Scotland is creating more green jobs as a proportion of the workforce than anywhere else in the UK, stats show.
Figures from accountancy giant PwC show green jobs north of the border have almost doubled in the last year. The firm's latest Green Jobs Barometer revealed 3.3 per cent of all job adverts in Scotland were roles that have a positive impact on the environment, up from 1.7 per cent in 2021.
That equates to 24,610 positions, PwC said - although warned more investment in reskilling was needed to make the most of the opportunities. It added Scotland still has a high number of "sunset jobs" in declining industries like the North Sea - but many have "highly transferable" skills for green industries.
Jason Morris, of PwC Scotland, said: "For this momentum to continue, there must be adequate funding for reskilling in the right areas to ensure that as we move towards net zero targets, jobs are created and sustained where they are most needed.
"From the energy sector workers in the north east, to the technology being created by innovative start-ups and the strength of our financial and professional services sectors, Scotland has huge potential as a net zero economy."
As many as nine in ten oil and gas workers would have the transferable skills to work in environmentally friendly sectors such as renewables, PwC said. Across the UK, the report found green jobs are growing at around four times the rate of the overall UK employment market, the fastest increase of any sector.
But it also warned of a "significant skills gap" in Britain's labour market "that cannot be addressed from the existing energy workforce alone". The PwC said the UK would need an extra 400,000 workers to build a "net zero energy workforce".
They added: "Without government intervention, there will be an insufficient supply of the skills needed to meet the UK’s impending decarbonisation targets." The SNP hit out at the findings, blaming Brexit and the UK Tory government's immigration policies.
SNP MSP Karen Adam said: “At every turn, Scotland’s just transition towards net zero is being hobbled and undermined by an intransigent Westminster Tory Government. Now the Tories’ ideological obsession with their deeply damaging Brexit will hold us back even more."
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