Scotland's Global Affairs Framework

4. Climate crisis and climate justice

Tackling the climate crisis is the single biggest international challenge of our times. Scotland will play its full part in responding to the global emergency, by taking responsibility for and reducing our own emissions, as well as both addressing and adapting to the impacts which cannot now be avoided. In doing so we will ensure a just transition to a net zero and climate-resilient future.

Scotland is committed to leading by example, supporting an increase in international ambition and driving forward the vital work of this decisive decade to turn commitments into tangible action. In doing so, we will put values of good global citizenship, solidarity, fairness and inclusion at the centre of our approach to the global climate crisis.

We recognise that the climate crisis will not affect everyone equally, and that the poorest countries and communities require climate justice. In recognition of this we have committed to trebling our Climate Justice Fund to £36 million over this parliamentary term. We will target this fund to support marginalised people who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in the communities in which we work, and ensure their voices are centred through our participatory approach. The Fund will continue to support programmes that build resilience to climate change, tackle structural inequalities and deliver positive outcomes against three pillars of climate justice – transformative, distributive and procedural justice.

In line with our commitment to climate justice, at COP26 we showed global leadership and our determination to acknowledge our share of the historic responsibility for the climate crisis by being the first government in the world to commit international funding for climate-induced loss and damage. We will work with like-minded governments, civil society and other stakeholders to build action and a long-term response to the consequences of the climate crisis that cannot now be tackled through adaptation or future mitigation.

As well as unequal impacts from climate change we recognise that not everyone has an equal voice and participation in global forums. We are committed to using our position to champion and raise the voices of women, young people and people from the Global South; and to take action so that their perspectives can play a decisive role in the development of local and national action, strategies and in global negotiations.

Scotland is a world leader in innovation, particularly in onshore and offshore wind. Through our updated Climate Change Plan we have set out an ambitious package of policies and proposals to continue reducing emissions across all sectors of the economy over the period to 2032.

As set out in our Vision for Trade and Inward Investment Plan we will ensure that trade and investment is used as a lever to progress towards our net zero targets, while developing Scotland’s competitive advantage in areas with positive environmental and economic impact. To help deliver this Scotland’s trade support will be provided to businesses who align with our climate priorities.

As an outward-looking country, we are committed to working in partnership with other governments, and using our networks to raise ambition and push for greater action. We will use our position as the European co-chair of the Under 2 Coalition, the largest global network of state and regional governments committed to reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, to mobilise action from states, regions and devolved governments and to advance towards a just transition to net zero.