This update is part of a regular series of rundowns of policy developments and reports on our work in Scotland, by CLES Senior Researcher and Scotland lead, Naomi Mason.

Winds of change?

The last few weeks have been full with events and meetings focused on renewable energy here in Scotland. As the push to grow the renewables sector and reduce our reliance on fossil fuels increases, so too do conversations about who can and should benefit from Scotland’s natural resources. Luckily, we are “blessed” with abundance in this regard – it is always windy somewhere in Scotland!

This conversation is not new, though: from hydro power in the 19th century to the oil and gas boom of the 70s and 80s through to the present day and renewables, energy has always been and remains a hot topic in the country. But now the temperature is going up.

“the moment of opportunity”

I can’t help but reflect on the moment of opportunity in which we find ourselves. Not only are there plans to significantly grow the renewables sector in Scotland through new developments on and offshore, as well as repowering opportunities, there are also political developments too. The recent Scottish Government consultation on “community benefits from net zero energy developments”, and the UK Government’s call for views on community benefits and shared ownership for low carbon energy infrastructure both seek to understand how community benefits and shared ownership opportunities can better support our local people and places.

And here is the key. We need Scotland’s resources to better benefit the people of Scotland, not see the wealth they generate disappear into distant bank accounts. This is at the core of community wealth building – building stronger places from the wealth we have. The new Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Bill was announced in March and is making its way through parliament now. If the Scottish Government is serious about this legislation (among a whole suite of others) providing a transformative opportunity for Scotland’s economy, then we need to look at how we raise aspiration for, and break down barriers to, increased community and municipally owned energy.

“demand more community and public value”

We know that other countries have different targets and models for securing value from their natural resources (our work for the Scottish Land Commission in 2024 highlighted some of these). A Scottish Community Wealth Fund is one such proposal which mirrors actions taken to secure value from other resources, in other places, and is currently being proposed here in Scotland. The Highland Council’s Social Value Charter for Renewables Investment is another example of trying to address regional inequalities through a strategic lens. Other recent reports like the Fair Share for Shetland and the Royal Society for Edinburgh’s report on Community Benefits all point to the need to start to be more proactive and demand more community and public value from these developments.

There are significant opportunities which could be realised from the burgeoning renewables sector for building local supply chains, embedding green sector skills in our communities as well as the financial rewards which ownership of energy infrastructure can confer (around 34x more than the £5000 per MW according to research). We must recognise that outright ownership of energy infrastructure is not always the best path for communities, or the public sector. Instead, making shared revenue pathways simpler is essential to unlock local opportunities. Alongside this there is a growing movement of local authorities looking to unlocking municipal investment in green projects which are seeking to grow across the UK. There are a multitude of options out there which can better support local economies and serve local needs and interests.

“now is the time to make sure we are not blown off course”

We are living at a time where our actions can have significant impact, not just on our people and places now, but for many years to come. Renewable energy developments are at the fore of our transition to net zero, and now is the time to make sure we are not blown off course from securing the benefits these developments bring to our economies. This may mean looking closely at the ownership question generally, not just of renewables developers but also of the land beneath these developments. A wider conversation about ownership and wealth extraction from our natural resources is long overdue.

We at CLES have been working on a number of projects recently looking at community wealth building and renewables, both in Scotland and in other parts of the UK. No matter where we are working, we are seeing increased appetite to reap more of the financial benefits from our natural resources for our people and places, harnessing them to support local needs and tackle local challenges. Of course, not all matters can be determined by the Scottish Government and we need increased collaboration and commitment from Westminster as well, which perhaps the current consultation is a sign of. If we can agree collectively that the financial benefits from our natural resources should flow locally, then taking a community wealth building approach to how we manage our natural assets is one of the tools to help