- The Cardiff Agreement creates a non-binding framework for cooperation between the Scottish and Welsh governments on renewables, climate resilience, sustainable growth and European engagement.
- The administrations will share evidence, explore common approaches and maintain regular ministerial and official-level contact, with First Ministers reviewing progress annually.
- Floating offshore wind, consenting, ports, supply chains and community benefits are plausible areas for practical collaboration, but most are not explicit commitments in the text.
The Scottish and Welsh governments have signed a formal cooperation agreement covering renewable energy, climate resilience and sustainable economic development, but stopped short of committing funding or identifying joint projects.
First Ministers John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth signed the Cardiff Agreement on Monday, establishing a framework for policy development, evidence-sharing and regular engagement across social, economic, environmental and constitutional issues.
The governments identify “sustainability and renewables” as areas for shared learning, with the stated ambition of using both nations’ natural resources to generate direct benefits for their citizens. Cooperation will also cover climate adaptation, investment, relations with the EU and the creation of skilled, well-paid employment.
“The agreement reflects a relationship built on trust and mutual respect,” Swinney said in the official announcement. Ap Iorwerth said the governments would collaborate to improve outcomes for Wales and Scotland while retaining their different constitutional paths.
The agreement makes clear that it is not legally binding and does not alter either administration’s statutory powers. It also acknowledges that cooperation need not produce identical policies.
Potential offshore wind partnership
Energy occupies only a small part of the document, but there is a credible industrial rationale for closer cooperation.
Scotland has one of Europe’s largest prospective offshore wind pipelines. Crown Estate Scotland awarded option agreements to 20 ScotWind projects representing a potential 27.6 GW, including a large floating wind component. Delivery depends on ports, fabrication capacity, specialist vessels, network investment and effective marine consenting.
Wales is trying to build a comparable industrial proposition around the Celtic Sea. The UK government has offered up to £64 million to develop Port Talbot as a floating wind hub supporting an initial 4.5 GW leasing round and potentially 5,000 jobs. The Welsh government has also approved the Llŷr floating wind demonstration project off Pembrokeshire.
The two markets are at different scales and operate under different seabed-governance arrangements. That makes shared evidence on ports, environmental assessment, workforce planning and local content potentially valuable. Joint approaches could also strengthen the administrations’ influence over UK-wide contracts for difference design, transmission planning and supply chain policy.
However, none of those activities is currently required by the Cardiff Agreement. The text does not establish an energy working group, procurement programme, common investment vehicle or mechanism for resolving policy differences. First Ministers must meet at least annually to review progress, while relevant ministers and officials are to meet “as appropriate”.
That flexibility could allow cooperation to ramp up, but it also makes performance difficult to measure. The first meaningful indicators will be named workstreams, responsible departments and publication of joint outputs.
The political language surrounding the agreement is stark: both governments argue that the current UK constitutional settlement is unfair, and the document covers the Internal Market Act, legislative consent and the extension of self-government. Those objectives may bring Edinburgh and Cardiff closer together but could complicate cooperation with Westminster on reserved or UK-wide energy levers.
For industry, the agreement is therefore best understood as permission to collaborate rather than a new programme. It creates a route through which Scotland and Wales can compare policy, coordinate lobbying and potentially aggregate their industrial offer.
Its significance will depend on what follows. If it generates common port, skills or floating wind initiatives, it could help two peripheral markets compete for globally mobile investment. Without budgets, milestones and accountable delivery structures, it risks remaining a broad statement of political solidarity with renewables attached.
