The CBI has claimed that net-zero-related industries have supported 105,000 jobs in Scotland and are contributing £10.2bn in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the economy.

The jobs span from heat pump installation to offshore wind, and the sector as a whole now contributes 4.9 per cent of Scotland's total economic output and provides 3.9 per cent of employment.

The study was carried out by CBI Economics for the climate think tank the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and found that 3,000 businesses, mostly (90 per cent) small or medium-sized, spread right across the country are now part of the Scotland’s net-zero economy.

There are particular economic ‘hotspots’, for example, Perth and Kinross where more than a tenth of the local economy (12 per cent) is net zero-related, based around proximity to major renewable generation assets, including hydroelectric schemes and large-scale onshore wind developments, supported by established grid infrastructure.

Jobs in the net zero economy are highly productive, generating more than one-and-a-half (1.7) times as much value as the Scottish average with salaries 5.2 per cent above average at £41,800. Net-zero roles are typically concentrated in skilled occupations requiring technical, engineering and professional expertise, supporting above-average wages.

The analysis also found that approximately £211bn of planned UK energy infrastructure investment is located in Scotland, representing around a third of the UK’s total pipeline value.

Meanwhile, in Wales the sector contributes a total £4bn in gross value added (GVA), equivalent to 4.3 per cent of total Welsh economic output and supports over 41,300 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs, representing around 3.1 per cent of Welsh employment across all channels of impact.

Wales’s net-zero economy is underpinned by a commercially active business base of approximately 1,342 employers, of which 87 per centare small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This includes around 53 per cent micro-enterprises, 22 per cent small firms and 12 per cent medium-sized businesses. The dominance of SMEs highlights that net-zero activity in Wales is not concentrated among a handful of large infrastructure developers but is instead embedded across a wide base of independent firms.

Wales plays a central role in the UK’s future net-zero infrastructure build-out. The country has an estimated £13.1bn in renewable energy generation infrastructure pipeline, representing 10.9GW of capacity and approximately 4 per cent of the UK’s total GW pipeline. Nearly half of this capacity sits within the active development pipeline, with over £1.3bn already under construction.

---