Scottish Government scraps 2030 climate target but announces new eco measures

The SNP-Green government yesterday scrapped a key 2030 climate target, sparking outrage from environmental groups - but set out new measures on electric cars and public transport.

Campaigners hit out at the move to ditch the aim of slashing emissions by 75 per cent by the end of the decade as “reprehensible” and “the worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament”.

In a statement to MSPs, however, Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan insisted the overarching goal of achieving net zero for Scotland by 2045 - five years ahead of the UK - remained intact.

And she said the government was ramping up action in key areas, announcing a suite of 19 new climate measures including trebling the number of electric vehicle charging points with an additional 24,000 by 2030.

The Nats minister also pledged to “explore” an integrated national ticketing system for all public transport in Scotland - first mooted by Nicola Sturgeon in 2012 - as well as policies to decarbonise farming and boost nature.

McAllan said Scotland was already “nearly halfway to net zero” thanks to “considerable progress” in areas like the shift to clean energy.

But fuming green groups slammed the new proposals as “weak” and “reheated”.

Jamie Livingstone, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “The Scottish Government’s abandonment of its legal 2030 and annual emissions reduction targets is a reprehensible retreat caused by its recklessly inadequate level of action to date.

“With scientists linking deadly heatwaves in West Africa to climate change and Dubai drowning in a deluge of rain, the urgency of climate action couldn't be clearer.

“The announcement of largely recycled measures represents baby steps forward rather than the giant leaps needed and are a thinly veiled distraction from Ministers’ failure to deliver their existing climate commitments.”

And Friends of the Earth Scotland’s head of campaigns Imogen Dow blasted: "SNP and Green ministers choosing to scrap these climate commitments is the worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

“The 2030 target could and should have been met, but instead politicians are going to break their promises and betray both their constituents and the most vulnerable people already enduring the impacts of climate breakdown.

“Instead of using the past decade to deliver warm homes, reliable public transport and a fair transition away from fossil fuels, inept, short-termist politicians have kept millions of people trapped in the broken status quo that only benefits big polluters.

She added: “Instead of significant response and a ramping up of action, the Scottish Government has presented a weak package of re-heated ideas, many of which were already pledged years ago and never delivered.”

Lang Banks, director of WWF Scotland said: “It’s bitterly disappointing that Scottish Government delays in delivering its own policies, over many years, has led to this announcement.

“By failing to treat the climate crisis as the emergency that it is, and deliver the actions needed, Scotland’s 2030 target has been put out of reach.

“We now need to see the emergency response from government that is required to put our climate ambitions back on track.”

Charities coalition Stop Climate Chaos Scotland said it was an "abject failure", with chairman Mike Robinson adding: “The lack of sufficient climate action to date represents a major breach of trust with the people of Scotland and communities around the world who have done least to cause the crisis but whose lives and livelihoods are already being destroyed.

“The range of largely reheated measures announced by the Scottish Government are wholly inadequate and fall very significantly short of the transformational acceleration in action needed."

It follows the independent Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) warning last month that Scotland’s 2030 target was now unreachable because of a lack of progress.

In 2019, Nicola Sturgeon declared Scotland was in a “climate emergency” as MSPs set the “world-leading” targets.

But to meet the 2030 goal, the CCC said the rate of emission reductions would need to increase by a factor of nine in most sectors.

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

The Scottish Government has missed its legally binding annual emissions reduction targets in eight out of the last 12 years.

Political rivals said the shift was an "abject humiliation" for both the SNP and the environmentalist Scottish Greens, who joined the Holyrood government in a power-sharing deal in 2021.

Addressing MSPs, McAllan vowed to stay the course on the 2045 target with action “at a pace and scale which is feasible, fair and just”.

But she said amid a "challenging context of cuts and UK backtracking" on environmental action, the Scottish Government accepted that the "interim 2030 target is out of reach".

McAllan’s pledge for integrated ticketing for rail, bus, subway, tram and ferry journeys echoed a 2012 promise by then-deputy FM Nicola Sturgeon for a “Saltire card” - similar to London’s Oyster card.

But it comes at a time when rail fares have risen by eight per cent under nationalised ScotRail and many local bus services have faced cuts.

McAllan also warned "full delivery" of the Scottish Government's plans would depend on Westminster "reversing the 9 per cent cut to our capital budget".

Ms McAllan insisted: "This Government and Parliament rightly has high ambitions, and it is beyond doubt that investing now in net zero is the right thing for our environment, our society and our economy - but we are being held back.”

A UK Government source hit back: “It’s laughable to suggest that somehow the UK Government is responsible for this SNP-Green failure.

"The Scottish Government set the target and boasted about it for years, but it was all spin and no delivery."

Scottish Greens co-leader and minister Patrick Harvie said: “I am angry and disappointed that we are in this position, everyone who cares about our planet should be. It must be a turning point.

“We cannot undo decades of inaction and bad decision making, but what we can do is ensure that Scotland goes further and faster.

“Reducing the number of cars on the road, decarbonising agriculture and transforming the way we heat our homes - these are the big changes that will make a difference and that are at the heart of our plans we have developed with our Scottish Government colleagues.”

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