Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of a green jobs “flop” after no projects were funded from a new £100m scheme.
The First Minister announced the high-profile cash injection in September, but awards will only start to be made from autumn this year.
Scottish Labour climate crisis spokeswoman Monica Lennon said: “SNP ministers need to get on with the job. Nicola Sturgeon has presided over a greens jobs plan flop and she needs to urgently kickstart this scheme.”
Hazel Nolan, a senior organiser at the GMB trade union, said: “It looks like yet another green jobs damp squib from the Scottish Government.”
The eyes of the world will be on Scotland when Glasgow hosts COP26, an international summit on the climate crisis.
As part of the move to save the planet, the Government is committed to making Scotland ‘net zero’ by 2045.
Sturgeon said last year an important part of her Government’s agenda was creating “green jobs” as part of a “green recovery”.
She told Holyrood: “We will dedicate £100m over the next five years to a Green Jobs Fund.”
Half of the cash is for the government enterprise agencies to distribute, while the other £50m is under the direct control of Ministers.
However, a written answer by Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work Minister Richard Lochhead said: “As of 25 June 2021, no specific projects have been funded for 2021-22.”
He said Scottish Enterprise is in the “process” of a green jobs call to business, adding that the first application window for grants up to £500,000 closed on July 1st.
He said awards by enterprise quangos would be expected in around two months.
Lochhead added: “The policy for the second tranche of funding is currently under development and we expect to make related awards in October 2021.”
Lennon blasted: “Workers and industry in Scotland need action, not announcements that kick investment into the long grass.
“Nicola Sturgeon’s £100m Green Jobs Fund is badly needed, but it’s ridiculous this funding hasn’t reached the frontline. That it could take a whole year before the money is allocated is pathetic.”
Lib Dem MSP Liam McArthur MSP said: “So far the green jobs fund has been nothing but a mirage. With the economic outlook looking shaky, ministers need to pull their fingers out and get this money out the door to firms.
“It will be a massive missed opportunity if COP26 comes around and we are sat on the sidelines twiddling our thumbs when we could be setting an example to the world.”
Nolan said: “Politicians preach about the need for a ‘green jobs revolution’ in the battle against climate change, but we know that without a credible industrial strategy and an investment plan you are only exporting prosperity and importing virtue.
“COP 26 comes to Glasgow this year and Scotland is a blueprint for how not to deliver a just transition. It’s not too late to fix this but after a decade of failure, where we were promised 28,000 jobs in offshore wind and ended-up with a just few hundred, time is slipping.”
Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: "The SNP talk the talk but simply don’t walk the walk and this once again highlights another example of mismanagement.
“As we look to accelerate our economic recovery and deliver on net zero promises, the SNP are content on having these vital funds sit idle during such a key period.
“This is another green false promise from a party which is too obsessed with separation to care about anything else.
“Work must be done to release these vital funds so targets can be met while opening new avenues of industry.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “All capital grants awarded through a call to business must follow due process.
“The development of the Green Jobs Fund took place in the early part of 2021, with a call to business on 22 March and an application process during May and June. Applications are currently being reviewed and we anticipate successful applicants will be awarded grants later this year.”
