A new UK wide Home Heating Task Force based in Scotland should be created to drive the implementation of Scotland’s ambitious climate targets and bring green tech jobs to Scotland, a new paper by Our Scottish Future says today.
The report, “Delivering Net Zero at Home: A Plan for Scotland” says that inspiration for the new task force should be drawn from the UK wide vaccine task force. With Scotland leading the UK on climate targets, attention has to turn from soundbites to a plan to deliver these targets, the report argues.
The authors, Will Sutton and Chris Bond, are engineers who have spent a lifetime working in Scotland’s offshore industry.
The paper suggests that the Task Force could be placed under the umbrella of the new GB energy company currently being proposed by the Labour party.
Labour has said that the company would be located in Scotland if it forms the government after next year’s election.
The report says that the vast task of decarbonising homes effectively requires a “NHS for climate change” and that, by locating efforts north of the border, Scotland can benefit from being at the forefront of UK wide reforms.
Sutton and Bond say:
“A UK wide approach would benefit implementation in several ways. It could tackle the market reforms which are required to tip the balance away from cheaper gas and towards more costly electricity. It could set out a UK wide plan, supported by Britain’s banks, to provide loans to homeowners wishing to invest in carbon free heating systems. It could also regulate the thousands of installers and engineers who will be needed over the coming decade to carry out the work of insulating and transitioning millions of homes.”
“Given the scale of what is being proposed, what we in effect need is a NHS for climate change: a major new UK wide body, working through local centres, to train, equip, fund and regulate this task.”
The report praises the Scottish Government’s ambitions and the decision to create “Home Energy Scotland” to implement its net zero plans. But it says that plan to hit net zero by 2045 will be missed unless there is greater cooperation across the UK.
Sutton and Bond say:
“To its credit, the Scottish Government has set up an agency to oversee grants for homeowners, Home Energy Scotland. But the myriad of Scottish Ministers and directorates which all hold a say on policy are a recipe for bad decision making.”.”
The report comes after the independent Committee for Climate Change – which monitors government progress on net zero – warned that greater cooperation with the UK Government wil be necessary if the Scottish Government is to achieve its ambitions.
Read the report here
