News

Responding to the news the Scottish Government has missed the fourth annual climate target Tom Ballantine, Chair of Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) said:

“Today’s figures are disappointing but show that the target was within reach.  To ensure Scotland meets all of its targets going forward the Scottish Government needs to announce significant new policies.  Greater action on climate change will let us build a healthier, fairer society and a stronger economy.

“We’ll be watching carefully this afternoon to judge the ambition of Ministers’ future plans.  In particular the transport sector has had a free ride so far and the Scottish Government must get serious about tackling emissions from cars and planes.  We already have good policies for insulating people’s homes but they must go much further if we’re to tackle fuel poverty, create jobs and build a better Scotland.

“Although the climate change Minister will present today’s statement,  achieving the full benefits for Scotland of tackling climate change requires action in every part of the Scottish Government. This time last year the climate change Minister announced a new Cabinet Sub Committee on Climate Change and it must now rise to the challenge of creating a low carbon Scotland.”

“While acknowledging changes to how we measure greenhouse gas emissions has on this occasion made the targets harder to meet, this shouldn’t distract from future efforts to develop a low carbon economy, and the Scottish Government is still a long way away from having exhausted all of their policy options.”