Climate Emergency Series: Green Recovery

Our recovery will be an environmentally sustainable and green recovery. Everything we’re doing, whether it be on skills, business support, investment, is focused on sustainability and ensuring a just transition to net zero by 2045.

     - The Scottish Government Economic Recovery Implementation Plan, August 2020

The economic crisis caused by the global health pandemic has been unprecedented in the postwar history of the world, and so the response too, ought to match the scale of the challenge.  

As a founder nation of the WeGo Alliance, along with Iceland and New Zealand, much of the thinking on a bringing a wellbeing economy - an ethos of economic management prioritizing the wellbeing of people and planet ahead of a naked pursuit of economic growth - into fruition was already well-underway in Scotland.  

But now, after the worst global health crisis in a century and the worst economic collapse in over 300 years, to many it is an idea whose time has come. 

And in tackling the immediate economic challenges, there is also a need to foster that same urgency with the other emergency, blighting the planet - the Climate Emergency.  If we are to avert the environmental consequences laid bare in the UN IPCC Report in 2018, it is necessary to use this crisis to develop new ethos and to build resilience into our economy and our planet. 

The Scottish Government was the first in the world to declare a Climate Emergency and Scotland also has pioneering national waste management and land use strategies, an innovative Just Transition Commission as well as some of the strictest air quality and emissions targets in the world.  

But now is the time for bold and decisive action to build a resilient, circular economy that is not simply about the uncomplicated pursuit of growth but prioritises the growth of people and protects the planet.  

As Scotland's foremost political communications and events company, Holyrood is in a unique position to provide a platform to the many stakeholders who would wish to be involved in these discussions.

• Context: A Just and Green Recovery
• Delivering Green Infrastructure and ensuring it is synthesized with the planning system at the outset
• Developing Green Skills
• Enhancing the Blue Economy to Secure a Green Recovery
• Building a resilient, circular economy and cultivating proper waste management
• Supporting rural economies to survive and thrive
• Securing a Just Transition
• Achieving our net-zero targets through delivery of a Green Recovery

• Professor James Curran, Chair, Climate Ready Clyde; Fellow, Scottish Environmental LINK and Former Chair, James Hutton Institute & Former Chief Executive, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) (Chair)
• Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform
• Asad Naqvi, Head, Secretariat, UN Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)
• Gillian Martin MSP, Convener, Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, The Scottish Parliament
• Duncan Clark, Head of Region UK, Ørsted
• Hege Sæbjørnsen, Country Sustainability Manager, IKEA Group, UK & Ireland
• Professor Jim Skea, Chair, Just Transition Commission & Co-chair of Working Group III of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
• Dr Duncan Booker, COP26 Stakeholder Manager, Glasgow City Council
• Ross Armstrong, Managing Director, Warmworks
• Paul Olvhoj, Business Development Manager, Marine Services, Orkney Harbour
• Craig McLaren, Director of Scotland & Ireland, Royal Town and Planning Institute
• John Lauder, Deputy CEO, Sustrans; Executive Director, Sustrans Scotland, Northern Ireland & Republic of Ireland
• Hamish Trench, Chief Executive, Scottish Land Commission
• Sara Thiam, Chief Executive, SCDI
• Iain Gulland, Executive Director & Chief Executive, Zero Waste Scotland
• Hamish Macdonell, Director of Strategic Engagement, Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation (SSPO)
• Jim Brown, Director, Energy Skills Partnership
• Joanne Allday, Strategic Business Development Manager, Port of Cromarty Firth
• Professor Nicholas J P Owens, Director, Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) & Former Director, British Antartic Survey
• Pete Ritchie, Director, Nourish Scotland and Convener of Scottish Environmental LINK Food and Farming Group

Book now or email or call Adam on 0131 285 1692

If you have an inspiring case study or a project that you think is relevant, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We are always on the lookout for new speakers.