Fiona Hyslop, Local MSP for the Linlithgow Constituency and Deputy Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, has commented on the Committee’s Major Report released this week into the role of Local Government and its Partners in Delivering a Net Zero Scotland.
The Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee launched this Inquiry in November 2021, just after the close of the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (“COP26”) in Glasgow. At COP26, world leaders also agreed that there was a need for local solutions to a global crisis.
The year long Inquiry highlighted the importance of an empowered Local Government Sector if it is to reach Net Zero by 2045.
Fiona commented,
“It is clear that Councils will be crucial to Scotland delivering our Climate Change policies and Net Zero targets and we are calling for more support for skills and investment so that an empowered Local Government can play its full role.
“Communities are key to building on local knowledge and ensuring a Just Transition for all, and the Report recommends that Councils should set out how they will engage with local communities to ensure that transition to Net Zero is not something imposed on communities, but something that people and groups can help shape, lead and deliver.
“Community knowledge combined with a local government-facing “climate intelligence unit” to provide specialist help to Councils in areas where in-depth specialist knowledge is lacking, is an important recommendation of the Report and will go some way to tackling the transformational and behavioural changes required to achieve climate change targets.
“Our Report also concluded that there will be a need for an expanded role for the Scottish National Investment Bank, to help bring together local government and investors in public-private co-financing.
“We hope that the Scottish Government, COSLA and the wider local government sector will be able to come together to share expertise and to provide the necessary skills and investment for Scotland to reach Net Zero by 2045.”
ENDS
To read the report in full and see the Committee’s Recommendations, visit: