A new report shows that the Scottish Government must urgently strengthen its plans on climate change, campaigners said today (Monday, 24 September).
The report from the independent UK climate watchdog, the UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC), warns that current Scottish Government needs to act decisively in every sector to ensure that Scotland meets its existing commitments and to prepare itself for future more stretching goals.
Commenting on the CCC’s report, which assesses Scotland’s progress on reducing climate emissions, Tom Ballantine Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said:
“This new independent report is clear that we need decisive and urgent action to keep Scotland’s climate change emissions falling rapidly. The report states that the Scottish Government should be doing much more to cut emissions from food and farming, from travel and heating; building on the success we’ve seen in reducing emissions from electricity and waste. The Committee now call on the government to spell out what further measures they could take in all sectors.
“Science is telling us we need to act faster. But so are our own eyes and ears. We are starting to see the serious effects of wilder weather, with droughts and heatwaves close to home and around the world this year. With the new Climate Change Bill now before Parliament, MSPs have an important opportunity to increase Scotland’s climate action, by setting ambitious targets that increase action over the next decade and eliminate our contribution to climate change by 2050, and by bringing in effective policies in underperforming sectors.”
SCCS has called on MSPs to work to improve the Scottish Government’s Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill currently before Parliament, by setting a legal target for net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest and urgent targets to increase action to 2030, together with stronger policies for warmer homes, healthier travel and greener farming. This will create thousands of jobs, improve health, reduce poverty and ensure that Scotland continues to provide global leadership on climate change.
