CREATING a public energy company should be a key part of Scotland’s green recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon has been told.
Scottish Green co-leader Lorna Slater urged the First Minister to push for greater investment from the UK Government to tackle climate change and to push ahead with the creation of a national energy company.
Ahead of a four-nation Covid recovery summit being chaired by Boris Johnson on Thursday afternoon, Slater said the Scottish Government should demand “a major increase in public investment” for a green economic recovery.
The First Minister agreed and also said the Government was “maximising our investment in the actions needed to support a green recovery and indeed transition to net-zero”.
READ MORE: Why an SNP-Green collaboration could be start of something great for Scotland
Speaking at First Minister’s Questions, Slater cited TUC analysis showing the UK’s investment lagging behind Europe’s other G7 nations and said “failure to invest in a green recovery would be a disaster for our planet and for our economy”.
Asking for a date when a national energy company would be created, she added: “The Scottish Government has long committed to a public energy company which could provide tidal energy with the demand it needs.
“Tidal energy technology was developed in Scotland, we are the world experts in it, but if we don’t act now we will lose this industry to other countries.”
Sturgeon replied: “We will take forward a range of different ways in which we are going to support the vast, renewable energy potential that Scotland has.”
She added: “Scotland is a world leader in renewable energy, but there is much more we need to do – both in terms of the generation of the energy, but also in making sure that we properly seize the economic benefits that come from that.
“That’s one of the areas where, candidly, we haven’t yet done well enough.
“So there’s lots of work to be done here and we are determined to get on with that as we lead up to COP26 and then beyond COP26.”
The exchange comes as the Greens and SNP are in talks about the smaller pro-independence party potentially entering government.
The parties have said that the cooperation will not be a formal coalition, but instead facilitate working together in areas where agreement can be reached.
READ MORE: Where could SNP and Greens find common ground in co-operation agreement?
Slater’s calls may signal a key area on which the Greens may wish to push the SNP in those talks.
Speaking after the FMQs exchange, the Green co-leader said: “I hope the First Minister uses meetings with the UK Government to demand the investment we need, working in partnership with other devolved countries, just as the Scottish Government did to secure an extension to furlough last year. But there is still more we can do here in Scotland, with the powers we have, to secure a green recovery.
“Look at industry I come from; Scotland could be a world leader in marine renewable energy but the industry was undermined by the Tory Government when they scrapped essential tariff support in 2015. Since then, no new tidal energy projects have come forward.
“The Scottish Government has long committed to a public energy company which could provide tidal energy with the demand it needs, but it needs to get going.
“Tidal energy technology was developed in Scotland. We are the world experts in it, but if we don’t act now we will lose this industry to other countries.”
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