Chamber and committees

The scientific report published on 9 August by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change makes absolutely clear the severe threat and heightened risk the climate emergency poses to the planet. However, it also shows that with immediate, concerted international action to reduce emissions, it is still possible to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C in the longer term.

Offshore fossil fuel exploration and development is an area where key decisions on licencing, regulation and policy are reserved to the UK Government. On 12 August, the First Minister wrote to the UK Prime Minister calling for significant enhancements to the climate conditionality associated with offshore oil and gas production. As set out in that letter, there is no doubt how important our highly skilled oil and gas industry and workforce are to Scotland, but we must ensure that they, and the existing infrastructure, can help Scotland seize the opportunities of the just transition to net zero - we cannot rest on business as usual in the face of a climate emergency. In this context, the Scottish Government has also recently committed to undertake a programme of work and analysis to better understand Scotland’s energy requirements as we transition to net zero and how these align with our climate change targets and the aims of the UN Paris Agreement. This work, which will report by the end of 2022, will supplement a wide range of evidence that will be considered to take an informed policy decision on the contribution of North Sea production to the global climate emergency and to Scotland’s economy, security and wellbeing.

In terms of other forms of fossil fuel extraction, the Scottish Government has previously confirmed a finalised policy position of no support for onshore unconventional oil and gas development in Scotland and will develop policies on conventional onshore oil and gas development and coal extraction in alignment with our climate change obligations and wider energy policy.

We are proud that Scotland is at the forefront of global efforts to respond to the climate emergency. Legally binding targets have been set to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors of the economy by 2045 at the latest, with a world-leading interim 2030 target of a 75% reduction. In December 2020, the Scottish Government updated our Climate Change Plan to set out how we will deliver this ambition as part of a green recovery from COVID-19. The indicative Nationally Determined Contribution document we have published in advance of the COP26 Summit outlines the full range of actions we are taking to contribute to the Paris Agreement, through reducing our emissions, building resilience to the impacts of climate change and supporting international efforts, for example by using our position as Co-Chairs of the Under 2 Coalition and through doubling our Climate Justice Fund.