Scottish renewable energy jobs grew 70%, research suggests

Analysis from Global Witness shows Scotland’s renewable energy jobs grew 70% between 2015 and 2022, according to latest Office of National Statistics (ONS) estimates.

In contrast, between 2015 and 2021 – the last year for which data is available – jobs in Scotland’s oil and gas sector dropped by 36%, according to Scottish government data.

The increase in renewables jobs is significantly greater in Scotland than across the UK as a whole. New Global Witness’s analysis showed that UK renewables jobs increased by 29% since 2015, while UK oil jobs – both onshore and offshore – dropped 28%.

The figures contradict claims made in Westminster and Holyrood that oil and gas licensing secures jobs. The UK government’s Offshore Petroleum License Bill, which mandates annual licensing of new oil and gas fields, enters its Second Reading in the House of Lords next week.

According to the ONS data, Scottish jobs producing renewable energy – including onshore and offshore wind, solar, and hydropower – increased from 4,600 in 2015 to 7,800 in 2022.

Between 2015 and 2021, jobs supporting oil and gas dropped from 21,300 to 13,600, according to Scottish government statistics. This does not include people working offshore because the jobs are not disaggregated by UK nation. However, the trend is likely the same, as overall offshore British jobs dropped 27%.

The decline in Scottish oil jobs over the last six years has occurred despite massive spending by oil companies, which paid over £130 billion to build and operate North Sea fields between 2015 and 2022, according to Global Witness analysis of Rystad Energy data.

The Just Transition Commission previously warned that Scotland needs “significant” further action to developer renewable energy jobs if it wants to meet its clean energy targets.

Alexander Kirk, Global Witness, Fossil Fuels Campaigner, said: “The UK’s oil and gas sectors are dying in a cycle of ever-shrinking returns. Despite more than £130 billion spent since 2015, the oil industry continues to shed jobs at pace.

“Officials frequently use larger oil and gas employment numbers, using unverified figures published by a fossil fuel industry lobby group, Offshore Energies UK. The real jobs figures are clear.

“Oil and gas investment doesn’t translate into new jobs – but investment in renewables increasingly does.”