Director of the Centre for Energy Policy Professor Karen Turner said:

"The Centre for Energy Policy welcomes the news that this investment has been secured, as it could help to safeguard 500 jobs at the Grangemouth plant and more in the local and wider Scottish and UK supply chains. The support package is much needed to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions of production of ethylene, an important feedstock for plastics and chemicals, and the only one of its kind in the UK.

"However, more work must be done to create a coordinated decarbonisation policy across UK industry. As our research shows, without effective climate action, the closure of UK manufacturing not only leads to domestic industry and supply chain job losses, but also contributes to higher emissions globally as production moves to jurisdictions with lower environmental standards.

"To prevent this lose-lose situation, effective policy is needed to support investment in low-carbon production technologies at existing sites and in retraining and supporting the transition support of affected workers. More can be done on carbon pricing coordination, in working with trading partners to level the playing field for high-carbon industries. We also call on the UK and Scottish Governments to recognise that losing domestic production of key intermediate inputs (like ethylene) weakens overall industrial capacity and reduces our leverage for decarbonisation.

"This new £120m investment will hopefully buy the plant some time to pivot to more innovative and ‘greener’ production, and work on a long-term strategy that will secure the future of Grangemouth and hopefully other plants across the UK."

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