Climate Manifesto:
Policies to deliver action and justice

A vital part of this overarching framework are the four EU environmental principles – the precautionary principle, the principle that preventive action should be taken, the principle that environmental damage should, as a priority, be rectified at source and the principle that the polluter should pay⁷. The polluter pays principle is particularly relevant for this collection of policies, since the transition to a zero-carbon society should be paid for mostly by those who have created, and continue to exacerbate, the climate crisis.  The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to observe these principles⁸.

An issue which comes up several times in the following chapters is public-ownership of key services, whether this is municipal bus companies or a publicly-owned energy company.  For these kinds of essential services, SCCS is generally of the view that a public-service motivation is more likely to succeed than a profit motivation (see chapter 12, Public Sector).

Scotland’s projected emissions by sector 2020-2032 MtCO2 from the 2020 Climate Change Plan update⁹

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