Ready For Renewal, launched this last month in Fife, is a joint campaign led by the STUC, GMB and Unite the Union.  We’re calling on EDF to do the right thing and build their new turbine jackets in the Fife yards.

Building these turbine jackets in the Fife yards, 10 miles away from where the wind turbines are to stand would bring hundreds if renewable energy jobs to the area, avoid the environmental damage of shipping the work abroad while improving the local economy.

Over the coming days we will be looking at what key environmental activists are saying about the campaign asks, and how it relates to creating a greener economy.

Mary Church, Head of Campaigns, Friends of the Earth Scotland has expressed her support, stating:

“We urgently need to build the clean energy economy in Scotland to do our fair share of tackling the climate emergency. But the new clean economy must be created in a way that ensures the benefits and costs are shared fairly, both internationally and here in Scotland.

“Building turbine jackets in Indonesia for our renewable energy infrastructure means offshoring the climate-change emissions associated with manufacture, and creating significant extra emissions by shipping the turbines half way around the world.

“Crucially, it also means losing the opportunity to create decent manufacturing work in Fife, that could help kick start the badly need Just Transition for workers and communities currently dependent on high carbon industries here in Scotland. EDF should think again about the real costs of sub-contracting this work far away from the shores on which the turbines will eventually stand.”

We have invited EDF to attend a community meeting on Thursday the 20th of June, from 6pm-8pm at Buckhaven Communiy Education.  All are welcome to attend, let’s show EDF the strength of the local community.  Our Facebook campaign page has more details of the event here.