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Scotland’s energy secretary has warned that a just transition could put the North East at “dangerous” risk of losing its future.
Gillian Martin said she would be “damned” if she north sea Workers faced job losses similar to the effects of deindustrialization in the 1970s and 1980s.
SNP the minister said scotland There was a “huge opportunity” to move to renewable energy after years of extracting fossil fuels.
He said the country could see a future with the best economy ever – but he warned of dire economic consequences if it fails to realize the potential of net zero.
Ms Martin said at an event at the SNP conference in Aberdeen: “My father was in shipbuilding and John Brown Clydebank And that’s why I’m an Aberdonian, because it’s all fallen apart fundamentally.
“So this is one of the key industries in the Central Belt, one of many industries for which there was no proper transition.”
He said the North East was “potentially and dangerously in a position where proper change cannot happen”, adding: “I would be very devastated if that happened, because the place my mum and dad are originally from, Clydebank, has never recovered and neither have many other places.”
Ms Martin said Scotland has a “huge opportunity” to move towards renewable energy and away from fossil fuels.
He said the companies and skills needed to bring about change already exist in the country.
But Ms Martin warned that if governments do not make the most of the switch to green energy, skilled workers will move to other countries.
She added: “I never want to see the communities I represent and my North East colleagues be in the position that Clydebank, Hamilton, Motherwell, etc. were in due to the lack of a proper transition.”