WHEN I became First Minister, I set out my four priorities for Scotland: eradicating child poverty, growing Scotland’s economy, investing in public services and tackling the climate emergency.
Each of these priorities are intrinsically linked – and there is no better example of this than climate.
Scotland’s greatest contribution to the global fight against climate change is our renewable energy potential, our technical expertise and our capacity for innovation.
By pursuing a green reindustrialisation of our country, we will produce high-quality jobs that stimulate economic growth, fight poverty and fund strong public services.
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A report published this week shows this process is already under way – with Scotland’s net zero sector growing by more than 20% since 2022, with employment in the sector growing by the equivalent of 16,500 new full-time jobs.
Our 2025-26 Budget allocates record funding for the Net Zero and Energy portfolio.
We will establish a Scottish Government Hub for offshore wind in the North-East to provide an additional route for industry to engage with our teams.
And to support our recently published Green Industrial Strategy, we will invest millions in supporting the energy transition, creating jobs across the supply chain.
Importantly, our budget also allocates £25m to establish a Grangemouth Just Transition Fund – helping to guarantee a just transition for our skilled workforce, maintaining their vital role in Scotland’s energy landscape, and in our country’s future.
I believe that refining at Grangemouth should continue, that this closure is premature and that it is detrimental to Scotland’s transition to net zero.
Everyone working at Grangemouth’s refinery is a valued employee with skills that are key to Scotland’s net-zero future.
My Scottish Government will do all we can to ensure they have a future in the Scottish economy as we make the transition to net zero.
We must make that transition on Scotland’s terms – in a manner that ensures our workforce is protected, our climate obligations are met and our economy benefits to the absolute maximum.
And that transition must also deliver for people who are paying through the nose just to stay warm in their homes.
During the election, Labour promised to cut bills by £300. Instead, they have already increased since July and are set to rise even further by an average of £111 to £1849 a year from next month.
In a nation as energy rich as Scotland, it is a disgrace that so many our citizens are so energy poor.
And let’s be clear about where the blame lies – industry, trade, industrial relations, employment law and most powers over energy are all reserved to Westminster.
Westminster mismanagement of Scotland’s resources has cost our country dearly.
But this isn’t new.
The McCrone Report, written in 1974, but only published in 2005 under SNP pressure, lays bare the extent the Westminster will go to conceal Scotland’s natural wealth.
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The report admits that an independent Scotland would have a “chronic surplus”, and that “its currency would become the hardest in Europe with the exception perhaps of the Norwegian Kronor.”
Fifty years on, we can look back at the missed opportunities of Scotland’s oil and gas boom, and to other countries to see what could’ve been.
Scotland’s energy wealth has been squandered as a cash cow for the Treasury, while ordinary Scots pay some of the highest bills in Europe.
If we repeat the same mistakes of the past – to allow Scotland’s immense natural resources to be mismanaged by Westminster – then we risk the same fate.
The people of Scotland must be at the heart of our drive towards renewables.
With the full powers of independence, we can take full control of Scotland’s resources and use them for the benefit of our citizens – lowering bills and improving energy security.
Earlier this month I committed in a speech in Glasgow that the energy transition will abandon no community. But it’s only with the full powers of independence that we can deliver real energy justice for the people of Scotland and reach our full economic potential.
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