Major business leader says Scotland's resources are 'golden ticket for UK growth'

Lucy Garcia
Sun 15 September 2024


Scotland's renewable resources were described as the "golden ticket for UK growth" by the chief executive of the CBI

SCOTLAND’S natural resources are the envy of the world, according to the head of a major business organisation.

The chief executive of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Rain Newton-Smith, described Scotland’s resources as the “golden ticket for UK growth”

While highlighting that Scotland “has the tools at its fingertips to be a global clean energy superpower”, she expressed concern that the opportunity could be squandered if ministers failed to address the anxieties of potential investors.

During the CBI’s annual dinner in Glasgow earlier this week, Newton-Smith said: “Though Scotland has made huge progress in pioneering the concept of a just transition and setting one of the most ambitious net zero targets in the world, the truth is, on green growth, as on long-term growth across the UK, we’re not where we need to be.

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“Scotland, the UK – we’ve started to stall on the green investment we need. Since 2020 we’ve fallen down the league tables, behind France and Germany. We’ve lost our first-mover advantage in green growth markets to vast economic stimulus packages from the US and China.”

Newton-Smith added that the Labour government’s plans to increase the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas companies could spell bad news for Scotland’s industry.

“Energy companies whose current revenues come from oil and gas activities: right now, they represent over 10 per cent of Scotland’s GDP and they can also be a huge part of the transition to net zero,” she said.

She added that since the windfall tax was introduced in 2022 firms had been dealing with a series of changes to how the tax functioned.

Rain Newton-Smith is the chief executive of the CBI (Image: CBI)

“That’s not fiscal certainty and it’s not a spur to invest – exactly when that investment is most important for transitioning the sector.”

While she welcomed the UK Government’s announcement of the National Wealth Fund and GB Energy, she said clarity was still needed around how they would operate.

Indeed, she urged ministers in both the UK and Scottish Governments to focus on removing practical obstacles to growth such as failures in the planning system which result in wind farm developments being delayed.

"We’ve got vision but not detail,” she said.

“We’ve got direction but not certainty.

“Firms will however want to see more in terms of how this aligns with other key net zero plans and strategies, both within Scotland and across the UK – like the yet to be published Energy and Just Transition Plan.”