ANAS Sarwar has claimed that nuclear power should be "part of the mix" to help meet Scotland's future energy demand.
The Scottish Labour leader set out the partyâs climate policies, including a pledge to ensure every Scottish home has an energy efficiency rating of C or higher by 2030.
The Scottish Government has already set 2033 as a hard backstop for all buildings, including commercial and public buildings, meeting the energy efficient standards.
Mr Sarwar also called for a statutory just transition commission to be established to help workers move out of the oil and gas industry.
He said his party would push the Scottish and UK governments to go âfurther and fasterâ in delivering climate promises.
Mr Sarwar said: âWe want to talk about a jobs-first transition, because thereâs no such thing as a just transition that sacrifices entire communities and makes tens of thousands of people unemployed.â
Asked about nuclear power, he said: âI think we have to be honest about future opportunities and I think nuclear power has to be part of the mix.
âIâm not saying nuclear power has to be the priority, or the lead, but it has to be part of the mix to have a diverse energy supply.
âThe idea that we can shut down industries, and instead import energy â itâs not good for security, itâs not good for jobs and itâs not good for affordability.â
Saying the public would not welcome increased energy bills to pay for the transition, he said: âI want to take the public with us, I donât want to sacrifice jobs, and I think that means having a credible energy policy.â
Mr Sarwar was asked about the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, which seeks to phase out fossil fuels, which the Scottish Government is considering joining.
He said: âWhat weâre really good at in Scotland is signing up to big, bold pledges a long way down the road but not doing the work in the here and now.
âOf course we want to transition away from the oil and gas industry, but signing up to a statement is in itself not enough.
âSo yes, that shows some of the thinking, but how weâre doing the work right now making the investment right now to create those jobs is the more important part and I donât think the Scottish and UK governments are taking that seriously yet.â
Earlier this week, a Scottish Labour amendment in a Scottish Parliament debate proposed upgrading a number of roads across Scotland.
Asked if this would lead to higher demand for car travel, Mr Sarwar said road safety is still âreally, really importantâ and many roads are not fit for purpose.
He said: âThe idea we can pretend we donât need roads any more â or safe roads any more â is just not credible and I donât think the public would believe it.â
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalistâs job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readersâ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readersâ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the âreport this postâ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel