Ineos ‘dismayed’ at committee’s claim it has not provided net-zero evidence

Petrochemical giant Ineos has hit back at a Holyrood committee’s claims it refused to provide formal evidence into the net-zero transition for Grangemouth.

The firm’s Grangemouth base is home to a major petrochemical operation, including oil, chemical and power plants, and emits around 3.0 million tonnes of CO2 per year.

The Economy and Fair Work Committee wrote to Ineos bosses to express disappointment at what it said was the organisation’s refusal to attend a formal evidence session as part of its inquiry.

An Ineos Grangemouth spokesperson has now said the firm is “somewhat dismayed” at the correspondence from the committee.

Ineos Grangemouth has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045 and that includes plans for a “world-scale, low-carbon” hydrogen plant at the site.

Committee MSPs visited the site last month as part of its inquiry, and Ineos Grangemouth said it provided “formal” evidence during the visit, which lasted more than three-and-a-half hours.

Committee convener Claire Baker wrote to Colin Prichard, the firm’s sustainability director at Grangemouth, to ask industry bosses to give formal evidence in Holyrood.

She expressed “disappointment and surprise” on behalf of the committee that the firm was “unwilling to engage formally, on the record”.

An Ineos Grangemouth 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 March 20 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.”

In the letter to Mr Prichard, Ms Baker said it would not have been appropriate for other witnesses to speak on behalf of Ineos during their evidence sessions.