Climate Change Commission Accused Scotland Of Failing To Cut Climate Emission

Scotland's pledge to decrease climate emissions by 75% by 2030 is "no longer credible" and cannot be met, according to the UK's climate watchdog.

In a damning report delivered to the Scottish parliament, the UK Climate Change Committee (CCC) accused the Scottish government of continually failing to meet its legally binding commitments.

Failure To Achieve Emission Cut

The government's independent advisers criticized the ministers of "failing" on the ambitious targets and encouraged them to focus on meeting the aim "at the earliest possible date."

Scotland has failed to meet eight of the previous twelve annual targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

The study also noted a spike when it comes to the emissions in 2021, and this could be attributed to colder-than-average weather that year and an increase in transportation emissions following COVID.

The most recent numbers, for 2021, show emissions were 49.2% lower than the baseline year of 1990.

The CCC also underlined that the publication of Scotland's new draft Climate Change Plan, expected late in 2023, had been "delayed".

"By the end of this decade, Scotland will need to: treble the pace of rollout of public electric vehicle charge points, reduce car traffic by 20%, increase heat-pump installation rates by a factor of at least 13 and double onshore wind capacity," the report said.

Scotland's 2030 emission reduction target is more stringent than the UK's overall aim.

The Scottish Parliament passed legislation requiring a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the same date, compared to the UK's aim of 68%.

Redouble Effort

Some groups called on the Scottish government to redouble its effort to address climate emergency.

"While every party in the Scottish parliament carries some blame, the Scottish government has lost its position as a climate leader and we would like to see the first minister make an emergency statement to parliament to set out his response," said Mike Robinson, the chair of the civic society umbrella group Stop Climate Chaos,

Màiri McAllan, the Scottish net zero secretary, claimed that the Scottish government had effectively abandoned its 2030 target.

She stated that the CCC had long acknowledged that meeting that aim would be "extremely difficult, and may not be feasible."

"We remain fully committed to meeting our target of net zero emissions by 2045. We are under no illusion that the hardest part of this journey is ahead of us," McAllan added.

Scottish ministers have developed ideas to reduce car usage by 20% by 2030 and decarbonise buildings, but she blamed the UK government for the delays in Scotland's climate change plan.

Ministers in London had "reneged on their net zero commitments, and rolled back on policies already announced and accounted for," as well as reducing capital financing for Scotland's new infrastructure.

Scotland said the government will carefully study the report's recommendations, including legislative alternatives, before delivering a formal response.