CAMPAIGNERS have warned that a Scottish Government commitment to cut traffic by 20 per cent has been put in reverse as car journeys continue to rise. The Scottish Government has committed to cut car journeys by 20% over the next decade as part of its updated climate change plan. But new statistics published by the Government shows that the number of motor vehicles registered in Scotland is at an all-time high of around 3 million and even before the pandemic, the distance driven by motor vehicles on roads increased by 8% over the past five years to reach 48.7 billion vehicle kilometres in 2019.

Herald 24th Feb 2021 read more »

THE SCOTTISH Government has been accused of “going backwards” in meeting a key climate pledge to clean up its fleet of lifeline ferries. The warning comes after Transport Secretary Michael Matheson admitted that the proportion of low emissions ferries “has fallen” despite a commitment for 30 per cent of the SNP’s state-owned ferries to be powered by environmentally-friendly technology by 2032.

Herald 22nd Feb 2021 read more »

More power ‘needed for city regions for Scotland to hit climate aims. The warning from experts at Edinburgh University comes as Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse told MSPs that the UK Government needs to do more to help unlock renewable opportunities from power grid charges or Scottish householders could face higher electricity bills. “There is a need to devolve powers and responsibilities, such as those for carbon budgets, to city regions, and to supply the resources necessary to manage the necessary changes.” The paper was published in the Scottish Geographical Journal in the run-up to the UN Cop26 summit in Glasgow in November – with this event having been put back a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “City regions are where most people live and thus where any changes in people’s behaviour make the biggest difference.” One of the paper’s authors, Professor David Sugden, of Edinburgh University’s School of GeoSciences, said: “We have the prospect of a win-win solution simply by improving the way we govern ourselves. Cities, in particular – with their high density of population – offer opportunities to make effective reductions in emissions without inconveniencing people.” Another of the authors, Professor Jan Webb, of Edinburgh University’s School of Social and Political Science, added: “We need city regions to be mandated to work cooperatively with the Scottish Government on clean heating and transport – the two areas where change is slowest.”

Herald 16th Feb 2021 read more »

The environment secretary has insisted she is “pretty confident” Scotland can hit its climate change targets, despite expert advisers describing them as on the “fringes of credibility”. Chris Stark, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), an independent advisory body, has already told MSPs there are concerns over whether targets on cutting emissions can be met. The CCC had recommended setting a goal of cutting emissions by 70 per cent by 2030, but the Scottish parliament voted to go further and fixed a 75 per cent target. Stark told Holyrood’s environment, climate change and land reform committee: “In terms of the credibility of the plan, I think it’s on the fringes of credibility but so too is the Scottish 2030 target itself.” But Roseanna Cunningham told the committee: “I am not entirely sure I would get terribly stressed by Chris Stark’s comments. The Committee on Climate Change, our statutory advisers, recommended 70 per cent by 2030. We chose to go beyond that to 75 per cent. It would have been remarkable if Chris Stark had come to the committee and said, ‘oh well, now you mention it 75 per cent is OK, we were wrong’.” Cunningham was speaking as she was questioned by MSPs on the Scottish government’s updated climate change plan, which was published in December and sets out what ministers insist are “bold actions” aimed at meeting targets to cut emissions by 2032.

Times 16th Feb 2021 read more »

FINANCE Secretary Kate Forbes has warned that Scotland will not be able to meet its ambitious climate targets without “leveraging in private investment” to help clean up the economy. Scotland has committed to reducing 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 on the way to becoming a carbon net zero economy by 2045, five years ahead of the UK Government. Ms Forbes was quizzed about her draft Budget and whether it aligns with the key climate pledges when she appeared in front of Holyrood’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee – insisting that both go “hand in glove”.

Herald 15th Feb 2021 read more »

Left to their own devices, I have no doubt that oil and gas companies would crush every drop of profit from this planet that they could, regardless of the consequences. As reported in The Ferret earlier this week, both Shell and Oil & Gas UK, which represents the interests of offshore oil and gas, have already lobbied Scotland’s Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse to try to steer how the conversation around transitioning to a fossil-free world should take place. According to the lobbying register, Wheelhouse was approached and encouraged to consider the “importance of balanced messaging” in the lead-up to the event. I wonder what oil and gas giants would consider to be “balanced messaging”, given that they have historically invested a staggering amount of time into ignoring and discrediting the threat of climate change itself. ScottishPower has already been selected by the UK Government to be one of the principal corporate partners of COP26. Yet while ScottishPower’s supply of electricity in the UK is now generated by green means, The Ferret has reported that its Spanish parent company Iberdrola has been investing in the gas industry abroad, opening four new gas plants in Mexico since 2019. SCOTTISHPOWER is functionally a green facade for Iberdrola, which can smile and point to its eco credentials in the UK, while contributing massively to climate change elsewhere. It’s a sham, and unfortunately for us all, the consequences of catastrophic climate breakdown don’t magically stop at the border. Oil and gas giants have shown us time and time again that they cannot be trusted to put the climate ahead of their own profit margins. That’s why they should be kept as far away from influencing the conversation on climate change as possible –particularly when COP26 may be our last chance to finalise the Paris Agreement.

The National 15th Feb 2021 read more »

Rupert Wolfe Murray is a travel writer: THE Scottish Government is ignoring a once-in-a-century opportunity: leading the transition to a carbon-zero economy. By going along with the business-as-usual model, as perfected by Westminster, Scotland is allowing itself to be led by the charming lobbyists of big business. The SNP like to talk up their environmental credentials. Their policy says a lot about “ambition”, plenty about cutting CO2 emissions (due to the closure of two coal-fired power stations), lots of breathless news about small “pilot” projects, but nothing (that I can find) on changing the status quo. Scottish news shows a government that lacks the courage to implement its own rhetoric: The Herald reports that North Sea oil “flaring” pumps out four million tonnes of CO2 a year, and the Climate Change Committee, which advises the UK government, says that Scotland’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions are “fantastic” but Holyrood is unlikely to achieve them. The Scottish Government isn’t alone in ignoring the problem. A new report found that oil and gas subsidies amount to hundreds of billions of pounds a year: “Fossil fuel production subsidies – such as those used by the US, UK, Russia, China and the EU – make fossil fuel industries more profitable by reducing their costs, boosting the returns to elites and helping sustain their political power.” With a hostile press, political challenges, financial pressures, not to mention the pandemic, is it any surprise that climate change policy is left on the shelf? Surely this can be prioritised when Scotland is independent? The time for leadership is now! I would argue that now is the ideal time to stake Scotland’s claim as a global leader in climate change transition – especially with the next big climate jamboree (COP26) slated for Glasgow. Currently there is a vacancy for the top job of global leader in climate change transition. We need a national leader with the courage, conviction, focus and determination of Greta Thunberg. Someone who calls out the greenwash and token gestures of industry and government. Most citizens of the world now realise that we must change our ways if we are to avoid climate catastrophe, and all governments pay lip service to it. What’s missing is one government actively putting it into practice, to demonstrate that it is possible to aggressively take on big industry. Perhaps the most difficult challenge is for governments to tell its citizens the truth: that our way of heating, eating, dressing, and travelling is killing the planet. The good news is that each carbon-cutting alternative – such as renewable energy and vegan food – represents a sector of new business growth.

The National 14th Feb 2021 read more »

Alison Johnstone (Green MSP) Just like with Covid, we must act now and follow science to fight climate crisis. With only nine years left until the climate science tells us global warming will become irreversible, we don’t have a lot of time. As with Covid-19, the time is now to follow the science and secure our future.

The National 12th Feb 2021 read more »

SCOTLAND’S Environment Secretary has hit back at claims her strategy to cut carbon emissions is “on the fringes of credibility” ahead of her being quizzed by MSPs on the ambitious blueprint. Roseanna Cunningham will appear before Holyrood’s Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee on Tuesday – to give evidence on the Scottish Government’s climate change plan update. The document, published in December after being delayed by the pandemic, sets out how the Scottish Government will reduce 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 75 per cent by 2030 on the way to become carbon neutral by 2045. But last week, Christ Stark, the chief executive of the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), which advises governments across the UK on policy, told MSPs that the 2030 target is “going to be very hard to meet”. He said: “In terms of the credibility of the plan, I think it’s on the fringes of credibility but so to is the Scottish 2030 target itself.

Herald 8th Feb 2021 read more »

Friends of the Earth Scotland accused the Scottish government of “flawed thinking” and “unjustified optimism”. The updated plan, published in December, is meant to help cut carbon emissions to achieve net-zero by 2045. It sets out what the Scottish government says are “bold actions” to help meet emissions reduction targets. These include cutting car journey distance by a fifth by 2030, £180m in funding for carbon capture and hydrogen technologies and £120m towards zero-emission buses. But Friends of the Earth Scotland climate campaigner Jess Cowell said it was “increasingly difficult to scrutinise whether the policies are on track to hit targets”. She said: “We know the level of action we need to see by 2030, but we have no clear idea of whether the policies suggested in this document will add up to meet that target. “The government either doesn’t know or won’t say how much climate pollution will be stopped by their individual policies, instead offering vague estimates for entire sectors. “The update simply doesn’t add up and it’s hard to see how MSPs can properly assess it against its targets.”

BBC 7th Feb 2021 read more »

Herald 7th Feb 2021 read more »