To ask the First Minister what progress is being made with the Scottish Government’s efforts to establish the country as a world leader in the green hydrogen sector. (S6F-03607)

Scotland has the potential to be a world-leading hydrogen nation, and the Scottish Government is committed to helping the Scottish hydrogen sector to develop and grow. The publication last week of Scotland’s first hydrogen export plan marks a milestone in the country’s journey to becoming a hydrogen-exporting nation. The plan sets out the key steps required to establish large-scale hydrogen production domestically, strengthen existing international partnerships and build new ones to enable exports and investment.

The Scottish Government has an international vision for the hydrogen economy in Scotland. Indeed, research from PwC confirmed that Scotland is leading the United Kingdom in the creation of green jobs. Given that the establishment of Scotland’s hydrogen sector has the potential to become a key driver of green growth and prosperity, can the First Minister say more about how the Scottish Government’s budget will further invest in a managed just transition and about the benefits that that will bring to Scotland?

One of the fundamental points in the budget statement yesterday was the commitment to invest in Scotland’s journey to net zero and to achieve the objectives that Audrey Nicoll has talked about. The utilisation of ScotWind resources for long-term investment is a significant strength in the budget. We have successfully avoided the use of ScotWind resources to support day-to-day expenditure, which I know members of the Parliament wanted us to avoid. We are committed to taking forward the proposals in our green industrial strategy, which will help us to take forward investment in the hydrogen sector. That will only be supported, of course, if the Government’s budget passes and we are able to deploy that expenditure in the next financial year.

We move to open and constituency supplementaries.