Emissions action call in bid to meet climate change targets

Scotland’s ambitious climate change targets will be put at risk unless ministers bring froward new policies to curb emissions in sectors such as transport and heating, an expert panel has warned.

The independent Committee on Climate Change said Scotland was performing well compared to the rest of the UK when it came to tackling the problem.

But the advisory body argued that “more effort is needed in sectors other than power”, as only the electricity generating sector has achieved significant decreases in recent years.

A new report from the committee warned: “More needs to be done, especially in sectors such as transport, agriculture and heat for nonresidential buildings in which little progress is currently being made. Otherwise, Scotland’s ambitious targets will be at risk.”

The Climate Change Act of 2009 committed the Scottish Government to cutting emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 2050 – but ministers are now looking at going further on this, with a more ambitious target of 90% proposed.

To achieve this, the committee said that “effective policies will be required across the economy”.

Emissions in Scotland fell by 3% in 2015, taking them to 38% below the 1990 benchmark.

The UK by comparison has cut emissions by 35% over the period.

So far reductions north of the border have been “largely driven by decarbonisation of the power sector”, with emissions from electricity generation due to fall further still following the closure of the Longannet coal-fired power station in 2016.

But the committee said “without firm new policies, the reductions in Scottish emissions seen in recent years are unlikely to continue in the 2020s”.

The report called for “greater ambition” to cut emissions in the transport sector, and said the Scottish Government’s draft Climate Change Plan must set out how the newly announced ambition to phase out petrol and diesel only cars by 2032 will be achieved.