“No comprehensive strategy for Scotland” has led the Climate Change Committee (CCC) to withdraw its previously made assertion that the country will meet its climate goal to reduce emissions 75% by 2030.
The goal was set out in the most recent Climate Change Plan update in 2020 (2020 CCPu).
Today’s (20 March) announcement follows the Scottish government delaying its daft Climate Change Plan (CCP) for 2030 last year, which the CCC said “left a significant period without sufficient actions or policies to reach the target”, making the speed required in emission reduction to meet the country’s targets “beyond what is credible.”
CCP is a statutory document required by the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 to include “proposals and policies regarding the respective contributions towards meeting the emissions reduction targets that should be made by each of the sectors mentioned in subsection [these include energy supply and transport]”.
“Scotland has laudable ambitions to decarbonise, but it isn’t enough to set a target; the Government must act. There are risks in all reviewed areas, including those with significant policy powers devolved to the Scottish Government,” said Professor Piers Forster, interim Chair of the CCC.
“Scotland’s Climate Change Plan needs to be published urgently, so we can assess it. We need to see actions that will deliver on its future targets.”
Scotland was cited as a “net zero hotspot” in a recent report on the UK’s net zero economy by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and 63% (9.4GW) of the UK’s onshore wind capacity resides on Scottish land.
However, the country has missed its annual climate target eight times in the past 12 years. The last time was in 2021 when the only sectors to reduce emissions were electricity supply and industry.
The CCC said Scotland required “stronger action” to reduce its economy’s emissions, highlighting the transport and building sectors as requiring particular focus.
Buildings
The annual emissions reduction rate of Scotland’s buildings must increase by almost ten times to meet the 2020 CCPu requirement of decreasing heating emissions by 71% by 2030.
The CCC welcomed proposals for Heat in Buildings, which opened for consultation in November 2023 on proposals to make new laws to improve the energy efficiency of Scotland’s homes and incentivise the use of clean heat technologies, which could include heat pumps.
According to the CCC this could become a “blueprint” for the rest of the UK however, the public body wanted that: “these proposals must be delivered in practice and the planned rate of decarbonisation will not achieve those promised in 2020.”
Transport
The 2020 CCPu mandates that Scotland’s transport emissions decrease by 44% by 2030. According to the CCC, this means that the country’s annual emissions reduction rate will need to increase by almost four times.
The CCC notes that Scotland lacks a clear strategy on how to achieve its target of reducing car-kilometres by 20% on 2019 levels by 2030 and urged for plans to focus on the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs).
“This is a crucial time for net zero in Scotland. The handling of plans to close the Grangemouth refinery underlines the risk of omitting meaningful dialogue between communities, industry and government and the important role for the Scottish Government in ensuring a just transition towards Net Zero,” wrote the CCC.
“Further delay to the Scottish Government’s draft Climate Change Plan will prevent further progress on these strategic issues.”
