The Scottish government is to abandon its ambitious climate target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030.
Scotland’s target of reaching net zero by 2045 will remain, however the government could also ditch its annual climate targets.
Cabinet secretary for net zero and just transition Màiri McAllan quoted lines from a recent Climate Change Committee (CCC) in Holyrood to justify the rolling back of Scotland’s ambitious plans.
The report from the CCC said the level of emissions reductions needed for Scotland to reach its 2030 climate change targets is now “beyond what is credible” to be achieved.
Ms McAllan told MSPs: “Quite rightly, as with the UK government, the CCC challenges us to go further and that’s exactly what we will do today as I’m announcing a new package of climate action measures which we will deliver with partners to support Scotland’s transition to net zero.”
The suite of measures announced today relate to electric vehicle charging ports, the rollout of zero emission vans and other vehicles, shifts in agriculture policy and moves to roll out low carbon heating in Scotland.
In its damning report to the Scottish Parliament, the CCC said: “The Scottish Government is failing to achieve Scotland’s ambitious climate goals.”
The CCC also noted the publication of Scotland’s new draft Climate Change Plan, which was due late in 2023, had been “delayed”.
As such, it said there was “no comprehensive delivery strategy for meeting future emissions targets”.
Calling on ministers to publish this “urgently”, the CCC insisted that “actions continue to fall far short of what is legally required” under the government’s own Climate Change Act.
Scotland climate targets
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon introduced the climate targets in 2019, and the Scottish government was the first in the world to declare a climate emergency.
Scotland’s emissions reduction target for 2030 was tougher than for the UK as a whole, which was for a reduction of 68% by the same date.
By 2021, Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions had fallen by 49.2% compared with the baseline level in 1990. But the law required a 51.1% reduction by that date to keep on track.
Now that the targets are likely to be abandoned, it remains to be seen which course of action the Scottish government will take.
Scottish ministers could replicate the system of “carbon budgets” used by both the UK and Welsh governments.
Ditching target an “acute global embarrassment”
Any move to abandon the targets will be met with fierce criticism from environmental campaigners, with Friends of the Earth Scotland already calling any move to abandon the targets the “worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament”.
“The climate crisis demands urgent action now – not broken promises,” the campaign group said.
Meanwhile, Oxfam Scotlland head Jamie Livingstone called the decision to abandon the 2030 climate target “an acute global embarrassment.”
“It would also be the direct and damaging consequence of the Scottish Government’s own dilly dallying on climate action,” he said.
“Ministers and MSPs from every party in the Scottish Parliament should instead be focused on securing the significant funds required to invest right now in faster climate action through fair tax reforms which protect the worst off and incentivise polluters to clean up their acts.
“Anything less and Scotland will deliver yet another body blow to climate-hit communities while risking a dangerous race to the bottom on global climate ambition.”
Scottish government ‘throwing in the towel’
Scottish Conservative shadow secretary for net zero, energy and transport Douglas Lumsden said: “If this report is correct, it amounts to an abject humiliation for the SNP-Green Government.
“For all the boasting about their supposed environmental credentials, the reality is a succession of missed targets – and being forced to throw in the towel on this flagship pledge represents the biggest failure of the lot.
“This climbdown is not a surprise, given the damning report from the Climate Change Committee, but it is symptomatic of a Nationalist coalition that routinely over-promises and under-delivers.
“Màiri McAllan must be cringing at the thought of delivering this statement after her absurd claim that world leaders were seeking out the Scottish Government for advice on reaching environmental targets.”
Scottish Greens climate spokesperson Mark Ruskell told The Herald: “We are absolutely determined to accelerate the urgent and substantial action needed to tackle the climate crisis as laid out by the CCC recently, and fully expect the Scottish Government to respond to that challenge.
“This is a pivotal moment for us to ramp up the kind of meaningful change that will put us on track to achieve net zero by 2045 at the latest, in the face of a complete reversal of climate action from the UK Government.”
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