The UK Government's Carbon Emissions Reduction Target ( CERT) has the potential to generate significant levels of energy efficiency investment in Scottish homes, however, the Scottish government has been concerned for some time that Scotland is not getting its fair share of benefits through the programme.
We cannot allow this situation to continue and securing our share of CERT funding is a key part of the Scottish Government's policy for improving the energy efficiency of existing housing, especially in light of the UK Government's recent announcement that the CERT targets will be increased by a further 20%.
We have therefore taken a pro-active approach and developed a Strategy for securing a greater share and benefits for Scottish households. The focus of this Strategy is working with delivery partners in Scotland to introduce many more potential CERT customers to the energy supply companies. We see this Strategy developing over time as new measures are introduced through CERT and also as new initiatives develop, such as the Community Energy Savings Programme. We will ensure that our own policies and programmes are designed to facilitate and deliver greater opportunities for CERT funding and we will continue to discuss with UK Government how the CERT rules can be revised to ensure better equity in Scotland. In return, we have secured the commitment of the energy supply companies to aim to fund and deliver at least Scotland's share of CERT activities.
The Scottish CERT Strategy Steering Group is made up of the Scottish Government, the energy supply companies, Ofgem and the Energy Saving Trust. At its first meeting in September 2008, the Group agreed to take ownership and commit to implementing this Strategy and to ensure that we achieve a more strategic and effective approach to CERT delivery in Scotland.
Minutes of meetings
Securing our share