Scotland ditches 2030 climate target to cut emissions by 75%
The Hindu
Scotland on Thursday scrapped its target of cutting climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030, blaming the central British government, but said it still intends to meet a 2045 net zero target.
Scotland on Thursday scrapped its target of cutting climate-damaging greenhouse gas emissions by 75% by 2030, blaming the central British government, but said it still intends to meet a 2045 net zero target.
The move came in response to a critical report published last month by the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC), which said Scotland was so far behind what was needed to meet the 2030 target that it was no longer credible.
"We accept the CCC's recent re-articulation that this parliament's interim 2030 target is out of reach," Mairi McAllan, the Net Zero Secretary for Scotland's devolved government, told the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
McAllan said Scotland was constrained by cuts to the capital funding it receives from the British government and an overall weakening of climate ambition by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Scotland's semi-autonomous government has control over some elements of climate and environmental policy, but others - most notably, almost all energy policy - remain under the control of the British government in London.
"We are trying to achieve societal and economic transformation, with one hand tied behind our back," she said.
McAllan, a member of the pro-independence Scottish National Party, said Scotland still had an "unwavering commitment" to reaching net zero by 2045.