Views sought on Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan update

16.12.2020

Four parliamentary committees have launched a joint call for views on the Scottish Government’s updated plan as to how it will meet Scotland’s climate change targets.

The Climate Change Plan update (CCPu), which is an update to the previous Climate Change Plan published in 2018, was laid in the Scottish Parliament today.

Four committees will scrutinise the effectiveness of the plan, examining the ambition of proposals and actions across all sectors.

The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, Local Government and Communities Committee and the Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee are all seeking views by their deadline of 12 January, ahead of evidence hearings to be held throughout January and February 2021.

The Committees’ joint call for views asks for views on the following questions as they relate to their specific remits:

• Progress to date in cutting emissions within the sectors of interest and implementing the proposals and policies set out in the Scottish Government’s three previous Climate Change Plans published between 2011 & 2018.
• The scale of reductions proposed within the sectors and appropriateness and effectiveness of the proposals and policies within the CCPu for meeting the annual emissions targets and contributing towards the 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2045 targets.
• The appropriateness of the timescales over which the proposals and policies are expected to take effect.
• The extent to which the proposals and policies reflect considerations about behaviour change and opportunities to secure wider benefits (e.g. environmental, financial and health) from specific interventions in particular sectors.
• The extent to which the CCPu delivers a green recovery.

The Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee will focus on:

• Overview and ambition, development of updated Climate Change Plan
• climate change governance (including monitoring and evaluation)
• behaviour change
• water
• resource use
• land use (including peatlands and land use by the public sector)
• marine/blue carbon
• waste and circular economy
• green recovery as it relates to this Committee’s remit
• anything not covered by other committees

Gillian Martin MSP & Convener of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee, said:

“The Environment Committee’s recent scrutiny of a Green Recovery highlighted just how important it is that this plan is considered through the lens of a Just Transition - ensuring that it delivers an integrated, bold approach based on community cohesion, wellbeing and equality. With this focus, we will consider, for example, how we use our land and resources and what more we can do to influence behavioural change.

“Through collaborative scrutiny, our committees will hold the Government to account, testing the policies and proposals at the very heart of accelerating action and driving a net-zero economy. Please share your views with us so that we can ensure that the issues important to you are accurately reflected in this plan.”

The Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee will focus on:

• rural affairs
• agriculture
• forestry
• transport
• green recovery as it relates to this Committee’s remit

Edward Mountain MSP, Convener of the Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee, said:

“Climate change is an important issue for the Committee, particularly as two areas for which it is responsible, transport and agriculture, are the major contributors to carbon emissions, while forestry helps CO2 reduction by acting as an invaluable carbon sink.