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MSPs lends support to Forth Green Freeport bid

[ October 5, 2022   //   ]

Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have backed the Forth Green Freeport bid saying it has the potential to generate up to 50,000 new green jobs and act as a catalyst for new clean technologies and renewable energy manufacturing

The bid proposal which was submitted in June 2022 to the Scottish and UK Governments, after they agreed to set up a freeports deal for Scotland similar to that already in operation for England.

Regional list and constituency MSPs who cover the bid’s geography area signed their support at the event in Holyrood. A Forth green corridor will be created as part of the bid submitted by a consortium comprising both private and public organisations – Forth Ports; Babcock; Edinburgh Airport; INEOS; Scarborough Muir Group; and Falkirk, Edinburgh and Fife Councils, have committed to delivering the bid’s vision.

Northern Edinburgh and Leith MSP, Ben Macpherson said: “As the constituency MSP for the Port of Leith, I support the Forth Green Freeport bid, together with other local parliamentary colleagues. This ambitious proposal has the potential to deliver even more local opportunities, as the port develops into a renewables hub, and to help accelerate a just transition to a greener future. It would also create more job opportunities in Scotland’s growth industries like offshore wind manufacturing, with a commitment to pay at least the Real Living Wage, and indirectly support other sectors of the local economy.”

Falkirk East MSP, Michelle Thomson added: “Scotland cannot decarbonise without a strong development pathway for the industrial cluster at Grangemouth and along the Forth Estuary. Whether it’s a switch to more sustainable fuels or the development of a hydrogen economy, the plans put forward by INEOS, Forth Ports and others will accelerate Scotland’s just transition to a greener future, while protecting jobs, developing skills and offering new opportunities for future generations. That’s why I back the bid.”

Miles Briggs MSP for the Lothian Region said: “Scotland needs the private sector to invest at scale to decarbonise our economy and that’s why I back the bid for a Forth Green Freeport. If selected, Scotland will have a huge green development platform at Leith to drive up UK manufactured content from the ongoing offshore wind revolution, while creating a legacy that leaves Scotland with a more secure energy supply with genuine export potential. This, coupled with the exciting development plans at the airport, will leave us better connected as we forge new partnerships around the globe.”

A decision on is expected in the coming weeks on the winning locations of two Green Freeports for Scotland.

Chief operating officer of Forth Ports Group, Stuart Wallace, who met the group of MSPs in Edinburgh, said: “A Forth Green Freeport will accelerate large-scale investment in new infrastructure, technology and skills training to catapult Scotland’s just transition to a cleaner and greener future.”

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