Just Transition Fund: EIR release

Information requested

1. Of the projects funded in Year One of the Fund, which are multi-year projects and which are pilot projects?
2. On which of the successful applications were trade unions consulted or involved as active partners?
3. How many of the successful applicants estimated the outcomes of the funded projects in terms of:

• emissions reductions?
• job creation?
• benefits for affected communities?

4. What are the aggregated sums of those impacts, a) in tons of CO2e, b) FTE jobs and c) monetary equivalents?
5. What are estimated total impacts of all of the funded projects in terms of emissions reductions and job creation?
6. Is there a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for the Just Transition Fund?

Response

1. A breakdown of multi-year and pilot projects is provided in the tables below:

Pilot Projects (Single year)	Lead Organisation
Findhorn Ecovillage	Park Ecovillage Trust and Findhorn Innovation Research & Education
Easter Anguston Farm	VSA
NESS Carbon Capture and Storage	Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils
Pilot Projects (Multi – Year)	Lead Organisation
Community Climate Assembly Pilot	NESCAN Hub
Digital Innovation Lab	Robert Gordon University
Energy Skills Passport	OPITO
Energy Transition Skills	National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA)
Findhorn Watersheds Riverwoods	Findhorn, Nairn and Lossie Rivers Trust
Hydrogen Offshore Production (HOP2)	Net Zero Technology Centre
Hydroglen	The James Hutton Institute
Moray Council Just Transition Masterplan	Moray Council
Net Zero Bottlenecks in Moray	University of the Highlands and Islands
Railway Feasibility Study	Campaign for North East Rail
Social Enterprise Just Transition Fund	Social Investment Scotland
Sustainable Recovery for EV Battery Recycling	Ripcell
Tidal Rotor Generator	Shine Energy
Wave Energy Converter	Seaweed Energy
Multi Year Projects	Lead Organisation
Advanced Skills Manufacturing Hub	Energy Transition Zone Ltd
Just Transition Hub	The James Hutton Institute
Just Transition Participatory Budgeting	tsiMoray, NESCAN Hub, Money4Moray, Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action, Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations
North East Adventure Tourism (NEAT)	Opportunity North East
SeedPod	The Food Hub NES
Supply Chain Pathway and Energy Transition Challenge Fund	Energy Transition Zone Ltd
Single Year Non Pilots	Lead Organisation
Cabrach Distillery	Cabrach Trust

2. Trade unions were directly involved in the development of the OPITO Energy Skills Passport project, especially by involving the workforce in designing the solution.
   
   More generally, we have supplied almost £50,000 in grant funding to STUC over the 22/23 financial year to support just transition capacity within the trade union movement; this has enabled the STUC to provide dedicated worker engagement roles within the STUC, supporting just transition planning and delivery for workers.
   
   Through Just Transition funding, STUC held an Energy Conference on the 22nd of March 2023, that included discussion around policy solutions and feedback from members on their needs to participate in a Just Transition.
3. 10 projects had emissions reductions as one of their milestones. 20 projects had job creation as one of their milestones. 18 projects had community benefits as one of their milestones. All successful projects had at least one of the three as one of their key deliverables.
4. 20 projects we have funded this year are multi-year, which means that most of the projects’ deliverables will be realised in the current Financial Year 2023-24, Financial Year 2024-25 or Financial Year 2025-26.
   
   In terms of emissions reductions, most JTF projects that have included them as a milestone are multiyear, meaning that the final tCO2eq impacts will be measured at the end of the project. This is also valid for community benefits, with monetary equivalents measured at the end of the project.
   
   This year’s final results from funded feasibility studies and pilot projects quantified potential emissions reductions to 14,883 tCO2 eq over 10 years.
   
   This years’ projects reported creation of 44 new FTE green jobs.
5. Across the full lifetime of the 23 funded projects, and provided that all Pilots develop into a full scale project, these would result in estimated emissions reduction of 4,409,830 tCO2eq per annum and 71,150 estimated new FTE Green Jobs.
6. There is a monitoring and evaluation framework in place for Just Transition Fund. Successful Projects awarded Just Transition Fund support have grant award agreements in place with targets and milestones in place, specific to that project, against which progress in achieving objectives/expected outcomes is monitored. In the event of any changes or delays to the delivery of agreed project targets or milestones, projects are required to outline the rationale for this and where necessary seek approval or amendment to the grant agreement in place.
   
   Grant Award letters for projects also outline project reporting requirements. Projects are required to report on a quarterly basis and at the end of each financial year. Reports for projects are reviewed to ensure projects are progressing in line with agreed targets and milestones. A final report is required upon project completion.

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