Green jobs go up in Scotland

The Scottish government has informed that the employment levels in renewable energy and low carbon sectors in 2015 in Scotland increased by more than a third compared to indicative figures for a year earlier.

The number of workers in Scotland employed in the low carbon and ‎renewables sector has risen to 58,500 in 2015, up from an indicative 43,500 employed in 2014, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) numbers show.

The low carbon and renewables sector generated a turnover of £10.5 billion, 14% of the total UK sector, according to ONS.

Also, the figures have shown that Scotland represented 33% of all UK employment, and 28% of turnover, in low carbon electricity generation.

Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy, said: “These are impressive figures that show how the Scottish government’s focus on decarbonizing ‎our energy system has not only allowed us to meet our climate change obligations, and to have done so early, but it has also significantly boosted the Scottish economy.

“Today, the [green energy] sector remains beset by the uncertainty brought about by short-sighted and harmful decisions by UK Ministers and indecision around support in areas such as marine energy, islands wind projects, pumped hydro storage and islands grid connections, which risks investors moving outside the UK.

“While I celebrate the success these figures indicate for Scotland, I am under no illusions whatsoever as to what the wider effect of damaging UK Government decisions, and indecision, may be having on the sector in Scotland and the UK over the longer term and these figures demonstrate the scale of progress that continued, sub-optimal UK policies will put at risk.”