Question reference: S6W-24001
- Asked by: Monica Lennon, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 18 December 2023
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Current status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 11 January 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential implications for its policies of the Climate Change Committee’s 2023 Progress Report to Parliament.
Answer
We welcomed the Climate Change Committee’s 2023 progress report to the UK Parliament and agree that much greater urgency and focus on delivery is required from the UK Government if climate goals across the UK are to be met.
Scotland continues to decarbonise faster than the UK average. As this progress report recognised, we are leading the way in key delivery areas such as industry and electricity supply, where – unlike the rest of the UK – emissions have continued to come down. However, Scottish and UK Government targets are inter-dependent and require significant collaboration between our governments in order to maximise impact given the wide range of powers that are reserved.
The Climate Change Committee has been clear that action by the UK Government is important for delivery of climate change targets around the UK, just as action under devolved powers is crucial to UK targets. That is why we continue to call on UKG to act in reserved areas of great importance to Scotland's climate ambitions and why we work through the Net Zero Inter-Ministerial Group and other fora in this regard.