The Scottish Government published the Programme for Government on 1st September. With an overarching commitment that Scotland’s economic recovery from COVID-19 must be a green recovery, it outlines the priorities of:
- A national mission to create new jobs, good jobs and green jobs - with a particular focus on young people, supporting retraining and investing in a Green New Deal to tackle climate change;
- Promoting lifelong health and wellbeing by tackling COVID‑19, remobilising and reforming the NHS and social care, and tackling health inequalities
- Promoting equality and helping young people grasp their potential
The Scottish Government presented the key aspects of the Programme for Government at the SSN Strategy launch event on 16th September. In that presentation, the investment and policy priorities of importance to public sector action on climate change were outlined by Sarah Hart from the Scottish Government’s climate change public bodies team. These included:
- A £1.6 billion investment over the next parliament to decarbonise the way we heat our buildings and homes
- £500 million for active travel infrastructure
- £100 million investment over the next five years in the Green Industry and Jobs Fund
- £60 million to support the decarbonisation of the industrial and manufacturing sectors
- £130m to expand Scotland’s national forests, and a further £20m to increase nursery stocks
- An extra £150 million for flood risk management over the next five years
- £70 million to improve local authority waste collection infrastructure
- The Scottish National Investment Bank will launch this year with £220 million of fresh seed funding in 2020‑21 as part of the £2 billion capitalisation pledge to invest in businesses and markets that are key to our net zero transition
- Green Investment Portfolio to identify over £3bn net zero investments in Scotland to global investors.
- Develop tools and guidance to support a green recovery and climate and circular economy ambitions through procurement.