As we pursue net zero in Scotland by 2045, our Head of Project Consents Heather Donald asks: are we getting the balance right between planning policy and climate action?
Whether at RenewableUK's Onshore Wind 2020 or AllEnergy's Virtual Summit, there has been much discussion this week on what we need to do to align planning policy with climate action goals to meet net zero. For my part I was one of a number of industry panellists asked to address the question of whether the planning system in Scotland is reacting with sufficient urgency to the declaration of a climate emergency.
For me, the starting point is the message from the Scottish Government, which couldn’t be clearer. We’re in a climate emergency and dealing with that emergency means a significant and rapid expansion in the deployment of renewable energy. The further development of onshore wind power remains a key part of this.
As the UK Committee on Climate Change has said, we will need to treble the current installed capacity of onshore wind if we are to get to net zero by 2050. In Scotland, we’ve set an even more ambitious target of hitting net zero five years earlier in 2045.
The decision by UK government to bring onshore wind back into the next Contract for Difference (CfD) auction is a very positive step forward, but it isn’t a silver bullet. The commercial challenges remain. Whether you’re building a project with the underpinning support of the CfD or on a purely merchant basis, new onshore wind farms will require the deployment of larger modern turbines, in locations which yield the most power.
Scotland’s planning system will have a pivotal role in delivering these projects at the scale and pace required to meet our net zero targets within the next 25 years.
If we truly are in a climate emergency, our planning system needs to reflect this, recognising the need or bold and radical action. Through the introduction of National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) we have an opportunity to put combating climate change at its core.
This means tilting the balance in our planning system in favour of development which delivers net zero.
At present, planning authorities, statutory bodies and other decision makers face having to weigh up a range of potentially competing interests when considering renewable energy development. Landscape has become a particular constraint.
Despite the overwhelming public support enjoyed by onshore wind power, our planning system views its impact on the landscape as inherently negative. This needs to change. Scotland’s landscape is a key national asset and we fully support preventing wind farm development which impact on key designated areas such as national parks and national scenic areas.
However, when you add to this the further restrictions being placed on renewable development by local landscape designations, the use of landscape capacity studies which exclude larger turbines, and wild land policy, the ability to find commercially viable sites has become severely constrained. Constrained to the extent that it risks the delivery of our net zero target.
In our view, we need a presumption in favour of renewable energy development to give it additional weight in the planning balance. We also need a thorough review of landscape policy, particularly around the use of landscape capacity studies and the application of wild land.
If we are to meet our targets, we urgently need to make these changes. However, the delay to NPF4, completely understandable though it is, means that even if the changes we are seeking are accepted, they won’t come until force until 2022. We cannot afford to wait that long and that’s why we are asking the Scottish Government to put in place interim measures which will implement a presumption in favour of renewable energy development now.
The last six months have shown how quickly we have been able to adapt and respond to the current health emergency caused by COVID-19. We now need Scotland’s planning system to adapt and respond to the climate emergency with the same urgency if we are to have any realistic hope of achieving the Scottish Government’s ambitious 2045 target for net zero.