Sturgeon plan a ‘fantasy’ says climate group

NICOLA Sturgeon’s climate change ambitions are a ‘fantasy’, with a ‘gaping hole’ in her targets, campaigners have warned.

The stinging rebuke for the First Minister’s so-called ‘world-leading’ action plan was made as world leaders prepare to meet in Glasgow.

Ms Sturgeon has vowed that Scotland will be ‘net zero’ – meaning at least as many emissions are removed from the atmosphere as generated in the first place – by 2045.

However, her own Climate Change Plan 2018-2032 factored in an annual cut of 340,000 tonnes of CO2, thanks to the proposed Acorn carbon capture and storage facility in north-east Scotland.

But it failed to secure UK Government support this month, which means its future is uncertain.

Mary Church, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: ‘Having missed three years of targets in a row, the Scottish Government must urgently come up with a robust and credible plan and end its reliance on fantasy techno-fixes.’

Ms Sturgeon has frequently insisted her climate change plans are ‘world-leading’.

However, one MSP said last night huge doubts now hang over her climate change ambitions.

Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour’s net zero, energy and transport spokesman, said: ‘This brutal assessment cuts to the heart of the SNP’s failed record on the environment. They are big on rhetoric but failing to act.’

However, Scots Tory leader Douglas Ross and Ms Sturgeon said they were still optimistic about Cop26.

Mr Ross said: ‘If business, government and the public work together, I am confident that we can make this conference a historic success.’

The First Minister said: ‘Once world leaders are all in the same room, they must seize the moment and agree the necessary steps to prevent catastrophic temperature rises.’