Campaigners fear SNP and Greens set to ‘weasel out’ of 2030 climate vows

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have warned the Scottish Government against trying to “weasel out” of their 2030 climate change target.

But Màiri Mcallan, the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, looks set to ditch the flagship vow when she addresses MSPS this afternoon.

According to BBC Scotland, she is set to completely ditch the interim target and could also bet set to scrap the annual targets.

The move follows a damning report by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which claimed the targets were “no longer credible”.

The weakening of the pledge, made in 2019, will be humiliating for the Scottish Greens.

On Tuesday, Humza Yousaf’s spokesman told journalists that, in general, the First Minister would expect all of his ministers to back Scottish Government legislation.

That could mean Green MSPS Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater expected to either support the weakening of the crucial climate change targets or quit government.

In 2019, when the Act was passed, the Greens called for an 80% target by 2030.

In their report, the CCC said that for Scotland to cut harmful emissions by 75% within six years would require the rate of emission reduction in most sectors to increase by a factor of nine.

As a result, it said: “The acceleration required in emissions reduction to meet the 2030 target is now beyond what is credible.”

The CCC also noted the publication of Scotland’s new draft

Climate Change Plan, which was due late in 2023, had been “delayed”.

Friends of the Earth Scotland head of campaigns Imogen Dow told The Herald: “Scotland’s climate targets were agreed by all parties and are based on what climate scientists say we must do as part of the global effort to limit climate breakdown.

“The 2030 target could and should have been met, but instead of taking action, ministers just sat on their hands for years.

“Now it seems that instead of doing the work, there is a real fear that they are going to try and change the climate law in order to weasel out of their promises.”

Last month, Mr Harvie told Scotland on Sunday that there could not be a “change to the framework and the targets without an acceleration of action”.

Ms Mcallan said the Scottish Government was “absolutely committed to tackling the climate crisis with the urgency and pace which is required. However, to do so we need collective will and a common sense of priority. I call on all parties to put politics aside and to back our efforts ”.