No need for any delay on carbon neutral islands

A project officer has been appointed to lead the project on Barra.

Immediate issues like ferries, housing and fuel poverty must be tackled if aspirations to make islands “carbon neutral” by 2040 are to succeed, MSPs have warned during a debate at Holyrood.

They were discussing a progress report on the pilot scheme announced last May for six islands, including Barra, to lead the way towards carbon neutrality. The others are Yell, Hoy, Raasay, Islay and Great Cumbrae.

The report states: “All Scottish islands will benefit from the project through the sharing of good practices coming from the implementation of the project.

“It is crucial to get a complete understanding of the greenhouse gas emissions baseline for each island in order to inform plans on how to decarbonise. This will be done through the development of carbon audits”.

The Minister, Mairi Gougeon, said: “Over the past eight months, we have laid the groundwork for each island to become carbon neutral by 2040, which remains an ambitious target.”. They had committed £800,000 to support initial development in partnership with Community Energy Scotland.

Highlands and Islands Labour MSP, Rhoda Grant, said immediate action could be taken on energy efficiency. “In Barra, six new affordable houses were built at a cost of £1.4 million. That is a true reflection of the building costs throughout all our island communities. Renewing the housing stock on the scale that would be required is therefore not an option. Existing housing stock needs to be retrofitted”.

To meet the “net zero skills gap” in the islands, Mrs Grant said: “The Government needs to look at how it accredits builders to do the work that is required. Currently, all training for retrofitting is in the central belt”. That example, she said, highlighted the need to island-proof decisions involving carbon reduction and fuel poverty.

Conservative spokesman, Jamie Greene, described the report they were debating as “a lack of progress report”. There was no indication, he said, of where investment would come from to back up strategies.

Mr Green said: “We need to get the basics right, and the Government can deliver the basics on housing, transport, insulation and energy. Those are things that the Government can already do and should be doing. Only then we will stand a chance of getting the six islands fully carbon neutral”.

Western Isles SNP MSP, Alasdair Allan, said he was “certain that, going forward, the six islands will influence what is taking place in other islands, too” while “the community in Barra and Vatersay will be in a position to create a specific local climate change action plan, again led by the community at every stage”.

Mr Allan continued: “There will, of course, be challenges along the way, some of which will be unique to Barra and Vatersay and some of which will be experienced elsewhere. However, Barra and Vatersay will be playing their part to ensure that Scotland meets its aims of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045”.

A development officer has been appointed in each pilot island including Barra’s Shona Macleod, an environmental management graduate, with Voluntary Action Barra and Vatersay as “anchor organisation”.