Scottish Government must publish A96 Climate Assessment ahead of budget
Scottish Greens spokesperson for transport, Mark Ruskell MSP, has called on the Scottish Government to publish its long overdue Climate Compatibility Assessment for the A96 Dualling project ahead of the publication of this year’s budget.
Mr Ruskell has written to the Cabinet Secretaries for Net Zero, Finance, and Transport calling for answers ahead of any further agreements on spending for this project.
The commitment to undertake a climate compatibility assessment for the project was made as part of the Bute House Agreement which brought the Scottish Greens into government.
Mr Ruskell said: “We are heading for climate catastrophe, and we must do everything in our power to invest in solutions rather than making the problem worse.
“We badly need to reduce our dependency on cars, but the Scottish Government’s commitment to do so looks insincere if it is also pouring billions of pounds into major road building projects that will only increase emissions.
“This climate assessment is long overdue, and is badly needed before the government commits any more money to the project.
“Car-use is responsible for almost 40% of transport emissions. We need a more balanced approach to the A96 focussed on safety improvements, and this climate compatibility assessment should be spelling out what the options are.
“The eye watering sums that have been earmarked could be far better used to improve public transport, which in turn would cut our emissions and provide better transport choices for people across Scotland.
“The Scottish Government has just reintroduced peak rail fares, hiking up prices for workers and students who have no say over when they travel. This could be scrapped entirely for a fraction of the money it plans to spend on dualling the A96.”