THE SNP leader of Edinburgh City Council has called on the Scottish and UK governments to bring forward a “green new deal” for the capital after admitting the city’s housing will fail to move away from gas heating before a net zero target.

Adam McVey has called on politicians in Westminster and Holyrood to “unlock some of the financial solutions” needed to decarbonise heat in buildings.

Edinburgh has pledged to become net zero by 2030 – when the city’s contribution to the climate crisis will need to come to an end.

Energy to heat and power Edinburgh’s homes and other buildings accounts for almost 70 per cent of the city’s total emissions – with natural gas making up around 40% of emissions.

But Mr McVey has told The Herald that is unlikely that heating systems all homes in the city will be decarbonised by 2030 – warning that the remaining emissions will need to be offset by mass tree planting and installing solar panels on buildings if the net zero aim is to materialise.

In the SNP’s Edinburgh manifesto for next month’s local elections, the party is pledging to ramp up its tree-planting strategy for the capital.

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Asked if he expects the heating of all city buildings to be decarbonised by 2030, Mr McVey said: “It is unlikely to stop contributing to carbon emissions in the period to 2030 but we can, I think, reduce it enough that we get to a point where we’re in a point of being able to achieve net zero, but offsetting to a degree.

“Part of our plan in the manifesto is about planting a net increase of 150,000 trees. We’ve already done a net increase of 50,000 in the last five years so we are building on the success of that.”

Mr McVey said that new forests will be planted across the city as well as “wee forests” in densely-populated parts of the city of between 50 and 100 trees.

Planting trees is a key natural method of offsetting carbon as they suck in carbon dioxide.

The Edinburgh SNP leader said that “domestic generation” of energy such as solar panels will also play a role in offsetting carbon emissions.

He said: “Offset is not just one component, but I think the real drive in the next five years has to be about increasing insulation and reducing the energy demand. That will make a huge difference to people’s affordability of heating that’s going absolutely through the roof right now.

“Edinburgh needs to be at the forefront of this because we are the centre of finance, of technology, of innovation and we’ve got solutions being built here.”

The Scottish Government has committed that by 2033, all home will need to have an EPC rating of C or higher.

READ MORE: Patrick Harvie doesn't yet know how much of £33bn homes retrofit bill will come from private funds

Scottish Government Zero Carbon Buildings Minister, Patrick Harvie, has estimated the costs across the country could amount to £33bn, while Cosla, the umbrella organisation for Scottish councils has warned that plans will only come to fruition “if local authorities are properly resourced and have the skills in place to make the physical changes to buildings required”.

Mr McVey is set to appeal to the UK and Scottish Governments for a “new green deal” for Edinburgh and is hoping for a similar arrangement to the Edinburgh regional city deal which brought in £1.3bn of investment.

The city deal has been largely welcomed but has faced criticism from environmentalists for funding a key project on the Edinburgh city bypass, an upgraded Sheriffhall roundabout which activists say flies in the face of climate ambitions.

Mr McVey said: “We’re planning to initiate a new green deal – we’re trying to get both governments involved and industry. We can pull together that insulation that’s needed right across the private rented market and private ownership and also look at things like energy generation and decarbonising that.

“This is why we need both governments really standing behind us. Right now, I don’t think the UK Government is going fast enough. I think the SCottihs Government want to do more.”

He added: “We will set out very clearly what our expectations with both governments is. We will follow a very similar process to the city deal that’s already delivered £1.3bn of investment.

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“We will follow a similar agenda but with a very clear mission, which is to use that investment to try and unlock some of the financial solutions that we need to deliver for our tackling climate change and reach net zero by 2030.”

But analysis by the city council estimates that almost half of the homes in the capital have an energy performance rating of D or lower – adding that 100,000 homes in Edinburgh may need retrofitting as part of the national policy.

The authority’s net zero strategy warns that “many of Edinburgh’s residents will need financial support to be able to meet the costs of retrofitting their homes to the required standards”, adding that “the costs of retrofitting large operational buildings to become net zero is significant”.

Scottish Conservative shadow net zero and energy secretary, Liam Kerr, said: “The SNP leader in the capital has a cheek to talk about new green deals. It is his party in government which can’t even come good on the old deals, and which has missed emission targets three years in a row.

“This is a startling admission for homeowners and taxpayers that a senior SNP figure acknowledges a flagship coalition policy is never going to be delivered on time.”

He added: “We warned that Patrick Harvie’s plans would be unworkable and homeowners will now presumably face an even larger bill than the £33 billion first outlined."

“Everyone recognises the need to work together to tackle our climate emergency, but Adam McVey would be better served by challenging his own SNP Government to match their rhetoric with action.”