The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference

"I’m delighted that again Scotland is hosting the international Low Carbon Investment Conference in Edinburgh.

The Scottish Government is committed to working with the public and private sector, in Scotland and beyond, to mobilise the expertise of our innovators, engineers and international financial sector, to harness our massive natural resources and to deliver sustainable economic growth that can help drive forward the global transition to a low carbon future.

There are significant opportunities for investment in green technology, aimed at tackling damaging climate change, to also help consolidate what remains in many areas a fragile economic recovery.

Alongside the moral obligation to act against climate chaos, of course, there is – as Professor Lord Stern outlined so clearly nearly five years ago – an economic imperative to avoid much greater costs in the future.

In Scotland, with strong support of civic society and business, the Parliament unanimously passed the Climate Change Act 2009, committing us to world-leading greenhouse gas emission reduction targets – a 42% and 80% cut in emissions by 2020 and 2050 respectively.

A large and rapid expansion of renewable power generation and the advancement of carbon capture and storage technologies, together with much greater energy efficiency will be key to achieving these targets and securing sustainable economic growth.

Scotland’s low carbon market is expected to be worth £12 billion by the middle of this decade – representing over 10 per cent of the national economy – with the number of green jobs rising from around 70,000 to as many as 130,000 by 2020.  Globally, the value of the low carbon environmental goods and service sector has been estimated to reach more than £4 trillion by 2014/15.

Clearly there are many challenges to fully realising the huge opportunities presented by the global transition to low carbon economies, and the conference aims to provide a forum to debate and help tackle some of those issues directly.

Our Low Carbon Economic Strategy, published shortly after last year’s conference, sets out how we will act on the economic and environmental imperatives to support public and private sector organisations in stimulating and exploiting rapidly-expanding global markets in low carbon goods and services.

A key element of our ‘2020’ vision for the next decade is for renewable energy sources to contribute at least 100% of annual domestic electricity demand which, together with other sources, will ensure we continue to grow our capacity as a power exporter.

Of course, the 100% target supersedes the 80% target which I announced to delegates in September.  Our decision to raise that challenging target was made in light of the rapid pace of development in the months following last year’s conference

Highlights of recent months include the decisions of world-leading wind turbine manufacturers Mitsubishi, Gamesa and Doosan to develop their next generation offshore devices in Scotland - underpinning our position as a global centre of excellence for clean energy technologies.

In June Spain's largest oil company, Repsol, and Portugal's EDP Renováveis (EDPR) announced plans to develop up to 2.4 gigawatts of offshore wind projects in Scottish waters.

Exclusivity agreements for wind developments amounting to up to 10 gigawatts of generation capacity in Scottish waters over the next decade have already been granted. And our recently-published Plan for Offshore Wind has identified 25 areas for further exploration beyond 2020.

At the same time lease agreements have been secured for wave and tidal energy projects with a potential capacity of up to 1.6 GW by 2020.  Our marine energy sector has also been boosted by recent investments in Scottish technologies by international power transmission giants ABB and Alstom.

So we are well-placed, not only to harness our massive green resource, but to lead the wider global transition to a low carbon economy.

The Scottish Government and our public sector partners are sending a clear and unequivocal message to utilities, developers and to the investment community that Scotland is the place to do business. Building on our natural and human capital, we strive to maintain and enhance one of the most economically supportive and optimum regulatory environments for low carbon investments.

Last year’s event had an emphasis on renewables generation and rightly so, given the stage of development of this exciting global industry.

That will continue to be a strong focus for this year’s conference. However, there will also be a significant examination of investment opportunities in Smart cities, energy consumption and resource efficiency.

We have a new target to meet 30% of Scotland’s overall energy demand – electricity, heat and transport – from renewable sources by 2020, while our Energy Efficiency Action Plan commits us to reducing total energy consumption by 12% by the end of the decade. This is backed by a range of measures, including financial support for home insulation and focused resource efficiency advice to households, businesses and the public sector.

So a range of opportunities exist for business and industry; From improving resource and energy efficiency – increasing resilience and sustainability and reducing overheads – to increasing market share and competitiveness by reflecting sustainable business practices in marketing, branding and procurement practices.

By bringing together government, finance, utilities and developers, the second Scottish Low Carbon Investment conference will enable all sides to engage directly on the various investment opportunities and the challenges to be overcome.

I look forward to welcoming you to Scotland and to Edinburgh in September.”

Alex Salmond
First Minister of Scotland