Scottish Enterprise (SE) are launching a Green Jobs call today (Thursday 27 May 2021). This is in light of the Scottish Government's updated Climate Change Plan 2018–2032 which sets out Scotland's path to achieving a 75% reduction in emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2045.
SE has been allocated £40m over 5 years from the Green Business Support Fund for green jobs activities. Their 2021 budget for green job calls is £8m and the first call is to support projects with up to £4m of individual grants. A second call is planned for September 2021.
The SE green jobs funding is being delivered as competitive funding calls, which are rounds of funding that open and close periodically for fixed amounts of time and from which the best projects will be chosen for support. The first call will offer grants of between £50,000 and £500,000. During your application, you’ll be able to request the amount you need, but you must be able to demonstrate why you need this amount.
- Create green jobs (these are new jobs that relate directly to the transition to net zero) or facilitate the transition of a job from non-green to green
- Minimise environmental impacts by developing sustainable low carbon products or services
What constitutes a Green Job?
A 'Green Job' for these purposes is defined as:
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Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources. All jobs in this business would be eligible for support.
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Jobs in which workers' duties involve making their establishment's production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. Those jobs dedicated to that part of the business would be eligible.
Key information
- Is for businesses located in the Scottish Enterprise area, or looking to set up a trading location in this area before 1 October 2021 (you can check this in the ‘Is my business eligible?’ section)
- Offers grants between £50,000 and £500,000
- Can support between 10% and 50% of eligible project costs depending on factors such as company size, location and project activities
- Is for businesses looking to create jobs that are directly related to sustainability and reducing carbon emissions (green jobs)
- Is also for businesses undertaking activities that will result in green jobs, including investing in premises, purchasing capital equipment or conducting research and development
- Involves a claims process rather than a single up-front payment – this means you’ll need to pay for your project costs and then claim eligible costs back from your grant Is a competitive discretionary grant – applications will be assessed based on their merit against a scoring criteria
Please note that not all eligible applicants will receive funding.
Find out more here.