Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Nicola Sturgeon: We must move away from oil and gas to save planet

Nicola Sturgeon launches her SNP campaign bus
Nicola Sturgeon launches her SNP campaign bus

Nicola Sturgeon has insisted Scotland must transition away from oil and gas to avoid putting the planet’s future in jeopardy, despite acknowledging its importance the north east economy.

The first minister was in Dundee to officially start a three-week tour of the country ahead of the May 5 council elections.

Over the next 21 days she will be canvassing and meeting and greeting people all over the country in a bid to win their votes.

But when it comes to oil and gas, she says there is no alternative but to focus more on renewable energy to save the planet.

It comes after Aberdeen SNP council hopeful Alex McLellan said the oil and gas industry is “incredibly important to our economy” and insisted there was a “need for continued oil and gas production for domestic use”.

‘We must transition as quickly as we can’

Speaking on board the SNP battle bus on Friday, Ms Sturgeon said: “It is important to approach it in the right way for the north east.

“Oil and gas is important right now in terms of its energy supply, jobs and its economy.

“We should accept the importance of oil and gas for the economy and for our energy mix.

“But right now, in common with countries all over the world, we must transition away as quickly as we can.

“If we don’t, the future of our planet is in jeopardy –  and that is something no one should accept.

“That transition must be fair and just which is why the SNP wants to focus on creating jobs and an economy that invests in renewables.

“By investing in the North East Transition Fund, if we can get it right, we can make sure we replace those oil and gas jobs and the current economic activity which is dependent on oil and gas with green jobs.”