated Climate Change Plan.
“But, as the Finance Secretary set out earlier this week, the
challenging fiscal environment in the coming years means we must
redouble our focus on efficiency, structural change and
collaboration.
“That is why I am committed to ensuring we maximise every penny
of public investment, working collaboratively with the private
sector and our communities to accelerate delivery of public
policies that will reduce emissions, build resilience to the
impacts which are locked in, tackle biodiversity loss and help to
create a fairer, greener society.”
Background
Read the Resource Spending
Review in full here with accompanying Equalities and Fairer Scotland
Statement and analysis of the RSR Framework consultation
responses.
The Medium Term Financial
Strategy can be read here.
The Capital Spending Review
update is available here.
The Resource Spending Review covers the years 2023-24 to 2026-27.
It is not a Budget and final spending plans will be presented to
the Scottish Parliament in respective annual Budgets.
