Climate change watchdog warns SNP over ‘vacuum of ambition’ amid strategy demands

SNP ministers have been warned to avoid a “vacuum of ambition around net zero” as plans are made to redraw legal climate targets.

The Scottish Government’s climate watchdog has called on SNP ministers to urgently bring forward its plans to redraw its legal emissions targets to “restore confidence and avoid a vacuum of ambition around net zero”.

SNP net Zero secretary Mairi McAllan has confirmed Scotland’s legally-binding 2030 target will be scrapped and instead, five-year carbon budgets, used by the UK government and devolved administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland, will be established as a method of reducing harmful emissions.

Ms McAllan has insisted Scotland’s 2045 net zero target remains intact. But her Government’s statutory climate watchdog has warned that to keep on track, the country will need to “treble the pace of roll-out of public electric vehicle charge points, reduce car traffic by 20 per cent [and] increase heat pump installation rates by a factor of at least 13” by 2030.

A mural painted in Glasgow near where the COP26 climate summit was held spoke of the urgency for real action. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

In a letter to Ms McAllan, the interim chairman of the Climate Change Committee, Professor Piers Forster, has warned SNP ministers will need a “step-up in delivery”.

He said: “By the end of this decade, Scotland will need to treble the pace of roll-out of public electric vehicle charge points, reduce car traffic by 20 per cent, increase heat pump installation rates by a factor of at least 13, and double onshore wind capacity.

“Woodland creation will need to more than double by the mid-2020s and peatland restoration rates need to increase significantly. The committee strongly urges the Scottish Government to act quickly to implement a new legal framework, bringing its approach in line with the other nations of the UK. This is crucial to restore confidence and avoid a vacuum of ambition around net zero.”

SNP Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan (Picture:Andrew Milligan/PA Wire)

Prof Forster has warned Ms McAllan that “it is deeply disappointing that the Scottish Government has decided to withdraw its 2030 and 2040 interim targets”.

He said: “When set, these represented an ambitious commitment to the pace of decarbonisation in Scotland. However, the Scottish Government’s development and implementation of plans were too slow, and action has not kept pace with this ambition.”

Pointing to the Scottish Government’s plans to replace the 2030 and 2040 targets with five-year carbon budgets, Prof Forster warned this “need not result in a loss of regular scrutiny”.

He said: “This can allow for early identification of potential issues before they translate into impacts on emissions trajectories, allowing action to be taken to mitigate the risks and get things back on track. The Scottish Government’s delivery plans should include a range of credible contingency plans that can be activated to achieve this if necessary.”

Mairi McAllan's decision to scale back Scotland's climate targets sparked a rebellion by Scottish Green members that ended the Bute House Agreement with the Scottish Government (Picture: Andrew Milligan/PA)

Speaking in Holyrood, Ms McAllan said Scotland “must now act to chart a course to 2045 at a pace and scale that is feasible, fair and just”.

She said her Government “will bring forward expedited legislation to address matters raised by the CCC and ensure our legislative framework better reflects the reality of long-term climate policymaking”.

“The narrowly drawn Bill will retain our legal commitment to 2045 alongside annual reporting on progress, whilst introducing a target approach based on five-yearly carbon budgets,” she said.