Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 August 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to balance its target of achieving 20GW of onshore wind capacity by 2030 with the need to minimise carbon losses and ecological damage to Scotland’s peatlands.
Scottish Ministers must take into account all the views presented when considering applications for onshore wind projects. The merits of each proposal are considered on a case-by-case basis. A careful balance must be struck between the potential impacts of the development and the associated environmental, economic, renewable energy and climate change benefits.
Where new development proposals come forward, our Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4) ensures the impacts of proposals on communities and nature, including cumulative impacts, are important considerations in the decision-making process. All applications are subject to site specific assessments.