Ineos fire back: Petrochemical giant says it did not snub Grangemouth net zero committee

Claire Baker MSP, Convener of the Scottish Parliament Economy and Fair Work Committee, wrote to Ineos expressing the committee’s “disappointment and surprise”

over the firm being unwilling to engage formally with the inquiry into a Just Transition for Grangemouth by appearing before the committee in a public session.

In her letter, the convener stated: “The Committee discussed your letter this week and agreed I should write expressing our disappointment and surprise that Ineos is

unwilling to engage formally, on the record, with our inquiry.

“However, the committee was keen to hear from Ineos, on the record, to highlight the ongoing work the company has undertaken around the transition, especially in

relation to employee relations. It is regrettable that Ineos turned down the committee’s invitation.

"The committee does believe this is a missed opportunity for Ineos. I anticipate the committee’s report will acknowledge an informal visit took place, but Ineos

declined the committee’s invitation to provide formal evidence.”

Back in March, members of the same committee were given the chance to see for themselves the workings of Ineos – one of Scotland’s biggest carbon emitters – when it was taken on a tour of the Grangemouth facility.

Ineos felt evidence from previous witnesses would be sufficient for the committee’s purposes, and that similar information was provided to the cabinet secretary during her visit in March.

An Ineos spokesperson said: “We provided formal written responses to the Inquiry into the Just Transition for the Grangemouth area, in collaboration with our partners – Forth Green Freeport and the Grangemouth Future Industry Board.

"Additionally, Forth Ports, in their role as lead in the Forth Green Freeport, have provided evidence at Committee, including information we supplied. We have also hosted the Committee to our Grangemouth site for the morning of 20th March to discuss and openly share our net zero roadmap, our commitment to achieve net zero by 2045 and our activities and engagement with the community in which we operate.

“We are somewhat dismayed that in social media posts from the Committee, they have focused on the idea that we have not provided ‘formal’ evidence. This is not balanced with recognition of the ‘formal’ evidence provided via our partners nor our engagement during more than three-and-a-half hours that the Committee spent at our site.”

There is currently a target for Scotland to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045.

In light of this, the committee has been exploring what planning and engagement has started for the transition to net zero, the economic and employment benefits of a

net zero transition and how can we ensure whatever is gleaned from the Grangemouth transition is used to help support the wider transition across Scottish industry.

A committee spokesperson said: “Industry is the second highest carbon emitting sector in Scotland after transport and the Scottish Government aims to reduce

emissions by around a third by 2030 so we want to look at how we can support, incentivise and de-risk this transition in a way that benefits both companies and

individuals.”

The committee will look to publish its findings later in the year.