Kate Forbes
Scotland is at a pivotal time in its journey towards a net zero economy.
The costs of transition are lowest - and the opportunities greatest - with early and well-managed action. To reap those benefits the financial system has to be ready for the task.
I am clear this must be a joint public/private effort and at COP 26 in Glasgow financial organisations showed their readiness to help fund the transition to a net zero economy. For the Scottish Government’s part, the new Green Industrial Strategy, which I launched earlier this month, makes support for green economy professional and financial services one of our five priorities, along with establishing a new system across the public sector for attracting investment.
Scotland is well placed to achieve these ambitions. It is one of the world’s oldest financial hubs and the UK’s second financial centre after London, accounting for 9.8% of the Scottish economy and employing about 144,000 people.
To enhance this position, in 2022, I established the Scottish Taskforce for Green and Sustainable Financial Services headed by David Pitt-Watson to provide an action plan to help make Scotland a globally competitive hub for green and sustainable financial services and investment.
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Its recommendations focus on four areas - policy, promotion, investment and skills – and Mr Pitt-Watson is unequivocal about the importance of the task, stating that the benefits can be profound if we succeed. I welcome the findings and we will build on our initial response by looking in detail at what we need to do to put them into practice.
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The Scottish Government is already addressing many of the Taskforce’s overarching aims. As set out in our Programme for Government, we will deliver a coordinated programme to attract investment in priority areas of net zero, housing and infrastructure. In support of this, work is underway to develop a national project pipeline of investment opportunities and to launch an investment portal next year.
Equally importantly, we are working in lock step with the finance sector to achieve our joint ambitions.
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Success is not inevitable – other countries are pursuing a similar goal - and will only happen with focused, decisive action. But now, together, government and industry have a clear route map for Scotland to maximise this huge opportunity.
Kate Forbes is Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic
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