First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy needs to “accelerate”.
It comes as the next UK offshore oil and gas licensing round gets under way.
The North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) is offering a total of 898 blocks and part-blocks of acreage.
Energy companies can bid for exclusive permits to explore and potentially recover any oil or gas they uncover.
Healthy take-up may mean more than 100 licences being dished out.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, ahead of the SNP party conference in Aberdeen, Ms Sturgeon reiterated her backing for Scotland to make the move towards renewable energy.
But she also said this must be done in “fair and just way”.
She added: “We are investing to build up our already considerable renewable capacity in Scotland.
“Scotland is a net exporter of electricity. We already generate enough renewable electricity to cover almost 100% of our needs, so we want to increase that renewable capacity to support the transition to net-zero which every country has a moral obligation to do.
“Oil and gas is a big part of our existing energy supply. It’s also a big part of the overall Scottish economy.
“It supports a lot of jobs, so we’ve got to transition away from oil and gas.
“We’ve got to do that as part of the moral obligation but we’ve got to do it in a just and fair way.”
‘Stringent’ measures needed
The first minister continued: “In terms of new licences, I’ve been very clear that within the context of that just transition we’ve got to subject any decisions about further exploration or further exploitation of oil and gas to the most stringent climate checks.
“I worry right now that what we are hearing from the UK Government is just a continuation of their haphazard planning about energy, and in the long term what they are doing is undermining energy security rather than strengthening it.
“The route to energy security is difficult, it’s challenging.
“But the route to energy security is to secure that transition away from fossil fuels to renewable and low carbon sources of energy.”
We can’t turn off oil and gas overnight for a variety of reasons, including energy security.”
When asked about the transition from oil and gas to renewable energy, Ms Sturgeon said: “We can’t turn off oil and gas overnight for a variety of reasons, including energy security, but also particularly the economic and jobs impact of that.
“We’ve got to do that in a planned way, and with justice and fairness at its heart.”
She added: “I grew up in the 1980s during de-industrialisation – when a Tory government failed to plan for it, and left communities and individuals on the scrap heap.
“The legacy of that is still with us. We mustn’t repeat those mistakes.
“But, because this is what we owe to the next generation, we’ve got to accelerate that move away from fossil fuels as much as we can .
“The future of the planet quite literally depends on that.”
Conversation