That the Parliament believes that the path to ending fuel poverty in Scotland requires new, sustainable renewable energy and mass public retrofitting of homes and buildings, not further gas extraction and domestic gas heating; notes recent analysis by Uplift and the End Fuel Poverty Coalition showing how North Sea gas extraction will be unable to meet national domestic heating demand from 2027, and that the UK will be more than two-thirds reliant on foreign gas imports by 2027, and is forecast to be 94% reliant by 2050; understands that North Sea natural gas sold on international markets exposes UK workers and households to volatile energy prices amidst the ongoing energy and cost of living crises, and that previous polling by the End Fuel Poverty Coalition shows that 67% of the UK public are concerned about the UK’s reliance on oil and gas; opposes the licensing and approval of new UK gas fields, which, it believes, will not reduce dependence on imports or lower energy prices, and will only benefit private, multi-national fossil fuel companies; supports the expansion of publicly and community-owned wind, solar, tidal and wave energy generation, and the prioritisation of measures including retrofitting heat pumps, insulation, ventilation, green spaces, greener buildings, and local and district heat networks to tackle fuel poverty, and calls on the Scottish Government to work constructively with the UK Government to meet legally binding climate obligations and net zero goals, to end reliance on domestic gas heating, and to end fuel poverty in Scotland.
Supported by:
Paul Sweeney