Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill: Cabinet Secretary's statement

Thank you Presiding Officer, I am grateful for the opportunity to open today’s Stage 1 debate and set out the Government’s reason for bringing forward the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill. We have moved at pace on this legislation, so I thank colleagues from across the chamber who have engaged with me in recent weeks to understand our approach and help me make the progress we need.  

I also thank the Net Zero and the Delegated Powers Committees for their scrutiny of the Bill to this point, and for their support for the general principles of the Bill. 

Presiding Officer, in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, this Parliament set highly ambitious emissions targets, including a reduction of 75% by 2030. At that time, the independent experts at the Climate Change Committee advised us all that the target was beyond their recommendation and would require extraordinary effort to achieve. 

We all regret that it has not been possible find a policy pathway to meet this target and that in March, the Climate Change Committee advised us that the 2030 target was beyond what can be achieved. The urgency of this legislation is driven by their expert advice. 

Maintaining our current targets would leave us in the unsustainable position, where we have targets that we know we cannot meet and are therefore unable to bring forward a credible Climate Change Plan which can meet our targets. 

Presiding Officer, for those who would argue that we could make it to 75% reductions by 2030 – I must strongly state that the scale, range and pace of action would be unjust, unrealistic, and could damage households and our communities in many ways.

We must therefore have the courage to accept that although our ambition was laudable, these targets are unrealistic, and we must find a better way forward that enables us to meet net zero by 2045 and takes the whole of Scotland with us. 

We all share that ambition, which I know has led to a real change in the way climate action is viewed across Government, local government and in wider society. This Government is also clear that we must reach a just and fair net zero, and that doing so involves taking a different path – the path set out in today’s Bill.  

We have learned a great deal since the 2019 Act about how our targets system operates, and how it might work better. This Bill addresses this learning and moves us from linear annual targets to a system of five-year carbon budgets. This a major, and much needed, change in approach. 

The system introduced through this Bill will set a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Scotland over a five-year period. The expert advice of the Climate Change Committee is that these ‘carbon budgets’ better reflect Scotland’s long-term decarbonisation journey, and smooth out the volatility of annual emissions.  

In contrast, the rigid system of annual targets system struggles to account for in-year fluctuations like harsher winters, or unexpected global crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. We also have learning on the use of carbon budgets in Wales and Northern Ireland as well as further afield. 

This Bill will now allow these targets to be set by regulations after we receive Climate Change Committee advice on levels, and it will align our Climate Change Plan timeline with the new system.   

I am glad that the Net Zero Committee agrees that our new targets framework offers a better and more flexible system for emissions reduction targets than the current approach. These budgets, based on the advice of experts, represent our best path towards net zero. 

As the chamber is aware, the CCC advice is next expected in Spring next year - from there we will finalise and publish our draft Climate Change Plan, and I have committed to try do that by summer recess if the advice from the CCC is received at the right time. If it does not, I can assure members that we will publish it as soon as possible, even if that ends up being in recess.  

I would also like to inform members that, when CCC advice is received, I will host a roundtable for my counterparts across parties in this Parliament to hear your views directly. It is essential that we work together on behalf of Scotland to decide on the action we need to take to reach any targets that the Parliament sets.  

This Bill’s provisions are strictly limited to those necessary to bring forward a carbon budget framework and enable the next Climate Change Plan to reflect our carbon budgets. We remain steadfast in our statutory goal of net zero by 2045 and to our statutory requirements on annual reporting on emissions and progress.  

To be clear Presiding Officer, whilst we move from annual targets to five-year carbon budgets we will maintain an annual reporting cycle. This will include updates on our emissions levels and review the progress of our Climate Change Plan, including developments in each sector of the Plan.

At the end of each carbon budget period, these reports will state whether Scotland’s carbon budget target for that period has been met.   

 In addition, I can assure colleagues that the existing statutory duties relating to the Climate Change Plan, including costing of policies, will remain under this Bill and we will continue the approach of not allowing carry-over between targets 

Presiding Officer, we can see from our recent UK-leading achievements in afforestation and provision of electric charging points, which are the highest outside of London, that Scotland continues to lead the way in the journey to net zero. Under this Government, taking resolute action on net zero will not change. 

Carbon budgets will reinforce our momentum with an underpinning of credible targets. They will support government and our many partners in Scotland’s decarbonisation journey in achieving our continued aims and actions.  

Scotland continues to be at the forefront of climate action and I truly believe the people of Scotland share a drive to net zero ambitions and protect future generations. We have achieved great strides in decarbonisation, from the rise of renewables in our energy sector - renewable electricity capacity has grown from 6.7GW in 2013 to 15.6GW in 2024 - to the provision of concessionary bus travel benefiting nearly half of the population, and in carbon sequestration through peatland restoration and tree planting to name a few.

But we need to go a lot further and we do know that.

The next steps however, will not be easy, and there are difficult choices we must address collectively, but let us not forget that, thanks to the progress we have already made, Scotland is now halfway to net zero and continues to be ahead of the UK in delivering long term emissions reductions.

It remains the case that there are infrastructural and reserved policy choices that must also be made by the UK Government to assist devolved nations in their net zero journey, not least in heat decarbonisation and carbon capture and storage.

The government’s engagement over Summer and the NZET Committee’s evidence sessions on the Bill makes it clear there is consensus from stakeholders, communities, experts and MSPs - we need to move fast to ensure Scotland has credible targets and a credible Climate Change Plan as soon as possible. This Bill is the first essential step in that process, setting us on a new path while ensuring our system is solid and credible. I urge members to support its passage through Stage 1 and beyond.