How will the SNP ensure ‘Just Transition’ for the North East?

The SNP is committed to capitalising on our natural resources and pursuing a green reindustrialisation of Scotland that will produce high-quality jobs, stimulate economic growth, fight poverty and fund strong public services.

The accelerated decline in the North Sea must be stopped. Scotland needs an oil and gas sector that’s strong enough and robust enough to contribute skills and expertise to Scotland’s green transition.

For the people and businesses that rely on work and business in the oil and gas sector, a just transition from oil and gas cannot be delivered if the life is squeezed out of the sector by Westminster mismanagement.

Such Westminster mismanagement could threaten energy security while destroying the very skills we need to transition to the new low-carbon economy. Thatcher’s policies wiped out industrial communities – Westminster’s Energy Profits Levy is doing the same to today’s offshore workers.

Scotland has the talent, skills, and resources in abundance to be a major player in the green energy transition to secure a prosperous and sustainable future. Green energy is already delivering formidably for Scotland with renewable energy generation reaching a record high in 2024.

Reports show that Scotland’s net zero sector has grown by more than 20% since 2022, with employment in the sector increasing by the equivalent of 16,500 new full-time jobs.

With the backing of an SNP government – particularly an independent one – Scotland can lead the net zero revolution along with creating jobs, reskilling opportunities and investing in a domestic supply chain.

In government the SNP have taken meaningful steps to ensure that our workers and communities are not left behind, with recent measures like the landmark £500 million Just Transition Fund supporting a shift to careers in offshore wind infrastructure and supply chain development; as well as the Oil and Gas Transition Fund to support offshore workers to take on different roles in sustainable energy.

However we could go further but that would require having the powers that Westminster currently controls.

Scotland’s energy wealth has been squandered as a cash cow for the Westminster Treasury, while ordinary Scots pay some of the highest bills in Europe. In a nation as energy rich as Scotland it is a disgrace that so many our citizens are so energy poor.

The responsibility lies squarely at Westminster’s door; key powers over industry, trade, industrial relations, employment law and energy have all been in the hands of Labour and the Tories for decades.

This is why it is so vital for Scotland to remain steadfastly behind the renewable energy revolution and maximise the investment and opportunities this will bring.

If we repeat the same mistakes of the past – and allow Scotland’s immense natural resources to be mismanaged by Westminster – then we risk the same fate.

Westminster has failed to provide the industry with certainty or stability by failing to support policies creating jobs and the just transition, which also safeguard energy security and lower bills.

With the full powers, Scotland can do what Labour and the Tories have failed to do – make Scotland’s energy work for Scotland, not for Westminster.