Any climate target change must be matched by accelerated climate action
Any change to Scotland’s climate targets must be met by robust plans for accelerated climate action, says Scottish Green co-leader Patrick Harvie.
Mr Harvie’s comments come ahead of today's Stage 1 Scottish Government debate on the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) Bill, which will amend its targets following confirmation from the UK Climate Change Committee that Scotland’s 2030 targets are now out of reach.
Mr Harvie said:
“If the Scottish Government is changing its climate targets then it must urgently upscale and accelerate the action it is taking to meet them. Business as usual isn’t good enough, we cannot continue as we are, not if we want to have any kind of liveable future.
“The reality is that we are years behind where we need to be. The collective failure to hit our targets must be a source of shame for all parties, but it must also be a wake-up call.
“From rejecting new fossil fuel exploration to meaningfully investing in public transport and active travel to reduce the number of cars on our roads, we need to see bold new thinking and robust plans to get there.
“The challenge has been made far harder by 14 years of Tory governments who were actively working against our climate, but that does not excuse the failures of successive Scottish Governments."
Last month the Scottish Greens published The Climate Reset, a policy paper by the Scottish Green MSP group that called for the Scottish Government to decarbonise transport by removing peak rail fares and diverting funding from its climate wrecking plans to dual the whole A96 into public transport.
The paper called for a real and urgent transition plan for the energy sector, urging the Scottish Government to maintain its presumption against new oil and gas exploration while rejecting the proposed expansion of the gas-fuelled power station at Peterhead.
