Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets)(Scotland) Bill: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

2. Which aspects of the proposal are relevant to children’s rights?

The provisions of the Bill are limited to establishing the statutory framework required for the implementation of emissions reduction targets using a carbon budget-based approach. This Bill will not set carbon budgets or set out the policies and actions to deliver the emissions reductions required to meet carbon budgets. As such, there are no aspects of the Bill which are deemed relevant to the UNCRC requirements.

The provisions in the Bill are specifically focussed on amending the emissions reduction target framework contained in the 2009 Act as amended by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019. The Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Assessment for the 2019 Act concluded that it was not possible to assess the impact of the legislative provisions on Children’s Rights and Wellbeing, or other groups in terms of protected characteristics, as the Act was limited to amending the target framework and did not set out actions or policies that had to be taken to deliver emissions reductions required to meet those targets. The recommendation was that Children’s Rights impact assessments should be conducted on policies and actions developed to reduce emissions, where appropriate.