New climate bill debated as IPCC meets and activists call for action

● Demands for tougher emissions goals in new laws

A proposed new law bringing in tougher climate change targets in Scotland has cleared its first hurdle at Holyrood amid calls for more urgent action.

Environmentalists of all ages gathered outside the Scottish Parliament demanding measures to combat global temperature rise are ramped up, as MSPS gave unanimous approval for the first stage reading of the new Climate Change Bill.

The new legislation, due to be brought in by the end of this year, will amend the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. It will immediately raise the 2050 goal for greenhouse gas emissions cuts to 90 per cent from the 1990 baseline level.

The bill also sets out the intention to include a legally binding aim for 100 per cent reduction in all greenhouse gas emissions as soon as is practicably possible.

The UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which advises Holyrood and Westminster, stated the current target was “at the limit of feasibility” when its last report was drawn up.

An updated report, which could potentially see the bar raised to net zero, is due to be published early next month.

Scottish environment secretary Roseanna Cunningham said the country’s climate change targets are “the most ambitious in the world” but pledged that amendments to the bill will be made if the upcoming CCC report finds tougher goals are “credible”.

0 Campaigners gather outside Holyrood to tell MSPS they’re ‘running out of time’ to tackle climate change

Scotland has already achieved emissions cuts of nearly 50 per cent – ahead of the 42 per cent target for 2020. There is broad cross-party support for the new bill, but many are calling for net zero to be written in and more detail on how emissions cuts will be achieved.

Mark Ruskell, environment and climate spokesman for the Scottish Greens, described climate change as “the biggest existential crisis facing humanity”. He said the new bill represents an TOM BALLANTINE Stop Climate Chaos Scotland

“opportunity to restore faith” and show that politicians can look beyond their own careers to “do the right and necessary thing”. He said it would allow past errors to be rectified and “give the gift of the future to all those who come after us”.

But protesters have warned that time is running out .

“The Scottish Government is failing to tackle climate change with the urgency the science is telling us we need,” said Tom Ballantine, chairman of environmental coalition Stop Climate Chaos Scotland.

“The clock is ticking but the opportunity to avoid irreversible climate chaos is still within reach.”

Young Scots involved in the growing global youth climate movement were also present.

The debate comes as Edinburgh hosts a major meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, where chair Hoesung Lee and nearly 200 experts are discussing measures to restrict global warming to 1.5C.

“The Scottish Government is failing to tackle climate change with the urgency the science is telling us we need”