Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan has vowed to “deliver ASAP” on key climate policies to get Scotland back on track with net zero.
Speaking to the Record, she admitted she was personally “disappointed” to ditch the legally binding 2030 target to slash emissions by 75 per cent which sparked fury from green groups.
But McAllan defended the government’s record on issues like leading the UK in tree-planting, the huge shift to renewables and acting on single-use plastics.
Asked if she understood Scots who want climate action feeling let down by the decision to axe the eco target, she said: “If people are disappointed, can I understand that? Yes. In some ways, I’m disappointed myself.
“In fact, a lot of the work I’ve been doing since coming into post has been about challenging myself, challenging my climate officials, to find a way that we didn’t have to do this.”
Read More
Related Articles
Read More
Related Articles
But McAllan added: “Running the modelling, it simply wasn’t doable.
“Some of what I was then being told I would be required to do included things I would never consider doing in a month of Sundays – including taking all petrol and diesel cars off the road tomorrow.
“That’s not readily legal, it’s certainly not a just transition – it’s not doable. But that speaks to the reality.”
With transport one of Scotland’s biggest source of emissions, one policy she announced in parliament is a plan for integrated ticketing for all public transport across Scotland.
But pressed on why this hasn’t happened already – with the idea of an Oyster card-like system pushed by Nicola Sturgeon back in 2012 – McAllan admitted: “It remains tricky… we need industry now to come on board to support the delivery of this.
“It’s such a common sense measure.”
McAllan also hit back at claims policies she announced yesterday – such as boosting electric car charging and new farming schemes – were “weak” or “recycled”, insisting they were an “upgrade” on current measures.
And she blamed “economic volatility” – as well as Rishi Sunak’s net zero u-turns last year – for the lengthy delays to the Holyrood government’s long-awaited new Climate Change Plan.
But McAllan added: “I want to be delivering ASAP. That’s my objective.”
It follows the independent Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) warning last month that Scotland’s 2030 target was now unreachable because of a lack of progress.
In 2019, Nicola Sturgeon declared Scotland was in a “climate emergency” as MSPs set the “world-leading” targets.
But to meet the 2030 goal, the CCC said the rate of emission reductions would need to increase by a factor of nine in most sectors – adding this was “now beyond what is credible”.
The Scottish Government has missed its legally binding annual emissions reduction targets in eight out of the last 12 years.
Addressing MSPs, McAllan vowed to stay the course on the 2045 target with action “at a pace and scale which is feasible, fair and just” – but confirmed the 2030 aim is now “out of reach”.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
