4. Stephen Kerr (Central
Scotland) (Con)
To ask the First Minister whether Scotland is on track to reach
net zero carbon emissions by 2045. (S6F-00402)
The First Minister
()
Yes, I think that we are, but I do not think that it will be easy
and I do not think that we can take success for granted. We will
have to work hard to achieve it. The scale of the challenge to
bridge the global emissions gap is immense. In Scotland right
now, we are over halfway to net zero and we have decarbonised
faster than any G20 country, but we have much more to do. Through
our updated climate change plan and associated commitments, we
have set out a comprehensive credible package of policies for
reducing emissions over the next decade, putting us on track—I
believe—for a just transition to net zero by 2045. Our priority
is obviously to deliver on those policies.
Of course, the recent United Kingdom Government decision not to
support the Scottish carbon capture and storage cluster does not
make that easier and is a serious mistake. I am therefore today
writing to the Prime Minister calling on him to reverse that
decision and accelerate the Scottish cluster to full
track 1 status without delay.
Stephen Kerr
The First Minister’s climate change strategy stated that local
authorities are on the front line of Scotland’s response to the
climate emergency, but an extensive piece of published research
by my own office reveals that the Scottish Government—[Laughter.]
The Presiding
Officer
Do continue, Mr Kerr.
Stephen Kerr
Some members may laugh at this research, but I think that they
should take it seriously. Research by my office reveals that the
Scottish Government has given little or no support to councils in
preparing their plans, has agreed no targets and has not even
bothered to read them. Why, then, does the First Minister have
any confidence that local authority plans will deliver cuts to
emissions when she and her Government have shown so little
interest in them?
The First
Minister
I do not think that that is true, but I would be fascinated to
read the research that Stephen Kerr’s office has prepared, and I
mean that genuinely. I am sure that he will send me a copy and I
give a commitment to read it in full and come back to him with
any comments that I feel are appropriate.
Local government has a big part to play in meeting the targets,
and I have confidence in the priority that councils across the
country are giving to that. I have had discussions with council
members in the context of the United Nations climate change
conference of the parties this week and, more generally, I have
also had the privilege of meeting local government
representatives from other parts of the UK. Yesterday, I met the
mayors of London and Paris. All local governments are grappling
with those challenges, and there is a real intent to share good
and best practice.
However, our responsibility is to meet our targets. We are
halfway there, but the next part of the journey will be more
difficult, so we cannot afford to be undermined on any of the key
strands of our work. In return for my commitment to read the
research that his office prepared, I wonder whether Stephen Kerr
would join me today in writing to the Prime Minister to ask for
the short-sighted decision on the Acorn
project and the Scottish cluster to be overturned, so
that we can get back on track with carbon capture and not allow
his Tory colleagues to take the feet from under us on that.
Perhaps he will give consideration to that...
