Budget must help deliver a Green Recovery

Campaigners are calling on the Scottish Government to make sure that their Budget delivers on their commitment to a ‘green recovery’, by investing in a green jobs recovery that will create thousands of new jobs and cut climate emissions.

Friends of the Earth Scotland are calling for the Scottish Budget to:

• Invest at least £244million in heat and energy efficiency, creating thousands of jobs and making homes easier to heat
• Support public transport and bus manufacturing by creating a fund for Local Authorities and Regional Transport Partnerships​ to run bus services
• Invest in education and training for workers to get into green jobs
• Rule out public spending on high carbon projects, such as new trunk roads or fossil fuel projects

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s Climate and Energy Campaigner Caroline Rance said:

“Tens of thousands of people have already lost their jobs in Scotland since the first lockdown, while at the same time we need to build up the new zero carbon industries that will support our economy and rapidly reduce emissions.

“If the Scottish Government is serious about a green recovery, they’ll put public money into addressing unemployment and the climate crisis together by investing in a green jobs recovery and driving up demand in key areas like energy efficiency, public transport and skills training. However, it is crucial that any positive steps forward are not undermined by spending more public money on climate damaging projects such as trunk roads or backing technologies that keep us locked into fossil fuels.

“Heating buildings is one of the largest sources of climate emissions in Scotland, and a quarter of households live in fuel poverty. With people spending more time at home, increasing spending on domestic heat, energy efficiency and fuel poverty programmes to at least £244 million can quickly improve homes and lives for hundreds of thousands of people, cut climate emissions and create thousands of new jobs across the country.

“Recovering from Covid-19, public transport needs a boost and supporting publicly-owned buses by creating a fund for local authorities to run bus services will ensure the biggest benefits for both communities and climate, while supporting Scotland’s bus manufacturing industry.”
ENDS