Thursday 18th April 2024 will go down as the day that Scotland went from being a world leader on climate targets to being a world leader in scrapping climate targets. This is a betrayal to not only the Scottish people, but populations across the world who are already facing the severe consequences of climate change.
Scottish Labour supported the 2030 target when it was put into law and we cannot support its removal because of the incompetence of the SNP who were more interesting in headlines than maximising Scotland’s huge potential and delivering the net zero transition that is needed.
The ambitious targets set by the Scottish Parliament have not been backed up by ambitious action from Scottish Government Ministers – be they SNP or Green. The announcements made by the Scottish Government in April contained very few new actions and was simply another reminder of the slow progress that the SNP, and their previous Green partners in Government, had taken on getting to Net Zero.
My colleague Sarah Boyack MSP, who is Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Just Transition is seeking urgent clarification from the Scottish Government on what will be contained in their proposed Bill and when it will come forward to Parliament.
Scottish Labour will scrutinise the proposals but we are clear that legislation could waste months, if not years, talking about process rather than focusing on making the changes across buildings, the economy, transport and energy we urgently need to reach net zero by 2045.
If elected this year a UK Labour Government would implement a Green Prosperity Plan which would establish GB Energy, a publicly owned green energy generator, invest in local power, back the green technology of the future and create thousands of jobs from plumbers and builders to technicians and engineers to get on with achieving our net zero targets.