SNP ministers are poised to further delay Scotland’s flagship climate change plan with the strategy not set to be published until next year - a move branded “hugely concerning” by their former coalition partners. The next statutory climate change plan was initially promised in draft form by November 2023 and must be published in three months time, under law. But the Scottish Government is now set to use legislation that will water down legal climate targets to push the legal deadline into 2025, adding to concerns that Scotland’s climate change strategy is stalling.
In April, SNP Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan confirmed Scotland’s 2030 legally-binding target to cut emissions by 75 per cent could not be achieved and legislation would be used to scrap the aim - replaced with five-year carbon budgets, subject to approval of MSPs. The Scottish Government has now signalled it will use the coming legislation to allow the crucial document to be published after the carbon budget levels are set, potentially delaying the draft blueprint into the summer of 2025. The move is a further blow to Scotland’s stuttering climate strategy after nine of the last 13 annual targets have been missed.
The Scottish and UK governments’ statutory advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has starkly warned “there is still no comprehensive delivery strategy for meeting future emissions targets and actions continue to fall far short of what is legally required”. The move to water dow.