Our year fighting for Scotland’s just transition
This year, we’ve been at the frontlines of the fight for Scotland’s just transition, standing in solidarity with energy workers and their communities. From Aberdeen to Peterhead to Grangemouth, we’ve been steadfast in our commitment to a fast and fair move to renewables, that redistributes the benefits of the energy transition to those who need it the most.
Carbon capture can’t deliver a Just Transition
Our highest profile campaign is stopping the proposed gas-burning power station with carbon capture at Peterhead. Carbon capture is unproven at scale and a dangerous distraction from the urgent task at hand. Workers at the existing power station need a transition plan, that gives them secure pathways into good, secure, long-term jobs – that carbon capture and storage simply can’t provide.
We know this because we’ve spent the year investigating the developer SSE’s proposals for Peterhead and we’ve found that they’re planning a reduction in jobs of over 30%. Additionally, they admit that over 75% of the construction jobs needed to build the additional Peterhead power station would go to people outside of the Aberdeenshire area.
This further demonstrates SSE have no intention of taking part in a genuinely just transition for Peterhead and Boddam. Which is why our campaign to stop new gas burning at Peterhead demands better for Boddam, Peterhead, and for Scotland’s just transition entirely.
Keep Grangemouth Working
In November 2023, PetroIneos announced that they would be converting the Grangemouth oil refinery to an import/export terminal, axing the jobs of 500 workers employed at the site as well as many more across the supply chain.
We stand in complete solidarity with the Grangemouth refinery workers and vehemently condemn the profiteering motives of PetroIneos and pathetic inaction of the Scottish Government. As climate emissions will be simply offshored from Grangemouth to a refinery overseas and workers are set to lose their jobs, it’s never been more important for the climate movement to stand in solidarity with workers and their trade unions.
That’s why this year we’ve been actively supporting Grangemouth workers, and their trade union Unite, in the Keep Grangemouth Working campaign. In August, we marched from the Grangemouth refinery to Inchyra Park, alongside trade unionists, climate groups, and activists from across Scotland.
At the rally, I gave a speech alongside the refinery convenor, the STUC president, community groups, and the Unite Scottish secretary. I condemned the hypocrisy of the Scottish Government giving more public money to INEOS while they were playing fast and loose with workers’ livelihoods. I reaffirmed our support and solidarity, and just recently we were out again, marching alongside Unite to the Scottish Parliament to demand a proper just transition for Grangemouth.
The refinery needs ramped up public investment, an inquiry into the failings of INEOS and the Scottish Government, and the urgent development of clear pathways into good jobs in the renewables sector – and we’ll be out supporting the workers’ campaign until their demands are met.
Demanding the UK and Scottish Governments put their money where their mouth is
Together with Platform, Oil Change International, Uplift, and Greenpeace, we’ve been putting pressure on the new UK Government to come up with costed, robust transition plans now that they’re in charge. Workers aren’t convinced by warm words and vague promises – the move away from fossil fuels is happening, and so far, politicians in both the UK and Scottish Governments have let industry bosses dictate the pace and the terms of the transition. Whether in the North East, in Grangemouth, or in Port Talbot, workers deserve far better than what they’ve seen this year.
That’s why at the spending review in May 2025, we’re demanding the UK Government commit to a funding package of £1.9 billion, that upgrades our ports, creates new jobs, and develops training pathways for North Sea oil and gas workers. In the run up to the general election in July, we published an open letter, signed by over 60 climate groups and endorsed by trade unions, calling for the incoming government to implement these demands.
We followed this up with a mass action outside the Treasury in October, with over 60 attendees and speakers from climate groups and trade unions. We demonstrated the power of workers and climate activists standing together to demand the same thing – investment into a worker-led transition plan that creates good, secure jobs in renewables and that reinvests into the communities that have scaffolded the oil and gas industry for decades.
This year has been one for putting boots on the ground, campaigning alongside workers to reclaim Scotland’s just transition. As we go into next year, the fight is only going to get bigger – but if the shows of strength from this year of campaigning are anything to go by, Friends of the Earth Scotland members and supporters are more than ready.