CCC warns Scotland must rapidly reduce emissions to meet 2030 target

With most of the key policy levers in the hands of Scottish Ministers, consultations and strategies must quickly turn into implementation and rapid emissions reductions, say the CCC in a new report.

To meet the 2030 emission target, Scotland must halve their emissions in under a decade. A new report by the Committee on Climate Change highlights the urgency for the Scottish Government to start delivering on its climate promises.

Lord Deben, Chairman of the Climate Change Committee (CCC) said: “Scotland’s successful hosting of COP26 makes it particularly important for the Scottish Government to respond to the new Glasgow Climate Pact and show how serious it is about delivering Net Zero.

“Strategies alone won’t reduce emissions. Major changes are needed across the Scottish economy, requiring lasting, systemic action in most sectors.”

“Clarity and transparency on policy, supported with detail on how these policies will be delivered has been lacking. My Committee cannot assess future progress without this vital assurance.”

Scotland missed their annual emissions target in 2019 and future annual targets will be difficult to meet as a result of the covid-pandemic.

Ministers must prevent the gap to their achievement widening further, but the credibility of the Scottish climate framework is in jeopardy.

The Scotland Climate Change Plan update provides ambitious and stretching pathways for emissions reductions in key sectors.

In critical areas of low carbon transport and heating, Scottish levels of ambition are now higher than the rest of the UK, but it has not been possible to determine how promised policies will deliver these laudable ambitions, nor how funding will be allocated to their delivery.

A significant proportion of the Scottish Government’s ambition for 2030 rests on carbon capture and storage (CCS), but with the Scottish CCS cluster announced as only a ‘reserve project’, a decision must be made about whether to continue to plan for CCS and removals to contribute to the 2030 target at the same scale.

The Scottish Government is carrying out or has already achieved most of the CCC’s recommendations from a year ago.

The CCC’s new report provides more than 70 recommendations to support Scotland in that transition. You can read it here.