Meeting of the Parliament

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Official Report 1073KB pdf

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Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2021

The next item of business is a statement by Màiri McAllan on Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2021. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of her statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions.

Last month, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization issued a stark warning, projecting for the first time that global temperatures are likely to temporarily breach 1.5°C of warming during the next five years. The Paris agreement calls on every nation to pursue all efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C. The projections indicate that we likely have—for the first time in human history—a very unwelcome glimpse of what crossing that longer-term threshold would be like.

For Scotland, and indeed across the world, this is uncharted territory. It is therefore more important than ever that Scotland is stepping up and playing our part in realising the benefits of a net zero, climate-resilient future. It is right that this Parliament passed some of the world’s most ambitious climate legislation by a significant cross-party majority—I stress that it was cross party—and it is true that the targets are driving transformational change. Scottish emissions have already been cut in half. However, we must be under no illusion that the hardest part of the journey is not ahead of us. We need to halve our emissions again by 2030 in order to meet this Parliament’s rightly very stretching target.

It is against that backdrop that I want to update Parliament on progress towards Scotland’s statutory climate targets. Official statistics that were published this morning show that Scotland narrowly missed its annual target for 2021, achieving a 49.9 per cent emissions reduction against a target of 51.1 per cent from the 1990 baseline. To miss our target so narrowly, by just 1.2 percentage points, is of course disappointing, but it demonstrates that we are not far behind where those world-leading targets dictate that we need to be.

Although the 2021 results show a rebound from 2020, that was not entirely unexpected given how much the 2020 position was affected by pandemic lockdowns, and Scotland is not unique in experiencing that. UK emissions rebounded by 4.4 per cent over the period, which compares with a rebound of 2.4 per cent in Scotland. We knew that we should expect an increase in transport emissions as a result of Covid restrictions easing and we also expected that one of the coldest winters in 10 years would see an increase in domestic heating emissions.

The missing of any target is a concern and it is not something that I will ever shy away from. However, we should take heart from the data, which shows continued underlying progress in many sectors such as energy supply and industry. We must also remember that the figures do not yet reflect the 100 new and boosted policies that were included in the Government’s climate change plan update that was published in March 2021.

On that note, we are delivering progress right across our economy. Under this Government, Scotland is becoming a renewables powerhouse. We have launched the world’s largest floating offshore wind leasing round through ScotWind, which will initially deliver more than £750 million in revenue. Developers have also committed to invest an average of £1.4 billion in Scotland per project, which equates to around £28 billion across the 20 projects.

We are investing £100 million in renewable hydrogen projects over the current session of Parliament and we have awarded an additional £15 million through our energy transition fund to support the development of a hydrogen hub in Aberdeen.

Since launching the young persons free bus pass in January last year, we have seen a new cardholder every minute. Along with our similar schemes for older and disabled people, it means that we are supporting more than a third of the population. With over 3 million journeys every week, we are helping people across Scotland to cut costs, and making sustainable travel more attractive.

On rail services, we continue to develop the decarbonisation programme, building on the pre-pandemic position where more than 75 per cent of all rail passenger journeys in Scotland were electric.

We are encouraging people to change from petrol or diesel cars with the most comprehensive public charging network in the United Kingdom outside London, including nearly 4,000 public charge points.

In our natural environment, more than 75 per cent of all the tree planting across the UK in recent years has happened in Scotland.

Those policies, among many others, demonstrate the breadth and depth of this Government’s ambition and indeed of our delivery.

Of course, as the statistics that have been published today demonstrate, it is clear that there is a great deal more to do. That is the nature of the global climate emergency, which demands a unique scale and pace of change. In that context, I am grateful to the UK Climate Change Committee for its December 2022 report. I have responded today and have accepted or partially accepted 98 of the committee’s 99 recommendations, with the remaining recommendation being entirely reserved and therefore not within our gift.

While this Government commits and recommits itself to deep and urgent emissions reductions, it is essential that we do so in a way that is fair, with the voices of those who are most impacted driving our actions. I am committed to ensuring that we listen and act on what we hear from our communities, from workers and their union representatives and from our businesses.

That is why I have, today, published a suite of discussion papers to inform our just transition plans for the built environment and construction, for land use and agriculture and for transport. The discussion papers set out a vision for a fair transition, with broad questions through which we aim to identify key priorities as policies develop. In developing those papers, I put on record my gratitude to the just transition commission for its advice so far, and I look forward to meeting stakeholders over the summer.

I make it clear that this Government is absolutely committed to a fair transition—we are taking workers with us on our journey to net zero. We will never do to our oil and gas workers what Thatcher did to mining and steel communities, and we will always strive to understand the needs of those who are impacted by change. As this year’s draft energy strategy and just transition plan set out, we have a clear vision for how we can direct Scotland’s enviable skills, talent and natural resources to deliver an energy system that provides

“affordable, resilient and clean energy supplies”.

Of course, a just transition is for all of Scotland, not just the north-east. When I recently visited Grangemouth, I saw the work that is contributing to continued progress in the mission-critical project of reducing industrial emissions. Alongside major private investment in the site, we are supporting change at Grangemouth through the Grangemouth future industry board and a site-specific just transition plan.

Before I cover this Government’s next steps, I offer a word of warning. We know the race to net zero is one that we must all win, yet it is obvious that we are constrained by the current limits of devolution. I wish—dearly—that this Government had all the powers of a normal independent nation, not least in order to control our own vast energy resources. Not having those powers naturally hinders our ability to institute the transformational change across our economy and society that the climate emergency demands.

The UK Government must act urgently on reserved matters including carbon capture, utilisation and storage; hydrogen; electricity grid infrastructure; and decarbonisation of the gas network. Similarly, I cannot stress enough how, against the world-leading targets that the Parliament has set, we can ill afford a UK Government that is willing to trash devolution and sabotage policies such as the deposit return scheme, which has been years in the making, was backed by this Parliament and is an important part of our emissions reduction plan. It is clear that Scotland’s contribution to global climate action will be significantly enhanced when we become an independent nation.

As I look forward to that day, I also look at our immediate climate plans, because today is a moment to take stock. This is not just about the next year, but about well-informed, ambitious decision making that will shape a generation, and generations to come. We may be halfway to net zero but—as I said—the hardest part is ahead.

We know, for example, that, in transport, we must find ways to put people and not cars first. That is why we are working with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to finalise our route map to achieve a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres and have commissioned research on equitable options for car demand management, which we will publish in the coming months.

Of course, the most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car—namely, fuel duty and vehicle excise duty—are currently reserved. Recent rises in motoring costs underline the unfairness of the current, regressive tax regime. We will continue to press the UK Government for a fair and progressive tax system that better incentivises the transition to net zero emissions.

Along with transport, heating Scotland’s homes and buildings is another of the biggest contributors to our carbon emissions. That is why we will consult this year on a proposed heat in buildings bill, inviting views on options for regulating energy efficiency and zero emissions heat across Scotland’s homes and buildings.

Those are just some of the matters that we will address as we prepare to set out the draft of our next climate change plan at the end of the year. In the meantime, let us all—as a Government and a Parliament—lean ever further into a bold and ambitious approach, because nothing less shall suffice.

The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for that, after which we will move to the next item of business. I ask those members who wish to ask a question to press their request-to-speak button.

The report on emissions is a sobering one for the Scottish Government, no matter how much it tries to distract attention away from its many failures. At the top level, it has missed its reduction targets for Scotland-sourced emissions of seven greenhouse gases, for which the figure is 2.4 per cent higher than it was in 2020.

Drilling into that makes for even worse reading. Residential emissions are up by more than 7 per cent. Domestic transport emissions are up by more than 10 per cent. Agricultural emissions are up by almost 2 per cent. What analysis has the minister done of how other countries are meeting their targets—and thus, where the Scottish Government is failing? Is the reason why the Scottish Government has not reported on Scotland’s per capita emissions since 2019 simply that the rest of the UK has significantly lower per capita emissions?

If Liam Kerr wants to discuss comparisons between countries, I am quite happy to do so. He is perfectly correct to point out that there has been a rebound in transport activity and therefore emissions between 2020 and 2021, which has created a 2.4 per cent emissions increase in Scotland. However, that compares with a 4.4 per cent rebound across the UK.

I tell Liam Kerr that I am less concerned about how Scotland compares with RUK and other nations throughout the world than I am with making sure that the Scottish Government and this Parliament are setting the right suite of policies to deliver a just transition to net zero against the targets that we have set here.

To be honest, it is extraordinary to be lectured by Liam Kerr on climate change. You would be forgiven, Presiding Officer, for forgetting that the Tories voted for Scotland’s 2045 net zero target, because they have systematically stood in the way of virtually every game-changing policy that this Government has tried to pursue in advancing our progress on those targets, whether it is opposing low emission zones, which are good for not just emissions reductions but public health; U-turning on the deposit return scheme; or opposing regulations on heat in buildings. All that is while their colleagues down south are doing everything that they can to continue opening coal mining in the rest of the UK.

The people of Scotland will not forgive the Tories for their apparent denial of climate change, and nor—more importantly—will future generations.

I thank the cabinet secretary for the advance sight of her statement.

We urgently need our Governments to work together nationally and locally, so the Scottish Government needs to stop using net zero as a constitutional battle and use the powers that it has to the max to tackle our climate emergency. That would include taking measures such as: retrofitting our homes; tackling fuel poverty; delivering the community and co-operative heat and power projects that we need right across the country; providing affordable buses and trains; and fixing broken electric vehicle chargers.

Yesterday, Labour launched its clean energy mission, which Scottish National Party members criticised as being too little, too late. They—not we—form the current Government, yet our plans go way beyond today’s statement. Will the cabinet secretary admit that she does not currently have plans in place to meet the Parliament’s net zero targets? Is she not embarrassed that 35 per cent of our households live in fuel poverty? Will she commit to replacing the thousands of bus services that our communities have lost, so that we can deliver the just transition that all our constituents urgently need?

I have been quite clear that I am disappointed to have so narrowly missed the 2020-21 emission target: 1.2 per cent is 1.2 per cent too much. I recommit the Scottish Government to doing everything that it can to continue to narrow the gap between our reality and our targets. As I set out in my statement, not the least way in which we will do that will be by consulting this year on heat in buildings, to regulate efficiency and heating systems. I look forward to having Ms Boyack’s support on that. She mentioned working jointly. We are currently working with COSLA to finalise our route map to reducing car kilometres driven by 20 per cent.

Notwithstanding that I agree that we have to have a rapid and fair transition away from fossil fuels, and that the unlimited extraction of such fuels is incompatible with climate change, I ask members to forgive me for not having any faith in what Keir Starmer set out yesterday. First, are we supposed to believe that those net zero pledges will not just become the next thing that he flip-flops on, having abandoned a £28 billion green prosperity fund, which has been shredded? Regarding the proposed GB energy company, are we supposed to be grateful that a UK Government will potentially open part of its department to oversee our renewable resources when successive UK Governments of every kind have squandered hundreds of billions of pounds from the North Sea, with very little of it being reinvested into Scotland?

Cabinet secretary, we need to have succinct questions and answers.

Forgive me, Presiding Officer. I do not have faith in what Keir Starmer set out.

Glasgow’s low-emission zone is a great step forward and a boost to the health of Glaswegians who have struggled with poor air quality. Will the cabinet secretary say whether there will be any more such initiatives? Does she share my disappointment that some politicians say that they support the overall targets but, when it comes to practical steps, they oppose them?

John Mason is absolutely right. The low-emission zones in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee represent a number of things. They are an exemplar of close working between the Scottish Government and our local authorities. I am proud of the very close joint working that we did to set up the zones. They are an example of the progress that is being made on emissions reduction for our climate and our environment. They are also an example of a strong intervention in support of public health where we know that young people and older ones, in particular, are susceptible to damage from emissions.

I am proud that the zones are up and running—not least because of the way in which they were brought in but also because of what they deliver for the people of Scotland. The opposition to such zones that we have heard from the Tories—and, perhaps more surprisingly, from Labour—appears like political posturing in the face of something that is really positive.

Reducing energy use to heat houses will be critical if we are to reduce our emissions, as the cabinet secretary has just suggested and will no doubt promote in the heat in buildings bill that will be introduced later. The energy performance certificate system is not fit for purpose and is not supported by industry. Will the cabinet secretary commit to introducing a new system to replace the discredited EPC system in order to help Scotland to achieve its emission targets?

I thank Edward Mountain for his question, which is relevant to much of the work that we need to do this year. In Scotland, 150,000 households already benefit from investment that the Scottish Government has made to support energy efficiency and zero-emissions heating systems, but that approach needs to be scaled up very rapidly indeed.

We have introduced two measures. The new-build heat standard, which has just been introduced, is an excellent initiative. People in my constituency say to me, “Màiri, why on earth are we building new houses with fossil-fuel heating systems?” The new standard will see to that concern.

On Edward Mountain’s direct point about EPCs, I expect all that to be looked at as we consult on a heat in buildings bill and look at efficiency and heating systems. I encourage him and any others who have views about the system to feed into that consultation.

Given that Westminster is evidently intent on undermining this Parliament’s right to pass legislation in devolved areas, how can we rely on our current devolved powers to pass legislation that impacts on the climate crisis? Does the cabinet secretary agree that the only way to resolve the situation is not for UK Government departments to have Scottish addresses but for this Parliament to have the normal powers of a normal Parliament?

I quite agree that, sadly, the power to take a litany of actions that are critical to responding with the pace and scale that the climate emergency demands of us does not sit in Scotland with this Parliament but, unfortunately, rests in London with Governments that we do not elect. Carbon capture, use and storage is critical to decarbonising industry; it is inexplicable that the UK Government did not support the Acorn project in its track 1, and we still await confirmation of the timing for track 2. Whether we are talking about the gas network or transmission charging, I dearly wish that we had all the powers in this Parliament, not least to deal with Scotland’s own resources. As I said in my statement, I very much look forward to the day when Scotland is an independent nation and we have such powers.

The largest source of Scottish greenhouse gas emissions is again domestic transport, so it is welcome that, last summer, the Scottish Government finally released new powers under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 to enable new publicly owned bus companies to be established for the first time since Tory bus deregulation in 1986. Transport emissions will not change unless we change who owns our public transport.

However, as Friends of the Earth Scotland has highlighted, new powers without funding are in essence worthless. In Greater Manchester—

Could we have a question? A question please, Ms Villalba.

—it is estimated that the total cost of franchising is £135 million. The Scottish Government’s community bus fund is just £1 million—

Ms Villalba, I have asked for a question.

Will the cabinet secretary be honest about her intentions? Does she want our buses to be brought back into public ownership? If so, what funding will she add to the community bus fund?

I am afraid that I did not catch all of the question, although I was listening quite intently. I agree that it was a positive step when legislation devolved powers to local authorities. I understand that, when powers of such importance are transferred, central Government and local government need to continue to work with each other on implementation. My door is certainly always open to local authorities and COSLA if they want to raise with me the implementation of the powers.

The member is absolutely right that transport is one of the highest-emitting sectors. Encouraging people to use public transport—preferably public transport that is decarbonised—is one of the most important things. That is why I am proud that more than 2.3 million people in Scotland can use our bus network for free and that we have invested to allow companies to purchase 548 new zero emissions buses.

What opportunities are there for Opposition parties to propose alternative ideas to help to inform the next climate change plan? Does the cabinet secretary agree that, when it comes to doing more to tackle the climate emergency—from DRS to the workplace parking levy and low-emission zones—it is simply not good enough for Opposition parties to play politics and oppose for opposition’s sake?

I absolutely agree. The threat that the twin climate and nature emergencies pose not just to us in Scotland but to people around the world and particularly to communities in the global south, which are on the front line of the worst aspects, ought to focus the minds of members on—I hope—moving away from political positioning and into a place where we can agree across party boundaries that progress needs to be made.

On that note, I mentioned that we are developing our next climate change plan. I have set up a climate change plan advisory group; I invited members from every party to sit on that group. Several members of other parties attend those meetings. I ask members to bring their ideas to that forum. No one has a monopoly on ideas to tackle the great challenge that we face and I welcome ideas from across the political parties.

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement, but I am disappointed that she has once again used the constitutional grievance to deflect blame for the Government’s failure to meet its targets. It has been a repeated failure. The Climate Change Committee has criticised the Government’s lack of detailed plans to get us back on track, including in the revised plan from 2021. We are going backwards in the areas of transport and domestic heating.

For the benefit of Stuart McMillan and the rest of the chamber, will the cabinet secretary outline the Government’s plans to use the powers that it has at its disposal to take forward a national insulation programme on the scale that is needed to improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions and cut bills?

As I have already said several times, in my statement and in my responses to members, we have taken two significant steps in regards to heating buildings, recognising the contribution to emissions. First, we have the new build heating standard and secondly, there is the ambitious and wide-ranging heat in buildings bill consultation that we will launch shortly. That consultation will speak both to energy efficiency and regulation of heating systems.

On the point about constitutional grievance, my colleagues in the Government and I take our role in delivering this for Scotland—and as our contribution to the world—very seriously. It is not constitutional positioning. How does Liam McArthur expect us to deliver carbon capture, utilisation and storage, which is critical to the decarbonisation of industry, when the powers to do that do not sit in the Scottish Parliament and the UK Government down the road is sitting on its hands?

The £500 million just transition fund for the north-east and Moray is vital to ensuring that our energy transition does not replicate what Thatcher did to our mining and steel communities. Can the cabinet secretary provide any information on whether the UK Government has agreed to work co-operatively and match the fund?

So far, through our just transition fund, we have allocated £75 million of funding to support communities and projects across the north-east and Moray to create new jobs, support innovation and support the highly skilled workforce that we all accept is critical to a just transition. That work is happening right now. The just transition in Scotland is not just words—the Scottish Government is taking action and delivering it right now.

Sadly, despite repeated calls for the UK Government to match our £500 million just transition fund, I have yet to receive a positive response on that front.

The cabinet secretary says that it is not just words but action—let us find out. One of the Scottish Government’s key environmental targets is to reduce food waste by one third by 2025. In order to stay on track, we should be reducing food waste by an average of 33,000 tonnes per year. Will the cabinet secretary tell the chamber what the average yearly reduction has been since the target was set in 2016?

I do not have that figure in front of me—Mr Golden probably expected that that would be the case. I would be happy to furnish him with the answer after this statement.

Once again, I point to the extreme irony of the Tories lecturing me on recycling when their party has not just only in the Scottish Parliament—[Interruption.]

Members! We need to hear the cabinet secretary’s response.

It was not only the Tory members of the Scottish Parliament who stood in the way of the development of the deposit return scheme but their colleagues in Westminster who are undermining the devolution settlement in an extraordinary way—

It is a shambles.

Members! We will not make any progress if members speak at the same time as the cabinet secretary.

Presiding Officer, their hypocrisy knows no bounds.

The cabinet secretary is right to highlight the record investment in active travel and the free buses for more than 2 million people. In addition, with the removal of peak-time rail fares in the autumn, the dial is starting to shift towards a greener and fairer transport future. What more action does the Government need to take to reduce transport demand? What is the role of the UK Government in securing that reduction in transport demand? What is the role for the other parties in the Parliament, which are very quick to sign up to targets and very weak when it comes to taking the action that is needed to tackle the growth in transport demand?

Today’s emissions statistics show that car emissions continue to be the largest share of transport emissions, which is why, as I set out, we are working with COSLA to finalise the 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres route map. That is also why we have simultaneously commissioned research exploring equitable options for demand management in order to discourage car use.

The member asks about UK Government actions. The UK Government has acknowledged in its net zero review that revenues from existing motoring taxes will decline sharply this decade as we transition away from fossil fuels and the taxes that are based on them. However, the UK Government has so far consistently not set out how it will address that. Reforms to transport taxes will be critical to meeting net zero targets, and I would not just encourage the UK Government to get on with that but, for the sake of emissions reductions and the sake of Scotland’s moral duty to fulfil our climate change obligations, I ask it to very quickly get on with that.

A brief question from Evelyn Tweed, and a brief and succinct response, please.

Tree planting forms part of the reduction of greenhouse emissions and carbon capture in Scotland. Although Scotland outperforms the rest of the UK in the creation of new woodland, I understand that industry faces significant challenges in securing contractors to carry out replanting. What steps are the Scottish Government taking to rectify those issues?

I am a significant proponent of afforestation. Not only are trees good for biodiversity, they absorb emissions from our atmosphere, sequestering carbon away and storing it. Evelyn Tweed is right to point out that 75 per cent of planting in the UK happens in Scotland but, equally, particularly as we ramp up the contribution of the forestry industry, she is right to point out that it has been hampered of late in matters including employment. My colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands has been pressing UK counterparts on that matter for some time, and I am sure that she will be happy to update the member on her progress in that regard.

That concludes the statement. There will be a short pause before we move on to the next item of business to allow front-bench teams to change position should they wish.